FROM THE DIRECTOR Welcome to Year 3 of the Northwest Thank you to our incredible venues, the Animation Festival! Hollywood Theatre in Portland and the Bijou Art Cinemas in Eugene. This year This is a variety show that celebrates the we premiere the festival on May 17-19, best new work from independent animators then head south two weeks later to repeat around the globe. Our weekend-long event the entire show on May 31-June 2. I am includes over 150 hilarious, dramatic, strange extremely excited about this concrete step and inspiring films. I am very proud (and toward getting animation out to more cities in astonished) that in just our third year, we the Northwest. are now the biggest animation show in the United States. Thank you to our generous sponsors: Morel Ink, the Oregon Media Production You’re going to see an exciting cross-section Association, Animation Dynamics, Wild of what’s going on in the animation world. A Portland, The Portland Mercury, Jupiter few films may not match your tastes—but Hotel, Voodoo Doughnuts—and especially that’s OK! The next thing on screen will be our presenting sponsor for opening night, something completely different. What I want the Governor’s Office of Film & Television. to impress you with is the abundance of We work miracles on a shoestring budget; imagination, craftsmanship and spectacle. every dime (and every doughnut) makes a My job here is not to keep flawed films big difference. out; the goal is to build a super collider of creativity that inspires people to make more Thank you to our collaborators for this year’s new films, and thus help the art form of special events: ASIFA Portland, Patrick animation to keep evolving. Coan, Creative Music Guild, Experimental Film Festival Portland, Dustin Grella, I put together a hand-picked team of 49 Oregon Cartoon Institute, Risk/Reward, international jurors this year to help evaluate Seattle Experimental Animation Team, Tony the 628 film submissions that flooded in Starlight’s Supperclub-Lounge, and The from 54 countries. Being an animator myself, White Box. A few months back, I couldn’t honestly I identify more with the films that have guessed that our shared offerings don’t get picked than the ones that do. would wind up spanning eieven days. I’ve written hundreds of personal letters, hoping to encourage talented individuals in Enormous appreciation goes to Louisiana, Portugal, Iran and beyond to keep Warwick Burton and Isabel Peppard with this difficult, lonely and magical art. In (butterfliesanimation.com) for lending us contrast with the Cineplex, a festival is as their beautiful artwork for posters and event much about the filmmakers as their films— promotion. Also to Joe Clark (joe-clarke.com) and to me, these artists whose films weren’t for allowing us to use a bit from Tchaikovsky selected are equal members of our annual, Timelapse for the festival identification clip. ephemeral community. Their turn will come. Heaps of gratitude go out to our first intern, Whether this is your first time here or you’ve Will Jackson, who halved the festival been with us since the start… Whether workload in January. And a very heartfelt you’ve flown in from Europe or simply thanks to Assistant Director Gretchin Lair for crossed the street… Welcome to the show! endless help of every kind during the sleep- deprived months leading up to event day. ♥ Thank you to everyone who has given Most of all, thank you to the filmmakers. Your their support to this colossal undertaking. It films delight and inspire—it is a pleasure to would not be possible without you! Thank help bring them to a wider audience. you to the film jurors, the friends who’ve helped get word out, and the volunteers Sven Bonnichsen managing the lobby this weekend. Festival Director FRIDAY NIGHT opening night presented by Oregon Film Paperman by John Kahrs & Kristina Reed 1. The Eagleman Stag violence and disparity can be turned into a by Mikey Please | UK tool for justice. Peter’s life has been spent in both fascination and fear of his quickening perception of 5. Spirits of the Piano time with age. As he nears the end of his by Magdalena Osinska | UK days, his interest turns to obsession and he A flying machine has crashed on the cliffs. undertakes progressively extreme measures A pair of weird and wonderful spirits bring it to control and counter time’s increasing back to life. pace. Peter also discovers that if you repeat the word “fly” for long enough it sounds like 6. Dripped you’re saying “life”. This is of no real help to by Leo Verrier | France him. His answers lie in the brain of a beetle. New York, 1950. Fascinated by paintings, Jack scours the museums all day long. He 2. Fear of Flying steals paintings and hides them at home to… by Conor Finnegan | Ireland eat them! Masterpieces are his food and put A small bird with a fear of flying tries to avoid him in deep ecstasy when he chews them heading south for the winter. up. But the more he eats those paintings, the scarier they become. 