The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), North America’s largest and oldest animation film festival, unveiled the selections for the official competition at this September’s event. There were 100 films selected from a record-setting 2,469 entries from more than 20 countries including Latvia, Ecuador, Iran, Japan, Estonia, Brazil and Croatia.

“The films this year are remarkably diverse, mature and provocative,” said Chris Robinson, OIAF artistic director. “It really speaks to the many social and cultural challenges facing us today.”

The OIAF is known for showcasing independent as well as more commercial work. In competition this year is the worldwide cult hit Rick and Morty with the episode “Exquisite Corpse,” directed by Matt Taylor; also, the Emmy Award-winning animator and director JJ Sedelmaier, known for his work on SNL and The Colbert Report, is in competition with the Geico “He-Man” :30 commercial from The Martin Agency.

In 2017, John Morena made one film a week for a year as part of his Area 52 project. Morena’s work is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the things that connect us as a species. Four of these films will be in competition at the Festival.

This year’s animated features include the Cannes-screened The Magnificent Cake by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels, and Seder-Masochism by Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues)—possibly the only Passover movie to feature singing pharaohs and Egyptians and Jews dancing to Led Zeppelin and Gloria Gaynor.

The OIAF runs from September 26-30 at various venues in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For a full listing of films in competition, visit https://www.animationfestival.ca/index.php?option=com_oiaf&task=showsele....

OIAF is one of the world’s leading animation events providing screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976. OIAF is an annual five-day event bringing art and industry together in a vibrant hub and attracting more than 30,000 artists, producers, students and animation fans from all around the world.

Schultheiss Named Sehsucht’s CCO
Sehsucht, the German creative production studio, has appointed its longstanding creative director Hans-Christoph Schultheiss as chief creative officer for its headquarters in Hamburg.

Schultheiss has almost 18 years of experience in the fields of design, animation and film and he has been an exclusive in-house director with the company since 2011. During this time he has worked for various internationally esteemed clients such as Lamborghini, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus, and his films have picked up many globally recognized awards.

“Hans has a well deserved reputation for his intuitive understanding of innovative creative tasks and conceptual problem solving. His unpretentious leadership, vast knowledge of CGI and animation techniques combined with a highly creative handling of processed moving image —from the classic TVC to immersive film experiences—makes him the ideal candidate for this new role,” said Martin Woelke, founder and partner of Sehsucht.

As CCO, the designer and director will focus on refining and expanding the studio’s innovative production processes across their film, animation, design and visual effects departments.

Schultheiss said of his new role, “Sehsucht has always had a reputation for constantly re-inventing itself to stay ahead of the game. And once again it is time to take the next steps. I couldn’t be more excited about this new role, shaping the future of the studio together with our incredible team.”

Sehsucht maintains offices in Hamburg and Berlin.