Felix The Cat

In its time, Felix The Cat was easily the world’s most famous animated cartoon. The best Felix cartoons depicted a world in which nothing was ever quite as it seemed. Everything had an edge and Felix straddled the excesses of the swinging jazz era and the innocence of cinematic cartoons with consummate ease. Loved for more than 75 years, Felix The Cat is a classic in the truest sense of the word and for every episode that contains an eye-popping narrative audacity there is another that depicts the equally startling simplistic innocence of the age in which Felix ruled. In bringing this program to the screen, MIAF has to make special mention of the incredible hospitality and generosity of Colin Cowes: enthusiast, collector, living encyclopedia – and walking, talking reminder of why we do what we do.

10 Years of MIAF Highlights
presented in association with JMC Academy

Wow – we made it to our 10th anniversary!!. We’ve received more than 12,000 entries, screened more than 2,500 films, had some of the most talented animators in the world come and hang out with us – we must have learned something!!! Four screenings will review some of the hits, misses and should-a-beens from those years so we can relive some of the highlights and catastrophes that are all part and parcel of staging an annual animation festival. There will be one program focusing on Australian highlights a second focusing on the International Competition highlights, a third on Student films (this will be a free event screened in the Club) and of course, how could we go forward without a program of Bizarre highlights - you KNOW you want it!

Technique Focus – Direct to Film/Scratch
with special guest Steven Woloshen

Scratch film (or ‘direct-to-film’) is, by any definition, a painstaking way to create animation. Scratching images directly into film stock takes a steady hand and a mystical grasp of ‘visual rhythm’. Len Lye and Norman McLaren were the earliest, and most important, exponents of the form but modern day animators such as Richard Reeves and Steve Woloshen (both long-time MIAF favourites) continue to create stunning examples of the technique. This program combines a selection of outstanding recently released ‘scratch’ films with some of the finest classics. The program will be introduced by MIAF’s guest, Steve Woloshen, and will include a retrospective of his finest works along with a collection of historical classics and recently released films in competition.

Edouard Salier Showcase
presented in association with Qantm College

Edouard Salier is an animator with an awe-inspiring vision for his films. His best known films (“Flesh” and “Empire”) tackle enormous subjects and depict enormous environments – porn adorns entire cityscapes, whole cities are razed over and over by acts of war (or terror??), the military machine infiltrates the very DNA of unquestioning societies. His works get bigger, more complex, more challenging and more ambitious as he goes. His command of digital animation technologies is among the most assured of anybody working in the field and his work just keeps getting better and better – his latest film, “4”, is an immense and challenging achievement.

Autour de Minuit Showcase
presented in association with Qantm College

Autour de Minuit is one of the most dynamic animation and production houses in Europe. Their modest, euphemistically cosy Parisian office is home to an eclectic stable of animators, including MIAF guest Edouard Salier, Nieto, H5 – the crew who put together this year’s Academy Award-winner, “Logorama” – and others. On top of this, Autour de Minuit acts as a distribution hub for a stunning roster of European animators. They’re even producing Rosto’s latest opus, “The Monster Of Nix”, which you know we’re keeping a very close eye on. From this incredible treasure trove, MIAF has sourced a collection of some of the most interesting and uncompromisingly indie animation made in Europe in recent times, PLUS we will start the screening with a sneak preview of some of their works currently in production.

Slinky Pics Studio Showcase

Sharing it’s 10th Anniversary with MIAF, Slinky Pics has created some of MIAF’s favourite films. Many MIAF regulars will easily recall Slinky films such as “Who I Am And What I Want”, “Dad’s Dead”, “Moo(n)”, “One Of The Family”, “Tea Total” and “Come Rain Or Shine”. This is but the tip of the Slinky Pics mountain. Formed by Maria Manton and Chris Shepherd, Slinky Pics has provided a nurturing home for an extended family of British animators. From its base in London’s Brick Lane filmmakers such as Lucy Izzard, Leigh Hodgkinson, Emily Skinner, Joe King and Laura Heit have found an encouraging platform to create
a superb collection British animated films and award winning commercial projects.

