ANIMALS IN LOVE
Directed by Ben Meinhardt
Canada / 2004 / 2 minutes

Animals sing and dance and live happily in the
forest until an intruder changes everything.

Bio:
Ben Meinhardt is from St. Louis, Missouri, USA, but has since wandered
far from the Midwest in his search for animation and film. At a very young
age he unknowingly began his animation career by drawing hundreds of crude
stick figures on post-it pads. Animation had become the perfect medium for
Ben to combine his storytelling, drawing and musical abilities into one
package and he hopes to continue to have the opportunity to
produce or direct more short films in the future.

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter, Music: Ben Meinhardt
Producer: Vancouver Film School

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BID THEM IN
by Neal Sopota
USA / 2004 / 2 minutes

A young woman’s humanity is cruelly rejected as she is placed on the
auction block of a small Southern town in pre-Civil War America.

Bio:
Neal Sopata received a bachelors in Studio Art and Instrumental Music from
the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. In 1999 he moved to the Los Angeles
area were he works as a feature film animator. His feature film credits
include Looney Tunes, Freddy vs. Jason, Cody Banks, Dare Devil, Hart's War,
Behind Enemy Lines, Driven and Scary Movie II. He has also animated for
several TV shows including Enterprise, Max Steel and Fairly Odd Parents.
 

Main Credits:
Animator, Edited: Neal Sopata
Producer: Sopata Productions
Music: Oscar Brown Jr.
 

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BIKINI
A SWEDISH ECSTASY FILM
by Lasse Persson
Sweden / 2004 /  6 minutes

Bikini is an animated musical about a young man who is "afraid to come out of the closet."
The setting is a beach in 1960 where a couple of happy twins
and their lady friend like to spend the summer.

Bio:
Lasse Persson was born in Stockholm in 1960. He is a professional animator
and also directs features, television shows and commercials. In 1995 he
founded his own production company, Swedish Ecstacy Films, and has
created the short films Bikini; Honey-Bunn}, Hand in Hand,
..and half the Kingdom. In addition, Lasse has done children's books and
comics for magazines.

Credits:
Director, Screenwriter, Designer: Lasse Persson
Producers: Lasse Persson, SWEDISH ECSTASY FILM
Animators: Lasse Persson, Magnus Hjerp
Music: Magnus Börjeson
The original score "Itsy Bitsy Teene Weene.."
is written and composed by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss.

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CHILDHOOD TRAUMA #17
 by Mike de Kraker
UK / 2004 / 2 minutes

A child has a traumatic experience as he prepares to jump
 from the diving board for the first time.

Bio:
Michiel de Kraker was born in Haarlem, Holland, in 1972. After obtaining a
Masters degree in plant breeding at the University of Wageningen, Holland, in 1998,
and driven by his new aspirations, he moved to Canada to follow courses at the
Capilano college, Vancouver, in both classical and 3D computer animation.

He has worked in a number of studios, in both Vancouver and England, starting
out at aka Cartoon Inc, Vancouver, in 2000 working as a storyboard artist on the
Cartoon Network series Ed, Edd & Eddy and on character design and clean-up
on the Nelvana series Braceface. Since moving to the UK he has worked as an
animator for Aardman Animation, on the BBC Bookworms, and is presently
an animator at One Post Productions in London.

Main Credits:
Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Editor: Mike deKraker

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COFFEE

by Rohitash Rao
USA / 2004 / 1:20 minutes

 A man is forced to deal with his insecurities when he sees God’s face in his coffee.

Bio:
Since graduating from the Art Center College of Design with a BFA in 1991,
Rohitash Rao has made his living as an award-winning art director, writer
and director for such clients as Energizer, Nickelodeon,
The Scifi Channel and PlayStation 2.

In 1997 he completed his first film, Fifteen Minutes. This 15-minute documentary
profiled the lives of 5 people who each had their fifteen minutes of fame.
The film screened at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in December of
1997 and at the New York Film and Video Festival in January 1998.

In 2000 Rohitash began making experimental stop-motion films. It was during
this period that he came up with his unique style of animation by projecting human
faces onto dolls. His first two shorts, Coffee and MTV vs. CNN have received
critical acclaim in various festivals and showcases throughout the country.
Rohitash is now busy working on his first professional animation project
for an upcoming concert in New York City.

Main Credits:
Director, Producer: Rohitash Rao
Screenwriter: Kathy Hepinstall
Editor: Brian Everett
Music: Brian Everett

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CRACK OF DOOM
by Natalia Wilkoszewska
Poland/ 2002 / 2 minutes

The beautifully painted movie is based on the song by “The Tiger Lillies.”

Bio:
Natalia Wilkoszewska was born in Koszalin, Poland, in 1978. She studied at the
Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan, Poland, from 1998 to 2003, graduating in 2002,
she received a Ministry of Culture grant for outstanding achievements.
Her animated short The Crack of Doom screened at Annecy 2004,
SICAF 2004, and ANIMASIA-Seoul.

