International Program #3 – REPEAT

The International Competition Programs are the backbone of the entire MIAF mission. Drawn from more than 2,000 submissions they showcase the best, most imaginative animating talent on the planet in a series of programs in which the only rule is diversity.

The program kicks off with the incredible new film by the splendid Lizzie Hobbs, an animator with a uniquely, utterly electric painting style. “The Debutante” is a firey, alive work of art channelling what turns out to be a pretty strange story. In the middle of the program is “Water Lullaby”, a film made by probably the youngest ever filmmaker to appear in our line-up, the 16 year old Piotr Kazmierczak. The second last film is “Cricket”, the new film by Natalia Ryss which just simply fills every inch of the screen with a bold, impossible-to-ignore tsunami of imagery. It’s been a while since master British animator Emma Calder completed her film. “Beware Of Trains” takes us down tunnels that get darker and darker as we progress. She masterfully weaves an aura of the macabre around all of the non-stop action, bringing an ending nobody could possibly see coming. This film had to be the closer.