OK Offenes Kulturhaus Oberösterreich (Mediendeck)

They populate abstruse, bizarre and often ominous realms of the imagination, live through the most fantastic plots, turn the law of gravity on its head, and draw upon unlimited energy reserves. More and more of the 21^st century’s film stars aren’t flesh-and-blood creatures; the source of their vitality is bits and bytes. The content spectrum of Computer Animations —as reflected by the 500 works from all over the world submitted for prize consideration to Prix Ars Electronica 2009—is virtually unlimited. These efforts range from experimental-abstract productions, sound visualizations, short cuts and special effects all the way to classic narrative filmmaking.

The 15 programs that make up the 2009 Ars Electronica Animation Festival’s lineup once again showcase the outstanding work currently being done at artists’ ateliers, universities and film academies as well as in the production studios of the film and advertising industries.

Curated by Christine Schöpf (AT) / Jürgen Hagler (AT)
Screendesign, Trailer, Concept & Animation by Claus Helfenschneider & Alexander Piringer (AT)
Directed by Claus Helfenschneider
Project Management: Bianca Petscher

Animal Worlds
When a rookery of penguins says adios to the Arctic ice and relocates to the southern tropics, when a dispute between two rats turns into a mass brawl, when dogs bicker and cats caterwaul, then action’s afoot in the animal kingdom, which once again proves: all God’s creatures got feelings!

Blood&Fight
They fight: against society, with themselves, for survival. They stumble through existence on this mortal coil, wounded, at the mercy of fate, harried, hunted, persecuted. They struggle beyond the limits, to the point of bloodshed—their own and that of the others. If it’s goodnight stories you seek, friend, look elsewhere!

Dark Stories
Nightmares hidden behind masks awaken, twisted paths lead into the unknown, abysses yawn, apprehensions, anxieties and dark fantasies surface. Verily I say unto thee: these are no messages of good cheer. Only for strong nerves.

Animated Psycho
When ones internal equilibrium gets well out of whack and the sky is falling; when one feels deserted by all friends and gods alike; when one seeks shelter from the storm: mental states of emergency manifest themselves in these films in therapeutic dialogues and transforming bodies.

Late Night
Offbeat perspectives, subversive standpoints, spiced with trashy visuals and a dollop of sex&crime—these are the ingredients of this late-night snack. Not necessarily for diners of all ages but by all means tasty fare for a relaxed chill-out.

Motion Patterns
These films play with perspective and perception. Generative image design is the painting of the 21^st century.

Inner & Outer Spaces
Utopian landscapes like saline deserts and alien terrains, architecture and spaces in motion emerge and reformulate themselves in continuously shifting perspectives. Space and time get a bit blurred.

Narration
These are real-life stories. Or might have been. Or those that could only have happened in a dream. They tell of love, of the desire to flee, of protecting and helping, of deceptions and lies.

Position & Message
If you haven’t already stumbled across this stuff online, here it is neatly packaged: opinions, communiqués, statements and critiques. In short, what all sorts of people have to say on a wide variety of topics.

Short Cuts
Of course, it would be possible to give much more elaborate accounts of these matters, but this works too: succinct, colorful and entertaining. Just like it says, short cuts!

Sound & Vision
The interplay of image and sound already has a long tradition in computer animation. This program spotlights current examples of visual music: inseparable, sensual, lyrical …

Visual Effects
What’s real; what’s virtual? It’s increasingly difficult for observers to draw the dividing line. Considering what we encounter in films, TV shows and commercials nowadays, it seems nothing’s impossible anymore.

Japanese Animation
Visual imaginativeness and unconventional narrative forms characterize animation made in Japan. This program curated by the Japan Media Arts Festival showcases a cross-section of artistic productions from recent years.

Mexican Animation
ANIMASIVO, Contemporary animation forum, is pursuing to promote creation, production and massive diffusion of animated works as an art form and contemporary expression. This project is impulsed by the Festival of Mexico, with a triple profile: it´s a youth animation contest, an exhibition platform for consolidated artists and an animated art academic space.

Download PDF of detailed program

Filming and photographing during the screening is prohibited.

Brucknerhaus, History Stage

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Screening “The benchmark for digital artists and scientists alike”

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM S. Carlye Archibeque: Anatomy of a Film Festival: How to get Nominated for an Academy Award
Drawing on 15-years of experience in the motion picture and visual effects industry as a producer and asset manager, this talk will focus on the practical aspects of the festival and short film award process including the submission process, formatting of your film and being your own producer, manager and marketing team.

Carlye Archibeque began her industry career at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences where she worked for 7-years coordinating the awards committees for the craft branches of the Academy and co-producing the Student Academy Awards and the Scientific and Technical Awards. in 2002 she moved to Sony Pictures Imageworks to function as the visual effects coordinator for Spider-Man 2 and after that served for 4-years as the asset manager for the marketing department at Imageworks. She has spent the last three years working on the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival as Assistant Producer in 2007, Producer in 2008 and this year as the Chair and Executive Producer. Additionally, in 2009 she served as a jury member on the Stuttgart Animation Festival in the feature length animated film category.

5:30 PM – 6:35 PM Franz Fischnaller, Projection/Screening and Talk: Is a point part of a line?
Convergence | Strategic technologies | Interactive Techniques | Computer Graphics Virtualization | Innovation | market | tendencies…

Talk/Intro: 5 minutes
Projection screening: 50 minutes

www.siggraph.org/s2009/

OK Offenes Kulturhaus Oberösterreich

Visual imaginativeness and unconventional narrative forms characterize animation made in Japan. This program curated by the Japan Media Arts Festival showcases a cross-section of artistic productions from recent years.

Witty, off-beat, subtle, tragic and serious animated work produced by young filmmakers will be screened during the festival in the Ars Electronica Center and the OK Offenes Kulturhaus Oberösterreich.

Every year, gifted young directors and filmmakers submit their shorts to u19 – freestyle computing, the Prix Ars Electronica’s category for kids and young adults. The greatest hits will be featured in young animations. And once again this year, the lineup will include great work by creative youngsters from other countries: Switzerland (bugnplay – The Youth Competition of migros/kulturprozent) und Germany (MB21).