2019 TIAF Short Films Competition Lineup Announced

60 Nominated films vie for 1.2-million awards, submissions hit record-high

The 5^th Taichung International Animation Festival (TIAF) announced today (Jul 31^st) the official line-up of the Short Films in Competition. These 60 nominated films are selected out of the record-high 2,201 submissions from 88 countries/regions. In addition to the award-winning works from the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Animafest Zagreb, the line-up also includes several nominees of this year’s Taipei Film Awards Best Animation. This grand showcase for animations of the year invites all the cinephiles nationwide to Taichung this October, to explore these animations and support the filmmakers.

TIAF is the biggest animation festival in Taiwan, the prizes for competition films totaling TWD 1.2 million also attract worldwide submissions. This year, the competition sections are Short Films in Competition and Student Films in Competition; in order to encourage Taiwanese original animations, there are also Grand Prix awards exclusively for Taiwanese Short Film and Taiwanese Student Short Film. This year, together with the annual Audience Award, there will be a new addition Children’s Choice Award, in conjunction with screenings for children to extend the connection between various generations and the animation festival. After two-months of jury selection process, 60 films are selected for Short Films in Competition and Student Films in Competition (30 in each category). All these 60 films will be screened from October 11^th to October 20^th 2019, and the festival will also invite the filmmakers to attend for face-to-face communication with the audience.

This year’s nominated films come from 28 countries/regions around the globe, with several Taiwan premieres, including Uncle Thomas, Accounting for the Days (Jury Award for Short Films, Annecy Festival), Daughter (Cristal for a Graduation Film, Annecy Festival), Kids (Golden Zagreb, Animafest Zagreb), Imbued Life (Special Mention, Animafest Zagreb), Movements (Selection, Directors’ Fortnight), and Kingdom (Selection, Berlinale Shorts).

There are totaling 10 Taiwanese animations in competition, including A Blissful Moment, the first animation directed by Liao Shih-han (The Rope Curse) and dubbed by noted actors Wu Kang-ren, Bamboo Chen and King Jieh-wen, Do-ji-le?, by Cindy Yang, winner of the 2016 TIAF Taichung Award, as well as nominees of 2019 Taipei Film Awards Best Animation Gold Fish, Hidden Zone and ADORABLE (director Chung Cheng-hsu also nominated with another short Remote Life Drawings), to vie for Grand Prix awards of Taiwanese Shot Film and Taiwanese Student Short Film.

Preliminary stage jury are Lin Chiao-fang (Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Animation and Film Art, Tainan National University of the Arts), Zhang Xu-zhan ({Si So Mi}, Grand Prix winner of 2018 TIAF Taiwanese Short Film) and Hsueh Yu-ting (Crash Testing, 2016 TIAF award winner). Lin speaks highly about the short films for their varied medium application and diverse themes, especially the bold expression in student shorts. Zhang eyes for the international award-winning contenders, whether it’s created by hand-drawing, 3D, mixed media or puppet animation, while also notes the Taiwanese shorts for their potential to develop into feature films. Hsueh remarks on the assorted styles with distinct, avant-garde and audacious subjects, stories and art design.

The sponsor Wacom also offers the following products as extra reward for Short Film Competition winners: Cintiq Pro 13 Pen Display (Grand Prix of Taiwanese Short Film), Intuos Pro M Pen Tablet (Grand Prix of Taiwanese Student Short Film), and Intuos Comfort Small Pen Tablet with Bluetooth (Audience Award).

2019 Taichung International Animation Festival will take place from Friday October 11^th to Sunday October 20^th at Kbro Cinemas in Taichung, with screenings of all the nominated animations. The award winners will be announced at the awarding ceremony on October 16^th. For more info and details of the festival and its affiliated events, please visit official website (twtiaf.com) and Facebook Fanpage (facebook.com/tiaf.taichung).

Nominees List Here