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Editor: Natalia Wilkoszewska
Producer: Hieronim Neumann
Music: The Tiger Lillies

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FROG
by Christopher Conforti
USA / 2004 / 4 minutes

This film is about a frog who in his search for water finds himself evading
panic-stricken swimmers and a vicious house cat, and eventually passes through
the human digestive system before reaching his salvation in a tranquil lake.

Bio:
Originally from Brooklyn, Chris Conforti grew up in Wellington, Florida, and started
out making flip cartoons with Post-it pads to amuse his friends. He later attended
the Dreyfoos High School of the Arts where he learned how to stop-motion and
made films to avoid writing papers for class projects. Chris then became
serious about animation and went back to New York to study animation
at the School of Visual Arts, where he made three more short films.

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GET IN THE CAR
Directed by Greg Holfeld
2003 / Australia / 5:42 minutes

A family car trip. It's supposed to be a holiday. We've all been there, and this film is designed to help us through those memories that just won't go away.

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KIKO
Directed by Ondrei Rudavskiy
USA / 3:30 minutes

“A magical odyssey of a moon spirit traveling through worlds of dreams and fantasy.”
–Bruce Ashlie.

Bio:
Ondrej Rudavsky was born in 1966 in Bratislava, Slovakia. He studied in 1980-84
at the College of Fine Arts and Crafts in Bratislava and in 1985-86 at the Film and Animation Studio of the Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts in Prague. In 1986 he
moved to United States where he has lived since, Returning regularly to Slovakia.

His work focuses mostly on experimental film, three dimensional video art installation,
photography, drawing, sculpture, costumes which he incorporates in his films and videos.
He has developed his own technique of multi exposure enabling him to experiment
with the exposed 16 mm film frame in camera up to 30 times. This technique allows
him to create magically mysterious atmosphere.

Ondrej Rudavsky's film and video installation exhibition list includes:
The Museum of Modern Art, New York ; The XLVII. Venice Biennale, Castillo
Gardens, Italy; Expo 2000, Hanover, Germany ; Los Angeles International
Biennial Art Invitational ; University of Arizona, Museum of Arts, Tucson,
AZ; The Bronx Museum of Arts, New York; Sundance Film Festival;
New York Film Festival & Hiroshima Film Festival. etc.

He has received numerous international awards including Grammy
Award Nomination for best Breakthrough Video, MTV Award winner for
Best Director, MTV Worldwide Environmental Competition Award,
Cine Golden Eagle Award, Monitor Award's. etc.
 

Main Credits:
Director, Cinematographer, Animation: Ondrej Rudavsky
Producer: Warner Bros.inc
Kiko & Choreography: Lary Wickers
Editors: Ondrej Rudavsky, Axel Ericson, Bruce Ashlie

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THE MEATRIX
by Louis Fox
USA / 2003 / 4 minutes

The Meatrix is a humorous four-minute Flash animation that spoofs The Matrix
films and highlights the problems of factory farming. Instead of Keanu Reeves,
The Meatrix stars a young pig, Leo, who lives on a pleasant family farm ... he
thinks. Leo is approached by a trenchcoat-clad cow, Moopheus, who shows
him the ugly truth about agribusiness, complete with a send-up of the stop-
motion camerawork immortalized by The Matrix. At the end of the movie,
viewers are directed to an  action page  where they are encouraged to
eat sustainable meat and support local family farmers.

Bio:
As co-founder of Free Range Graphics, Louis Fox's was a pioneer in the use of Flash
technology. His work has been seen by millions of web users and has been featured
in dozens of newspapers and TV news programs, including CNN's Crossfire,
The Washington Post, Fox News and the New York Times. In 2001, Jonah and Louis
were named among "The Thirty People Saving the Earth by Shift magazine. Fox is
widely recognized as a leader in the movement to disseminate progressive political
and social messages to the general public through the Web.

Credits:
Director: Louis Fox
Producer: Free Range Graphics in conjunction with GRACE
Screenwriter: Louis Fox and Jonah Sachs
Cinematographer: Louis Fox
Editor: Louis Fox
Composer: Louis Fox

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PINK AND PONG
by Alina Bliumis
USA / 2004 / 3 minutes

A search for kindred souls in an imaginary world of a big city.

Bio:
Alina Bliumis was born in Minsk, in the former Soviet Union. Since 1993
she has lived and worked in New York City, where she graduated from
the School of Visual Arts with a BFA in computer art.

After graduation, Alina was credited for her post-production work on
Radioman (Gold Prize for Animation at Priz Leonardo, Italy, and final selection
Animar Animation Festival, Spain). Her animation credits include MTV's
animated series Headtrip and TNT's documentary Faces of Evil. Alina
has also directed a number of animated shorts, including
Recipe for Melody MTV's Mpeg_us, and Shume.

