21/11/2011

This year’s Animated Dreams film festival came to a close in Tallinn this weekend. The biggest animation event in the Baltics has over the past 13 years garnered a reputation as providing an eclectic and somewhat brave selection of films and this year was no different.

In the international competition the winner of the Wooden Wolf Grand Prix was the brilliantly confrontational The External World by David O’Reilly, a dark satire of animation and morality that comes across as a blend of the work of David Lynch and British satirist Chris Morris. Also walking away with the audience award, the film’s twisted sensibilities were a refreshing change from the more twee fare that animation is often associated with. Other highlights included the brilliantly inventive and absurd Lady Crush by Hanna Sköld, a tale of identity and longing, and Estonia’s Body Memory by Ülo Pikkov, which once again delighted audiences after already winning numerous awards on the festival circuit.

With other programmes including a celebration of the legendary Estonian animator Rein Rammat and the 80th Birthday of Estonian Animation alongside a focus on Japanese Indie Animation, the festival was a hit amongst the audiences and the numerous animators in attendance.

However, 2011 was more significant for the launch of the first AnimaCampus Tallinn. Young animation professionals were invited to submit work and a letter of intent and successful applicants were invited to spend 5 days in Tallinn to take part in lectures, presentations and workshops aimed at helping them develop their careers. After attending the opening night and talking to some of the participants – who hailed from a wide range of places including Israel, Norway and the US – it was clear that they were excited about visiting Tallinn and being able to take part in the event whilst making contacts with many of their peers and contemporaries. As AnimaCampus Tallinn progressed – with screenings and talks from the likes of Mark Shapiro from Laika Studio (responsible for the Oscar nominated Coraline) – there was a genuine sense of excitement and creative buzz which bodes well for the future years. Indeed, AnimaCampus Tallinn will seemingly begin to grow into an important fixture on the animation map, not only in the Baltics but in the entire world.