Independent animation is an art form that continues to thrive and develop as a breathtaking medley of styles, materials, techniques and production – from hand drawn, paint on glass, collage, sculpture, cut outs, puppets, abstract to some of the more interesting developments in CGI – all of which can be seen at this year’s LIAF.
We’ve emerged from under the pile of 2,700 entries to put together a series of screenings that showcase the best 97 new films from every corner of the world. They can be funny, dramatic, bizarre, subdued, scary or autobiographical. The one thing they have in common is that we think they’re the pick of the crop.
Eight international competition programmes plus our ever-popular British Showcase. Every technique, every genre, every style – this is your annual window into the international indie animation universe.
The compelling films in this programme deal with some of life’s big questions and are, in turns, diverse, funny, moving and heartfelt. We are extremely thrilled to welcome back three of our most inventive filmmakers to LIAF – Tom Schroeder, Andreas Hykade and Dmitry Geller – with their new works. Three of the most powerful and visually stunning films in this years festival, reminding us that animation can do anything and take you anywhere. Be prepared to be transported to these other worlds.
A livestreamed Screen Talk will follow the screening with filmmakers: Tom Schroeder, Maja Gehrig & Michelle Brand.
ONLINE Pre-order tickets
In My Particular Case (Chico Jofilsan, Uruguay)
The myriad of choices presented on the creative journey to find the ‘perfect’ idea.
UK premiere
2020, 4min
Altotting (Andreas Hykade, Germany/Canada/Portugal)
Mesmerising, haunting, and deeply personal, a coming-of-age story about love, faith, mortality, and shattered illusions.
2020, 11min
Hide N Seek (Barbora Halirova, Czech Republic)
A children’s game, the flow and perception of time. To win, a young boy becomes an old man and his life is reduced to a game of hide-and-seek.
UK premiere
2019, 7min
Helfer (Anna Szollosi, Hungary)
A young woman struggles with anxiety and recurring nightmares. She seeks a helper, who offers an alternative solution, but in the process must confront her biggest fears.
UK premiere
2020, 10min
Eli (Nate Milton, USA)
A true story based on the filmmaker’s experiences within the realms of high strangeness, magical thinking and manic delusion.
2019, 11min
10,000 Ugly Inkblots (Dmitry Geller, Russia/China)
Two artists who haven’t met for a while are heading towards each other.
UK premiere
2020, 8min
Any Instant Whatever (Michelle Brand, UK)
A man in a room, in a film – It is the beginning of something and simultaneously a beginning in itself. Nothing is as solid as we believe…
2019, 5min
Average Happiness (Maja Gehrig, Switzerland)
A trip into the sensual world of statistics. Pie charts are melting, arrow diagrams twisting, plots scattering, bar graphs are curving in a collective climax.
UK premiere
2019, 7min
Empty Places (Geoffroy de Crecy, France)
Completed before the global lockdown, an ode to the melancholy of machines.
UK premiere
2020, 8min
The Birth Order Experiment (Tom Schroeder, USA)
Sociologist Dr. Robert Gobbler’s 1972 educational film presenting his unorthodox birth order study.
European premiere
2020, 9min
