Indie AniFest is a great festival. Just two years
old, it is the first, middle and last word on the contemporary Korean
animation scene. It is a weeklong event focusing solely on the best
recently released Korean animation. As a celebration of an indie
animation community which is coming up to creative warp speed before
our very eyes it is one we’re paying close attention to.
Korean animation is going from strength to strength.
Working predominantly in drawn, puppets, 2D, 3D and flash, the real
charm and uniqueness of much Korean animation is its unusual narrative
structures – a kind of ‘logic-but-with-a-twist’
approach to delivering a story. Attention to detail is the finishing
flourish that makes the best Korean animation compelling, entertaining
and thought provoking.
MIAF’s relationship with Indie AniFest
was cemented in its first year when we were invited to curate and
screen a collection of Australian films and sit on the jury at the
inaugural event last year. Offered access to their entire collection
of 2007 submissions, the temptation to was too much and we managed
to squeeze this program into the MIAF schedule. Wading through several
hundred brand new Korean films is a special experience – there
can be no definitive result but this program is what we managed
to (kind of) all agree on.
