Ottawa International Animation Festival

 

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is one of the world’s leading animation events providing screenings, workshops, and entertainment since 1976. OIAF is an annual five-day event bringing art and industry together in a vibrant hub, attracting artists, producers, students, and animation fans from around the world.

From September 25 – 29, the OIAF will transform the ByTowne Cinema, Arts Court, Club SAW, Strathcona Park, the National Arts Centre, and the Ottawa Art Gallery into the epicentre of animation. Sample a few events like the variety of films in short competitions, hands-on animation workshops at All Ages @ OIAF, Animation Exposé for behind-the-scenes insights, and parties aplenty or indulge in them all at OIAF 2024!

Find out about our 2024 poster by filmmaker Lei Lei.

See who’s on this year’s jury here.

OIAF 2024 Poster

 

Statement from the Artist

“When I was a kid, I loved playing video games. I remember the Nintendo games of the 1990s, specifically two very popular games: Donkey Kong and Snow Bros.

On the poster for the 2024 Ottawa International Animation Festival, the owl standing at the top of the poster replaces Donkey Kong. A young girl (possibly a filmmaker) must travel across the city to catch the owl, having many amazing experiences along the way.

The cinema theatre will be the end of her journey, so take a seat on a comfortable couch and wait for the show.”

Lei Lei

2024 OIAF poster by Lei Lei
Photo of filmmaker Lei Lei

Lei Lei

2024 Poster and Signal Film Artist

Born in 1985 in Nanchang, Lei Lei graduated from Tsinghua University in 2009 with a Master’s degree in Animation. Since then, he has worked as an independent filmmaker and experimental animation artist. His works include short animation films THIS IS LOVE (Best Narrative Short Award at Ottawa International Film Festival in 2010), RECYCLED (selected at Annecy Film Festival, Grand Prix of Shorts & Non-Narrative Films at Holland International Animation Film Festival), and many others, which have been selected in numerous international festivals and exhibited in museums.

Since 2017, Lei has spent most of his time in Los Angeles, where he is a full-time faculty member at the department of Experimental Animation, CalArts.

2024 Jury Members

Neil Hunter

Feature Competition Jury

Neil Hunter, a seasoned animation professor, leads Algonquin College’s animation department with over 35 years of industry expertise. His journey spans from running a commercial studio to contributing to acclaimed series and films. Joining Ottawa for the Gemini Award-winning series The Raccoons, he excelled as a senior animator and later as a Storyboard Artist. Nominated for an Emmy for his work on Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?, he continues to enrich the industry with freelance contributions to Emmy-winning shows like Hilda. As a full-time professor and Co-coordinator for over 20 years, Neil championed Algonquin’s Animation program, earning it recognition as the first Canadian Toon Boom Centre of Excellence.

Dahee Jeong

Feature Competition Jury

Dahee Jeong is a South Korean animation filmmaker. Dahee has worked as an independent director and producer of animated films since 2013. Her debut film, Man on the Chair (2014), was featured in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Cristal for Best Short Film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Her films The Empty (2016) and Movements (2019) have also received international recognition and multiple awards. In 2024, she will complete her latest short film, Society of Clothes, a co-production between Miyu Productions, Between the Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada.

Jonathan Djob Nkondo

Short Competition Jury

Jonathan Djob Nkondo is a French filmmaker, illustrator, and comic author whose work, generally composed of a restricted range of colors, is at once dreamlike, poetic and introspective. He studied animation at Gobelins in Paris, France. Graduating in 2011, he has since focused on the design of conceptual and playful works whose themes vary depending on the mediums used. From his work emerges a desire to push the limits of the art of storytelling and movement.

Anastasiya Verlinska

Short Competition Jury

Anastasiya Verlinska has worked as a project manager for one of the biggest Eastern European film companies, FILM.UA Group, implementing projects to promote both film and animation in Ukraine. In 2014, she joined the team of the LINOLEUM animation festival as a program coordinator, and in 2016, she became its director. Apart from the festival, Anastasiya organizes screenings of both international and Ukrainian animation, as well as educational projects that help develop the local animation industry. She also works as an expert at the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

Ivana (Bošnjak) Volda

Short Competition Jury

Ivana (Bošnjak) Volda graduated from the Graphics Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and Animation at the University in Volda, Norway. She graduated with her film Crossed Sild, made in collaboration with Lea Vidaković. Ivana is co-director together with her partner Thomas Johnson Volda of two puppet films Simulacra (2014) and Imbued Life (2019) which were produced with Bonobostudio. The films have been screened and awarded at many international festivals. Ivana has been professionally involved in various stop motion projects across Europe, and has led animation workshops for children and students.

Thomas (Johnson) Volda

Feature Competition Jury

Thomas (Johnson) Volda graduated in Time Based Media from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and at the New Media Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Thomas has co-directed two stop-animation short films together with his partner Ivana Bošnjak Volda, Simulacra (2014) and Imbued Life (2019), with Bonobostudio. The films have been screened at many festivals, and have received several acclaimed awards. He is multidisciplinary artist often combining animation and performance art disciplines in his work. Thomas has created puppet performances at numerous international festivals and galleries across Europe.

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