Children's Films: Day 2

The thing that is nice about day two at this film festival is I get into a groove.  A steady stream of burnt coffee kept me going for over eight straight hours. By midday, I got a feel for the festival.  As far as animation styles, there are some really creative uses of fabric, although computers and clay are still going strong. And after a few films I could tell which animals are hot with the kids (it hippos and tigers, by the way). A big theme seems to be is family dynamics, including coping with death and divorce.

This is also the day I began watching live-action short film, which normally means a good number of tears. Some of the past films to make me leak buckets include Toyland, Angry Man, and Felix, just to name a few. So far this year, though I have been moved, I haven’t needed to pull out the tissues.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

So here is today’s wrap up: 43 animated shorts and 19 live-action shorts.

I was not sure if I was going to end up crying or laughing during Franswa Sharl. At one point I popped off my headphones and buried my face only to put them back on rewind it so I didn’t miss a second. You can see a few bits of it here.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndqYjSoN5b8[/youtube]

If you feel like you’re trapped in dead-end job, but lacking the motivation to do something about it, this one is for you. The entire film is avalible on NFB website.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-qq187pgF8[/youtube]

Director Peter Baynton has a new cut-paper animation film this year called Save Our Bacon,  which is about a struggling pig farmer. Since its not available on the web I thought I would share his equally funny film from a few years ago call Over the Hill.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfHzS1_84-g[/youtube]

And here is a hippo.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/12682999[/vimeo]

But next year, might the newest animal rage be The Gruffalo?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBZwy-7dvlc&feature=related[/youtube]