At the Barbican book tickets
The 2022 London International Animation Festival is back and we are super-excited to be opening our festival in-cinema and onstage at the Barbican with the English premiere of celebrated Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson feature film debut and recent winner of the prestigious Powell and Pressburger award for best film at the Edinburgh Film Festival – ‘A Cat Called Dom’.
A dizzying mix of live-action documentary and animation, the film shows friends and collaborators Will and Ainslie struggling to shoot a semi-scripted film for Will’s mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Whilst alone, Will turns to Dom, the animated cat that lives on his laptop screen and interjects with observations, questions and actions that shed a light on his feelings in a darkly humorous way.
Emotions, events and styles collide in a film that’s openly not what it was originally intended to be but most importantly they find the heart of the film: Will’s love for his mother, who appears several times for moving exchanges with her son.
A thought-provoking, heartfelt and poignant film, we are pleased to say that Will and Ainslie will be joining us onstage after the screening to talk about their remarkable career to date in the world of film.
A Cat Called Dom will be preceded with the world premiere of Ainslie Henderson’s stop-motion short film Shackle as well as the most recent short from Will Anderson Betty.
Graduates from Edinburgh College of Art’s animation degree course, Will and Ainslie’s worldwide reputation has a bulging awards cabinet as testament to their talent, including two BAFTAs, two Mclaren Awards, a British Academy Award, a nomination for the Cartoon D’Or and over 50 awards at festivals around the world.
Please join us in welcoming Will and Ainslie to LIAF 2022 to open the festival in style.
Shackle – Ainslie Henderson, UK
Three archetypal woodland spirits explore the conflicting human drives of creativity, possessiveness and our desire for status.
2022 10 min
Betty – Will Anderson, UK
A little green bird called Bobby is looking for his butter, his partner Betty and for the love that seems to have melted away.
2020 14 min
A Cat Called Dom – Will Anderson & Ainslie Henderson, UK
When an animator’s mother is first diagnosed with cancer he reaches out to her through the making of an animated documentary. Over the course of several confusing years the project stalls. Attempting to reclaim the initial sentiment of the film, and in the hope of finding closure for both him and his mum, Will edits together pieces of the failed film to share with her.
2022 60 min
Our Funding Partner
Event supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.
