The idea of this global celebration was born at the beginning of the 21st century to commemorate the first public animation show of Emile Reynaud’s Theater Optique, which took place on October 28, 1892 at the Grevin Museum in Paris. This event is widely recognized as the symbolic beginning of the history of animation, or rather the modern history of animation. Since 2002, IAD has been a flagship event organized around the world by ASIFA, in cooperation with numerous organizations and festivals, such as the O!PLA Animation Festival. Initially, national programs were prepared by national ASIFA representatives. From around 2020, this process has changed and now resembles a festival format with call for entries, a selection process and, as a result, curatorial programs prepared by local IAD organizers.

PROGRAMME:

Little Nemo / USA / 1911/ 6 min 15 s / Winsor McCay
One of the first animated films in history, being an adaptation of the comic strip from the New York Herald newspaper by McCay himself. The film is largely filled with live-action scenes (which was typical for the first animations, especially in the US), during which the artist bets with his friends that he will create a moving image and then he starts working. The animation itself appears at the end.

A Lasting Image / USA / 2022 / 3 min 10 s / Christine Veras, Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, Ana Villarreal, Scott Huddleston , School of Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication at the University of Texas at Dallas
Young Zsuzsi and her older brother Iván were separated from their parents and forced to march into a ghetto in Budapest. It was the 3rd of December, 1944. They lived the brutality and destruction of everything they hold dear. That experience was a defining moment in Zsuzsi’s life, recognizing the collective power that could save them or put an end to it all. The animation is inspired by the testimony of Holocaust Survivor Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, narrating her experience in a recorded interview for the Shoah Foundation in 1996.

An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It / Australia / 2021 / 11 min 18 s / Lachlan Pendragon, Griffith Film School
A young call centre employee uncovers the flaws in his stop motion universe with the help of a mysterious talking ostrich.

Dear me / India / 2021 / 3 min 36 s / Suchana
The film is an animated letter to myself. It deals with a mix of emotional journeys one goes through to find oneself amidst the chaotic world.

Do Not Feed The Pigeons / Great Britain / 2021 / 8 min 40 s / Antonin Niclass, The National Film & Television School
Even in a lonely, revolting and boring place such as a coach station, a little bit of harmony can always be found…

Elevator Alone / Greece / 2021 / 3 min 38 s / Anastasia Papadopoulou, University of West Attica
Four people and the time they spend in an elevator.

Lovely Rita / Switzerland / 2022 / 4 min 10 s / Elena Madrid
The strict traffic policewoman Rita loves control and order in her workplace. A short story about stress, traffic jams and how to make the best of it.

My crow don’t know to fish / India / 2021 / 5 min 20 s / Divakar SK
A melodramatic animation film adaptation of the Tchaikovsky’s Swan lake based on a vague relationship between a crow and a man in a dystopian world.

Pop N Possum / Australia / 2020 / 7 min 20 min / Christian Staats
In an act of carelessness a possum loses its home and decides the house of an old man is where it wants to live.

Signs / Switzerland / 2020 / 10 min 40 s / Dustin Rees
An electrician follows his nightly routine setting up signs in the city. He goes through life unnoticed and out of touch with the world, until he realises which signs he should be paying attention to.

Ten Degrees of Strange / USA / 2021 / 4 min 29 s / Lynn Tomlinson
Trying to outrun anxiety, seeking joy and strength in landscape and movement. A music video based on a song by Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn, from the album Lost in the Cedar Wood.

Thou Shalt Dance / Iran / 2022 min 8 min 54 s / Abtin Yaghmaian
On a normal day, a normal man finds an abnormal solution for his problem.