The International Festival of Animated Objects is an annual festival which promotes the arts of puppetry, mask, and animated objects in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The FAO was produced by Xstine Cook as a project of the non-profit group Calgary Animated Objects Society from 2002-2016. It was formed as its own non-profit society, the International Festival of Animated Objects Society in 2015 by Xstine Cook, Bob Davis, and Peter Balkwill. It was originally produced biennially by Xstine Cook from 2002-2016, then by Gwen Murray in 2017 and 2019, and Amelia Newbert in 2021. Newbert transitioned the FAO to an annual event during the pandemic era in 2022. Cosmo Christoffersen took the helm in 2023, and is the current Managing Producer.
The FAO features high calibre local, national, and international artists working in the realm of animated objects. Programming includes live performances, screenings, lectures, workshops, exhibitions for all ages and adult audiences, including the ever-popular late night "Dolly Wiggler Cabaret".
Past programming has included Canadian marionette superstar Ronnie Burkett, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, BC spectacle artists Three on the Tree, Tsimphisan carver Victor Reece, Cirque du Soleil artist Mooky Cornish, Phillip Huber (of "Being John Malkovich" marionette fame), Frank Meschkuleit ("Bride of Chucky", "The Left Hand of Frank"), Calgary's The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, Red Smarteez, and Czech group Buchty a Loutky, amongst others.
The March 2024 edition of the Festival of Animated Objects included programming support from a number of partner organizations: Calgary Animated Objects Society produced the Exhibitions, curated by Tia DeLauria and Claudia Chagoya, Animovies short film packages by Kes Lefthand and Kelsey Two Young Men of the Stony Nakoda AV Club, and the Dolly Wiggler Cabaret which was curated by Xstine Cook, and hosted by Xstine Cook and Mooky Cornish. WP Puppet Theatre produced the Learning Component, in concert with Sparrow Arts Society. The Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry produced Wunderbriefs, a series of short pop-up works, as well as a residency with Brazilian artist Nina Vogel. Seton YMCA and Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge produced Splish Splash for young audiences. The FAO was sponsored by Street Characters.
Animovies is the screening portion of the International Festival of Animated Objects. Submissions for the film portion may be made through FilmFreeway.
Supporting the IFAO are the following organizations:
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack.
The Kainai Nation is a First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,965 members in 2024, up from 11,791 in December 2013.
The Blackfoot language, also called Siksiká is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America. There are four dialects, three of which are spoken in Alberta, Canada, and one of which is spoken in the United States: Siksiká / ᓱᖽᐧᖿ (Blackfoot), to the southeast of Calgary, Alberta; Kainai / ᖿᐟᖻ, spoken in Alberta between Cardston and Lethbridge; Aapátohsipikani / ᖳᑫᒪᐦᓱᑯᖿᖹ, to the west of Fort MacLeod which is Brocket (Piikani) and Aamsskáápipikani / ᖳᐢᔈᖿᑯᑯᖿᖹ, in northwestern Montana. The name Blackfoot probably comes from the blackened soles of the leather shoes that the people wore.
The Tsuutʼina Nation, also spelled Tsuu Tʼina or Tsu Tʼina, is a First Nation band government in Alberta, Canada. The Tsuu T'ina Nation 145 reserve is located directly west of Calgary, with its eastern edge directly adjacent to the southwest city limits. Their traditional territory spans a much larger area in southern Alberta. The land area of the current reserve is 283.14 km2, and it had a population of 1,982 in the 2001 Canadian census. The northeast portion of the reserve was used as part of CFB Calgary, a Canadian Army base, from 1910 to 1998. In 2006, the land was returned to the Nation by the Government of Canada.
Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Crown and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nation band governments in what is today the southern portion of Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was brought to Blackfoot chief Crowfoot by John McDougall in 1875. It was concluded on September 22 and December 4, 1877. The agreement was signed at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, at the present-day Siksika Nation reserve, approximately 75 km (47 mi) east of Calgary. Chief Crowfoot was one of the signatories to Treaty 7. Another signing on this treaty occurred on December 4, 1877, to accommodate some Blackfoot leaders who were not present at the primary September 1877 signing.
The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October.
Inglewood is an urban neighbourhood in central Calgary, Alberta, Canada, centred on 9th Avenue SE for several blocks east of the Elbow River and downtown. It also contains the Business Revitalization Zone of Inglewood.
Wordfest is a not-for-profit arts organization that produces one of Canada's largest international literary festivals, taking place each October in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to the yearly festival, Wordfest also facilitates and hosts year-round events, including poetry and spoken word performances, current event panels, publishing industry workshops, art installations, and youth and multilingual programming.
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop is a puppet theatre company, founded on a ranch in southern Alberta in 1999. The company's first year of operation was an experience of intense collaborative isolation – the Trouts lived together, cooked together, and worked together. They collected eggs, fed the pigs, and premiered their first show to a bunkhouse full of cowboys and Hutterites. A year later, they moved to Calgary, having exhausted the joys of living in a coal-heated shack. The Trouts now travel the world, performing at festivals that celebrate the art of the extraordinary.
Calgary Animated Objects Society (CAOS) is a non-profit charitable arts organization based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Calgary is the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is the largest metro area within the three prairie provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,680,000 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.
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NUTV at the University of Calgary is one of the oldest university-based television production societies in Canada. Established in 1983 and incorporated in 1991, NUTV is a campus-based non-profit organization that offers opportunities to University of Calgary students and community members to explore the medium of television by learning the various stages of production. These opportunities include reporting/interviewing, hosting, writing, camera operation, lighting, sound mixing, using Final Cut Pro & Adobe Creative Suite, editing, producing, and directing. NUTV is part of the University of Calgary Tri-Media Alliance, composed of print, radio, and television (NUTV). The University of Calgary is unique in that it is one of only two Canadian universities that house three media operations on-campus, the other being the University of Toronto Mississauga's UTM/TV.
Naheed Kurban Nenshi is a Canadian politician who has been serving as the leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party since being elected to the post on June 22, 2024. He was the 36th mayor of Calgary, Alberta, serving from 2010 to 2021.
Heather Beth Henson is an American contemporary puppet artist, the daughter of Jim Henson. She serves on The Jim Henson Company, The Jim Henson Legacy, and the Jim Henson Foundation Boards of Directors. She is also a Trustee of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut.
Adrian Stimson is an artist and a member of the Siksika Nation.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is an American children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of creatures. It is a reboot of the original 1983 series Fraggle Rock by Jim Henson. The first season was released on Apple TV+ on January 21, 2022. It was renewed for a second season which was released on March 29, 2024.
Makram Ayache is a Canadian playwright and actor, whose play The Green Line was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2024 Governor General's Awards.
Calgary, 
Alberta, 
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