NonStop Barcelona Animation kicks off

From the 15th to the 19th of May, the Institut Francès and the Espai Jove La Fontana will be the principle headquarters of this year’s edition of NonStop Barcelona, the international event dedicated exclusively to animated cinema. The competition has a new poster designed by Juanjo Sáez and will be showing some of the most recent and best known films of this particular genre.
 

El millor d’Annecy 2012 (The Best of Annecy 2012), for example, will be showing a selection of the most acclaimed short films from the latest edition of the French festival. Our neighbouring country will also be represented in a session that includes the latest short films from the renowned French studio Folimage. In addition there will be a conference with keynote speaker Izu Troin, director of short films such as Le Boucheron des Mots (The Wordcutter) and Ceux d’en Haut (The Inn), as well as head of special effects, composer and title sequences animator for the studio.
 

Michel Ocelot, the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress, is the guest of honour in this year’s festival. The director, who has been one of the essential references in European animated cinema for more than thirty years, will be presenting a master class and a selection of his work will be shown during the course of the festival. Another noteworthy presence will be that of Serge Ume, the founder of the Belgian studio Digital Graphics. Among other projects, Ume was the head of post-production for the film The Secret of Kells.