3. Transmission by Jared D. Weiss | USA 7. Evolution In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a creature by Robert Cseh | Hungary and his dog find a radio with a signal that Through a microscope, we see how two may lead them to the first sign of other life microbes find love. they’ve encountered in ages. But is the chance to find new life worth leaving the only 8. Out of Nowhere home they have? by Maayan Tzuriel & Isca Mayo | Israel Every morning, an old lifeguard arrives for 4. Honor Code another day of work—when in fact the by Richard O’Connor & Katy Chevigny | USA swimming pool he guards has been empty A cultural system which often causes for years. One day an unexpected guest appears out of nowhere, filling him with 10. Paperman doubts about his everyday reality. by John Kahrs & Kristina Reed | USA The story of a young man in NYC relying on 9. Symphony his heart, imagination, a stack of papers— by Erick Oh | USA and a little luck—to win the girl of his dreams. A hand-drawn animated short abstractly 2012 Oscar Winner for Best Animated Short visualized from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Intermission 11. La Détente 15. Slow Derek by Pierre Ducos & Bertrand Bey | UK by Dan Ojari | UK In a trench during the First World War, a The tale of Derek, an office worker, as he French soldier becomes paralyzed with struggles with the true speed of planet earth. fear. His mind disconnects from reality and escapes to a world where wars are fought 16. Ballpit by toys. by Kyle Mowat | Canada Life forms struggle to assert and organize 12. Toto themselves within a hostile environment. by Zbigniew Czapla | Poland An impressionistic story of a young boy 17. Pythagasaurus insidiously seduced by a cynical collector of by Peter Peake & Aardman Animations | UK keys. Bumbling cavemen Ig and Uk awake to find a volcano on their doorstep. Could their only 13. Herr Hoppe and the Nuclear hope be a dinosaur who’s good at maths? Waste - Sewer by Jan Lachauer & Thorsten Löffler | Germany 18. De ris ou d’Armenie A barrel of nuclear waste drops into the living by Samy Barras, Helene Marchal, Romain room of Herr Hoppe, an average suburban Blondelle & Celine Seille | France German. He has to get rid of it, and does so As Alphonse loses his memories, Odette in his own wacky way. spends her days collecting and sorting them — until one day there are no more. All that 14. This Thirst remains is to dance. by François Vogel | France “This Thirst” takes us on a hypnotic 19. Choros journey with the sky train in Dubai. The by Michael Langan & Terah Maher | USA disproportionate architecture bordering the A chorus of women are born from the tracks is trapped by a camera that twists movements of a single dancer in this roads and buildings. The singer Reham dreamlike pas de trente-deux. accompanies this trip with a disturbing message. Intermission 20. Borderline 21. 108 Prayer Beads by Dustin Rees | Switzerland by Han Han Li | USA A border guard tries to take his own life, but Chaos rules, but things evolve. The seed of not all barriers can be crossed. enlightenment is embedded in everyone. 22. Birthday by the intense heat and steam, he relives a by Jari Vaara | Finland memory of his father. Objects and patterns In a villainously industrial world, little kids reappear, evoking a desire to rid his father can’t always get what they want, and need of a birthmark they both share. Their past to be prepared for a life of labor. relationship ignites. 23. 366 Tage (366 Days) 26. CADAVER by Johannes Schiehsl | Austria by Jonah Ansell | USA Starting social work as a paramedic, young A cadaver wakes up to say a last goodbye Patrick soon comes in contact with patients to his wife, but discovers a truth in death he that are more suffering from their loneliness didn’t know in life. than from their actual diseases. As he tries to help, he gets himself into relationships that 27. crazy for it are far more demanding than expected. by Yutaro KUBO | Japan Everyone has impulses which happen 24. Don’t Be Nervous suddenly in their life. by Peter Gulsvig | USA Johndace, an obese Edwardian boy, 28. Aalterate attempts to play fetch with his dog. by Christobal de Oliveira | France & Netherlands 25.