Animation gains level pegging at EdFilmFest

The Edinburgh Film Festival at the weekend featured the first batch of films in the McLaren Animation competition. They opened with an introduction from animation strand programmer (and animator) Iain Gardner, made more dramatic than he probably would have preferred due to the stirring intermission music continuing to play loudly. With the background music seeming intent on adding a special significance to his delivery, Gardner revealed that animation was being considered in the same category as short film this year, for the first time at the festival.

From a Princess of the past to a Chicken of the future, animation at the Edinburgh Film Festival is being accorded a higher status this year. Original images copyright of Studio AKA and Pixar/Disney

Impressive as ‘Gardner’s theme’ was, the standard of the animations managed to better it. The BAFTA-award winning A Morning Stroll from Studio AKA’s Grant Orchard opened the run, mixing animation styles with a great sense of comic timing. The remaining films didn’t quite match the gloss (or perhaps the budget) of this, but there was plenty of style and imagination on show. Personal favourites included Emma Burch’s Being Bradford Dillman, This Is Not Real from Gergely Wootsch and Joseph Pierce’s The Pub, as well as the fantastic Studio AKA film. Storytelling was strong throughout and as well as some exploration of more weighty subjects (notably the world premiere of Left Kick, a graduation film by Jonathan Topf), there was a lot of humour to enjoy – check out Louis Hudson’s All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat) for a 2D example.

Only British short films were included in this first collection – an international selection is on show later in the week – and there are a number of animated features present in the programme, culminating in the European premiere of Pixar’s Scottish fantasy Brave on Saturday.

View the films and events in the animation strand at EIFF 2012

Full List of films showing in McLaren Animation 1

All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat)
Louis Hudson/UK/2012/English dialogue/Colour/9 min
A man living inside a cat gets into a sticky love-triangle.

Being Bradford Dillman – Scottish Premiere
Emma Burch/UK/2011/English dialogue/Colour/10 min
A mother and daughter are shadowed by alcohol, loneliness and a dislike of boys in this dark and humorous tale.

I’m Fine Thanks – UK Premiere
Eamonn O’Neill/UK/2011/English dialogue/Colour/4 min 30 sec
A powerful candy-coloured psychotic meditation on urban survival.
Nominated for The Award for Best Film in the British Short Film Competition.

In Dreams – Scottish Premiere
Samuel Blain/UK/2011/English dialogue/Colour/3 min 57 sec
A profound and experimental documentary focusing on the weirdest and most vivid dreams of normal individuals.

Left Kick – World Premiere
Jonathan Topf/UK/2012/English dialogue/Colour/8 min 22 sec
When Christian wakes up the world looks different; faces that were once familiar now seem strange, memories seem fractured and relationships distant.

The Making of Longbird
Will Anderson/UK/2011/English dialogue/Colour&BW/15 min 18 sec
A ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at an animator as he struggles with his character.
Nominated for The Award for Best Film in the British Short Film Competition.

A Morning Stroll – Scottish Premiere
Grant Orchard/UK/2011/English dialogue/Colour&BW/6 min 47 sec
When a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we’re left to wonder which one is the real city slicker.

Moxie
Stephen Irwin/UK/2011/English dialogue/BW/5 min 40 sec
A depressed pyromaniac bear finds life without his mother a struggle. In the wake of her death, the bear falls apart and turns to increasingly extreme measures to cope.

The Pub – Scottish Premiere
Joseph Pierce/UK/2012/English dialogue/BW/7 min 45 sec
A day caught up in the murky slipstream of a North London pub.
Nominated for The Award for Best Film in the British Short Film Competition.

This Is Not Real – Scottish Premiere
Gergely Wootsch/UK/2011/English dialogue/Colour/6 min 40 sec
A young boy’s chimerical journey from a small English town to the Himalayas leads him to a decisive conclusion