In addition, Alina Bliumis is one of the organizers of the Red Shift Festival,
the first festival focusing on Russian filmmakers living in the West.
 

Main Credits :
Director: Alina Bliumis
Music: Igor Vdovin

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PLASTICAT
by Simon Bogojevic-Narath
Croatia / 2003 / 10 minutes

NIGHT. METROPOLIS. A POCKET FULL OF CASH.
A casual walk in the streets is about to turn somebody’s life down-side up!

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter: Simon Bogojevic-Narath
Producers: Lado Skorin, Ivan Ratkovic
Animatiors: Sasa Budimir, Boris Goreta, Elvis Popovic
Music: Hrvoje Stefotic

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POOR GOD
by  Matthew Abbiss
UK / 2004 / 2 minutes

A little man goes for a chat with God.

Bio:
Matt Abbiss gave up a rewarding career as a driving instructor to go to the
Edinburgh College of Art and learn how to make cartoons. Having done this, he worked
in a couple of animation studios as an animator. Drawn by the prospect of cheap books,
he gave up animation and went to work in a bookshop. Finding his flat overflowing
with books, he eventually went back to college to make more cartoons, and
graduated in 2004 from the Royal College of Art after making three films: Poor God,
Play and Bus Stop. He is currently living and working in London.

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ROBOTS IN “FOR NO REASON AT ALL IN C”
by Cathy Karol
USA / 2004 / 3 minutes

Robots walk, dance, and connect in a modern world.
 

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RYAN
by Chris Landreth
Canada / 2004 / 14 minutes

Ryan, directed by Chris Landreth, is an animated tribute to Canadian animator
Ryan Larkin. Thirty years ago, at the National Film Board of Canada, Ryan
produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Today, Ryan
lives on welfare and panhandles for spare change in downtown Montreal. How
could such an artistic genius follow this path? Produced by Steven Hoban,
Marcy Page, Mark Smith. Produced by Copper Heart Entertainment in
co- production with The National Film Board Of Canada

Bio:
Chris Landreth went into animation as a second career after a stint as an engineer.
He received his MS degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the
University of Illinois in 1986. For three years he worked in experimental research in Fluid Mechanics at the University of Illinois before making his leap into computer animation.

In 1994 Landreth joined Alias|Wavefront, where it was his job to define, test and
abuse animation software, in-house, before it was released to the public. In
addition to well-mannered software, this work resulted in the production of
animated short films, including The End (1995) and Bingo (1998).

In his surreal short The End, the animator discovers he's the character in his own
work while trying to think of a decent ending for it. (It will not be the first time that
Landreth challenges the illusion he is trying to create.) Bingo is a five-minute
computer animated adaptation of a live theatre performance called Disregard
 This Play by the Chicago-based theatre company The Neo-Futurists. The
recorded audio performance of this absurdist play was used in Bingo, which
then incorporated bizarre visual imagery and exaggerated characterization to
support the telling of the story. The End and Bingo have received wide
international recognition and numerous awards, including an Academy
Award nomination for The End in 1996 for Best Animated Short Film and
1999 Genie Award for Bingo.

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SEVENTEEN
by Hisko Hulsing
The Netherlands / 2003 / 12 minutes

A shy seventeen-year-old construction worker tries to hold his own in the macho
world of roofers. Animated in a Dutch painting style called ‘magical realism’.
 

Bio:
Hisko Hulsing (1971) studied painting and animation at the Rotterdam Art Academy.
His debut film, Harry Rents A Room (1999), was released in the Dutch cinema together
with David Cronenberg's Existenz and in the Czech cinema's together with Terry Gilliam's
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Hisko Hulsing's second film, Seventeen (2003), is still playing in Dutch theaters.
Besides directing, painting, and animating Seventeen, Hisko Hulsing also
composed its score for a twenty-two-piece orchestra.
 

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter, Animator: Hisko Hulsing
Producer: Ruud den Drijver
Animators: Hisko Hulsing, Hans Richter
Music: Hisko Hulsing

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THIS IS NOT AN END
by Jesper Fleng
Denmark / 2004 / 4 minutes

A man’s hopeless journey to bring back his girl takes him on a trip through his own mind
(Music video for the Danish band “Grand Avenue”)
 

Bio:
Jesper Fleng is the founder of JA Film, and has been animating since 1996.
He also composes film music and teaches animation. Since graduating from the
Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark, he has produced or worked on more than
twenty productions, including short films and commercials, computer games.

JA Film is based in rural Aarhus, a center of Danish agriculture. Apart from the
occasional herd of cows wandering through the streets, there are virtually
no distractions for the professional artist.
 

Main Credits:
Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Music: Grand Avenue

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