The Korean Independent Animation Filmmakers Association (KIAFA) announced on Aug. 6 films that made it to the main competition in this year's Indie-Anifest (Chair: Na, Ki-Yong).
Under the slogan, "Breaking the Ice", the Indie-Anifest 2007 selected a total of 32 finalists, 12 in the general category and 20 in the student category.
Among the general category finalists are "Watermelon Chick" by Won Jong-Sik, which competed at the Annecy Festival this year, and his new work "A Millennium Giraffe"; "El Nino" by Lim Ah-ron, who has been well known for his "Mug Travel", which recently premiered in theaters; "The Sense of Space of People Living in a City", a new work by Kim Joon, who participated in "If You were Me : Anima Vision" with The House of the Woman; and the nostalgic "The Eraser Lovers" by Park Ji-Yun.
On the other hand, finalists in the student category include An Unimaginable Event by Kim Ah-Young, who has been highly acclaimed for her work I Want to Invite You, which received the KOCCA CEO Prize at the Tokyo Digital Content Grand Prix and other awards in various festivals; A Secret or A Lie by Kim, Ye-Ni, which received a second award at this year's SICAF; and Rainbow by high school student-directors Jung, Yeo-Eun and Choi, Da-Rang.
"Keeping pace with this year's slogan, 'Breaking the Ice', we have selected works not based on experiments of images but based on their unique viewpoint toward the world", said Lee, Yoon-Bin, animation director and chair of the festival's jury. "In fact, the jury found it difficult to select the finalists because of the rich variety of points of view shown in this year's submissions".
The awarding ceremony will be held during the closing ceremony of the Indie-Anifest 2007, which will be held from Sept. 13 to 18. Aside from the grand prize of Star of Indie, which comes with a cash prize worth KRW 4 million, the ceremony will name other awards such as Independent (Best Film in General Category), Challenge (Best Film in Student Category), Passion (Jury's Special Award), Vision (KIAFA Special Award), and Star of the Festival (Public's Choice).
Also selected in the Panorama Category are 21 works including "Wings" by Choi Bong-Soo, a regular director in this category, "A Duel in Formaldehyde Planet" by Jang Seong-Wook, and "Hat and the Cat" by Jo Kyeong-Ji. This year's panorama works are to be screened with two concepts: "Animascope" and "Between Frames and Frames".
From Magnifier of Relationships, to Microscope of Memory, Telescope of the Future, and Endoscope of Consciousness, works in "Animascope" show not only the bits of life we may have experienced before, but those of an alternate life that we are about to experience at a different speed. A total of 11 works including Wings by Choi, Bong-Su, and Legs by Lee, Hye-Yeong are included in "Animascope".
"Between Frames and Frames", on the other hand, shows the investigation of various frames of visual images. Departing from the usual customary animation frames, these works deal with various different situations and stories. Ten works are chosen for screening under this category, including "Bits of Memory" by Kim, Yong-Deok, and "Memory of Water" by Kang, Hyun-Young.
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