The SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 Computer Animation Festival (CAF), one of Asia’s premier showcases of the year’s best animated works, has announced three award-winning films as part of this year’s competition. An expert jury of professionals selected award-winning works that span the visual effects, animation, research and development, games, advertising, and education fields. The SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 conference and exhibition, where the winning films as well as numerous other CAF submissions will be screened, takes place November 17-20 in Brisbane, Australia.
In a celebration of how artistry in animation and graphics technologies evolve in tandem, CAF will showcase 41 short films and presentations, selected from 524 submissions. Awards in three categories – Best in Show, Jury Prize and Best Student Project – will be presented at SIGGRAPH Asia’s Opening Ceremony, being held November 18.
“I can’t wait for you to see this year’s SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival,” notes Pol Jeremias-Vila, SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 Computer Animation Festival Chair. “The jury selected amazing works from all over the world that truly represents how computer graphics are being used by students and professionals to create short films, advertising, visual effects, and visualization.”
Kids, co-created by Michael Frei and Mario von Rickenbach, Playables, Switzerland and is distributed by Wouter Jansen, Some Shorts, from Netherlands; is an animated short film that explores group dynamics, and how we define ourselves when we are all equal, asks who is steering the crowd, and what if it is heading in the wrong direction? Along with where does the individual end and the group begin? What is done by choice, and what under duress?
Ottawa Animation Festival director Chris Robinson said, “In Kids, the long awaited follow up to his beloved, Plug n Play, Frei returns to a simple setting, this time exploring groups. A bunch of faceless people make decisions based on no real logic at all, but just seemingly random directions of different members of the group. Total nonsense. That would never happen in reality.”
The Jury Prize of the Computer Animation Festival was given to Spring, directed by Andy Goralczyk, Blender Foundation, The Netherlands and produced by Francesco Siddi, Blender Foundation, The Netherlands
Spring is the story of a shepherd girl and her dog, who face ancient spirits in order to continue the cycle of life. This poetic and visually stunning short film was written and directed by Andy Goralczyk, inspired by his childhood in the mountains of Germany. The Spring team used the development version of Blender 2.80 for the entire production.