International Programs (in Competition)

The backbone of the MIAF line-up. These screenings gather together the very best recently released short, auteur animations from the 2,000+ submissions we receive from 40+ countries. The films cover every imaginable style and genre. In addition to seven programs of eclectic individual films, the competition programs will also feature screenings that focus specifically on Digital (presented by Qantm College), ‘Long Shorts’, Abstract films and our technique of focus this year 'Direct to Film/Scratch'..

Australian Showcase
+ Meet The Filmmakers Forum

One of our most popular and important programs. Showcasing Australian animation is what MIAF loves to do best and, as a result, it’s this program that we tour nationally and internationally. The program will feature a collection of the best, recently released Australian animated shorts and will present local work in all of its diverse glory. Immediately after the screening in cinema, you'll have an opportunity to be introduced to the filmmakers who created some of the works in the Australian Panorama (as well as other Australian films spread throughout the festival), ask them about their work and join in a discussion about animating in this wide, brown land.

SIGGRAPH Wrap-Up
presented in association with Qantm College

SIGGRAPH is without doubt one of the most important gathering points for the international digerati. Whether it is short films, ads, software demo reels, trailers or music videos, SIGGRAPH exists to bring the finest digital animators and their work together. This year, we bring the very best works from SIGGRAPH Asia and the ‘mainland’ USA SIGGRAPH (held in New Orleans) to the big screen.

Zagreb Film Studio Tribute

Last year we looked at the historical works of Zagreb Film which is, despite incredible challenges, one of the most enduring animation production houses in the world, with a history dating back 50 years. Selected from the 30+ films released or distributed by them in the last 18 months, this program demonstrates the continuing vitality of this iconic studio, its fearlessness in referencing its history and its willingness to embrace new technologies and cultural paradigms.

Vince Collins Retrospective

Vince Collins is, without doubt, a true master of psychedelic animation. His films are a freight train-sized download of colour and pure energy mainlined straight into the part of the synapses that loves that stuff best. This program came to us via our friends at the Golden Plains Festival (special thanks to Jim Knox) and includes the absolute cult classic “Malice In Wonderland”.

The Best Of The Next:
International Student Animation Festival
presented by Storm FX

This series of four short programs takes an up-close look at the incredibly eclectic and often anarchically vibrant world of student animation. With graduate reels from more than 60 of the world’s leading schools as well as a treasure trove of individually submitted first films to choose from, this is your up-to-date snapshot at what the next generation of animators is doing. Priced at just $6 per screening, this whole mini-festival can be taken in in a single afternoon.

Late Night Bizarre

When your mailbag fills with more than 2000 short animated films, as ours does each year, there’s going to be some pretty ‘wrong’ moments. This MIAF favourite brings together a collection of the strangest, most mind-expanding indescribables from that mailbag and puts them up on the big screen where we can all have a good look at them. Some are fall-over funny, some are outlandishly odd, some are just impenetrably imponderable. Together, they are Late Night Bizarre. Buckle up Spanky!

Kids Program – JUST $6
presented in association with Media World Pictures

A program of extra-special films selected for our most extra-special audience – plus whichever grown-ups they want to bring along. Best suited for ages 4-7 years, these films bring the wonder of animation onto the big screen. They’re entertaining, thought provoking, colourful and enchanting – without a toy ad in sight! Then join us in the MIAF Club immediately afterwards for Dog Star, colouring & drawing.

Careers In Animation Forum
presented by Holmesglen

A MIAF institution organised and presented by our long term partner Holmesglen. This FREE forum puts the audience in touch with a panel of people working in the real-world animation industry. They talk about what it takes to break into the industry, what it’s like once you’ve broken in, what sort of skills the industry is demanding and much, much more.

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE
Sonic Island
Paul Fletcher & Friends

An evening of live film and music performance which
figuratively skates across the surface, and occasionally falls
through the cracks between Animation, Visual Music, Abstract,
Experimental and Narrative film, as well as Improvised and
Electro-acoustic Music in the digital era.

Featuring new works by Paul Fletcher,
Jacques Soddell, Simon Howard and
VCAM Animation and Music collaborative work.

Panorama Program Series

MIAF now receives more than 2000 entries each year and there are a lot of fantastic films that for one reason or another don’t make it past the consensus of the jury and into competition. A collection of these ‘must-see’ films get their big screen opportunity in our Panorama series. This year, four short programs lined up in quick succession on a single night will feature the best of these gems – a ‘festival within a festival’.

Best of the Fest

The big one!!...