OIAF 2024 unveils official selections for young and teenage audiences, animated series

The Ottawa International Animation Festival has unveiled the official selections in the Youth 7+, Teen 13+ and Animated Series categories. In addition to competitions, the event features screenings, exhibitions and workshops, bringing together artists, producers, students and animation enthusiasts from around the world to discover world-class animation. This year, the OIAF runs from September 25 to 29.

The competition's newest category features 10 animated works that bridge the gap between adult and child audiences, including the latest from Pixar Animation Studio's SparkShorts program. This year, the Young Audience 7+ includes nine selections, including a film directed by Portuguese high school students.

“Each year we try to find a range of voices and visions to introduce young audiences to facets of animation that they don't have easy access to,” said OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. “We hope these films will inspire and encourage a new generation of artists to follow their own creative path.”

The Teen Audiences 13+ competition includes:

Ice cream (On the way for ice cream) (dir. Rachel Samson, Canada)

Crvotočina (Wormhole) (dir. Tara Klepac, Croatia)

Girls in real situations (directed by Ofre Sparrow Vaknin, USA)

Hairy legs (dir. Andrea Dorfman, Canada)

I swallowed a caterpillar (My teenage blackout) (dir. Basile Khatir, France)

Nabu (dir. Joanna Rusinek, Poland)

Self (dir. Searit Huluf, United States)

The All-Animal (directed by Nick Edwards, USA)

The last drop (directed by Constance Braun, Mathilde Zupancie, Lauriane Devaux, Timothée Adens, Charlie Bossuyt, Raphaël Debroize and Baptiste Janusz, France)

Mixture (dir. Michelle Ku, Canada)

Teenagers will judge the Teen Audiences 13+ competition on September 27, 2024, during Teens @ OIAF day.

The Young Audience 7+ category includes:

Bourk! (Yuck!) (dir. Loïc Espuche, France)

A monster of nature (dir. Alexandra Lermer, Germany)

Kanopos ir pačiūžos (Clogs on skates) (dir. Ignas Meilūnas, Lithuania)

The great annual celebration of the creatures of the Moon (The great annual festival of the creatures of the moon) (dir. Francis Desharnais, Canada)

Married (directed by Jan B. Piskač, Czech Republic)

Clouded (dir. Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera Estrada and Christian Arredondo Narvaez, France/Mexico/Hungary)

Kravě (About a cow) (dir. Pavla Baštanová, Czech Republic/Switzerland)

I am diabetic (Just Little Imps) (dir. Students of the Escola Básica Maria Pais Ribeiro high school, Portugal)

Tuu Tuu until (directed by Veronica Solomon, Germany)

The OIAF 2024 children's jury, made up of animation enthusiasts aged 8 to 12 from the Ottawa region, judges the Young Audiences 7+ category. The application process for youth jurors is open and closes on July 29, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Animated Series Competition (six animated works are competing in this category):

Bad bad Belgium (dir. Jasper Declercq, Wouter Medaer and Jonas Wellens, Belgium) — North American premiere at OIAF 2024

In the thick of it “Portrait of a fire safety representative” (directed by Zach Woods and Brandon Gardner, USA) — Canadian debut at OIAF 2024

Let's play pretend! (dir. Sam Lane, USA)

Little Edy: Episode 3 (directed by Felipe Di Poi, USA)

The Reign of the Scavenger: “The Signal” (directed by Joe Bennett and Charles Huettner, USA)

가츄캐츄 (I got you, catch me) (dir. Taesik Shin and Kyuri Park, Republic of Korea) — International premiere at OIAF 2024

“We strive to find little-known series that the OIAF audience may not be familiar with,” added Robinson. “We are not only looking abroad, but also to alternative streaming sources. This year's crop includes science fiction, office comedies, historical works, and absurdist works that the OIAF is renowned for discovering.

Further information on this year's edition is available on the OIAF website.

Source: OIAF