Poster for the 2006 Waterloo Festival for Animated CinemaFestival curator Joseph C. Chen (right) talking with director Ladd Ehlinger Jr. about his film Flatland at the 2007 festival.
The festival was founded in 2001(2001) to promote appreciation for animation as a narrative medium for mature cinematic storytelling, and to review and celebrate animated feature films in the venue they were meant to be seen: a theatre.
The festival was unique in its focus on feature animation. Its selection of films suggested a desire to create bridges: from audience to animator, from anime to non-anime, and most obviously from mature audiences to mature films, which simply happen to be animated. The programme was also surprisingly comprehensive - in its first year the festival was dedicated mainly to anime, but it later became much more international. Perhaps reflecting its focus, WFAC has presented more animated feature films in public exhibition than any other festival in the world.
One interesting development since 2003 was the festival's Tidbits programme, developed to search out and promote the creation of feature films by one single artist or very small groups, made possible by advancements in technology.
Retrospective screenings: Canadian/North American premiere of Rocky and Hudson
Tidbits selections: Canadian/North American/International premieres of Black Ceiling, Five Centimeters Per Second, The Killer of Montmartre, Anna and the Moods, SOS Metro Tokyo Explorers
World Cinema: Canadian/North American/International premieres of The Pixar Story, RH+: the Vampiress of Seville, Flatland, One Night in One City, Wood & Stock: Sex, Oregano and Rock 'n Roll; also Aachi and Ssipak, The Ugly Duckling and Me, Film Noir, Free Jimmy
2006
Retrospective screenings: Princes and Princesses
Titbits selections: various
World Cinema: Canadian/North American/International premieres of Origin: Spirits of the Past, Fimfárum 2, Fire Ball, Khan Kluay, Pettson and Findus: Pettson's Promise, Prince Vladimir, Dobrynia Nikitich, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time; also Princess, The Book of the Dead, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, Blood Tea and Red String
2005
World Cinema: Canadian/North American/International premieres of Alosha Popovich i Tugarin Zmey, Fragile Machine, A Place Promised in Our Early Days, Terkel in Trouble; also Frank and Wendy, Mind Game, The District, Strings, Winter Days
2004
Retrospective screenings: Rock & Rule
Tidbits: various
World Cinema: Canadian/North American/International premieres of Appleseed, McDull: Prince de la Bun, Oseam, Y Mabinogi, La Prophétie des Grenouilles, Karlik Nos; also Steamboy, Kaena, The Legend of the Sky Kingdom, Hair High
2003
Retrospective screenings: Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Utena, Perfect Blue, Escaflowne
Tidbits: various
World Cinema: Canadian/North American/International premieres of Mari Iyagi, WXIII Patlabor, My Life as McDull, Princess Arête, Corto Maltese, Wonderful Days, Officer Down, Missing Persons; also Princes and Princesses
2002
World Cinema: Canadian/North American premieres of Cowboy Bebop, A Tree of Palme; also Spirited Away, Spriggan
2001
World Cinema: Canadian premieres of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Metropolis, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some film festivals focus on a specific filmmaker, genre of film, or subject matter. Several film festivals focus solely on presenting short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals as official releases of the film.
Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijo, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, and Hisaya Morishige.
The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, founded in 1976 and taking place each September. It is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Lightbox cultural centre, located in Downtown Toronto.
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on niche, B-rated and low budget movies in various genres, from horror to sci-fi. Regularly held in July/August, by 2016 its annual audience had already surpassed 100,000 viewers and outgrown even the Montreal World Film Festival.
The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan.
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The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.
Toronto After Dark Film Festival is a showcase of horror, sci-fi, action and cult cinema held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival premieres a diverse selection of feature-length and short-films from around the world including new works from Asia, Europe and North America.
The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is an annual film festival hosted in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is the largest film festival in England outside of London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November in various venues throughout Leeds, including Hyde Park Picture House and Cottage Road Cinema. In 2022, the festival showed 140 films from 78 different countries, shorts and features, both commercial and independent.
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The London Russian Film Festival is an annual film festival, launched by Academia Rossica in 2007. The festival is aimed to present cinema in Russian language to an English speaking audience. All films are shown in original language, with English subtitles. The film programme includes feature films as well documentaries and animated films. Apart from the film screenings, the festival encompasses Q&A sessions with actors, directors and producers presenting the films, discussion events about contemporary Russian films and culture, and film showings specially for children.
The Film North – Huntsville International Film Festival (HIFF) is a film festival that takes place annually in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. Held in September, the festival's mandate is to create a user-friendly environment for emerging Canadian and International Filmmakers. Film North 2014 tookplace at the Algonquin Theatre, Huntsville, Ontario from September 18 to 20. The program was announced in August. Film North is a charitable organization.
Animaze - Montreal International Animation Film Festival is an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada dedicated to the celebration of animation in all forms. Now going into its 8th edition, the next edition will take place August 2020 ANIMAZE presents animated film of all genres from around the world which may have limited theatrical releases.
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Directors Lounge is an ongoing Berlin-based film and media-art platform with year-round screenings and exhibitions in Berlin and various other cities. Annually parallel to the Berlin Film Festival (February), the central event of the Directors Lounge, the intensified presentation The Berlin International Directors Lounge takes place. Directors Lounge is the brainchild of filmmaker André Werner, artist Joachim Seinfeld and gallerist/curator Longest F. Stein in conjunction with the A&O-gallery and other artists from the Berlin media art scene.
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The ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, organized in Poznań under the patronage of the city of Poznań since 2008, is the most important international animated film festival in Poland. During every edition of this event more than 300 films from all over the world, including retrospectives, thematic reviews, premieres and screenings with live music and rarely shown works of animation pioneers are presented.
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