The 12th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival begins its five-day run on May 21, hosting a string of exhibitions and animation screening events to appeal to both fans and industry delegates.
SICAF -- the country's biggest event of its kind -- will take place at two separate venues, where cartoonists and animators from around the world will show off their artistic talent. The animated films will be screened at Lotte Cinema near Konkuk University. Other exhibitions, forums and related events at the Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention.
The Animated Film Festival will showcase 300 projects from 30 countries -- 137 works in the competition category and 163 projects in the non-competition category.
The finalists were selected after a record 1,307 films from 63 countries were submitted to the competition category, organizers said at a news conference held on Tuesday.
"Just like last year, the European countries continued to show a high level of quality, but we saw a remarkable progress in works from East Asian and South American countries, such as Taiwan's 'Fly Out Blue' and Argentina's 'The Mistakes', which made it to the final list", said festival programmer Choo Hye-jin.
"There is a range of feature films form Spain, France, and Russia, offering a rare opportunity to enjoy less-watched films", she added.
The finalists include award-winning animations such as "The Peace Sisters" from Britain and "Ark" from Poland. Canada's "Madam Tutli-Putli" is also a must-watch film demonstrating advanced techniques.
Aside from competition category, SICAF holds special programs such as SICAF Perspective, Inspiration of Asia, Family Square, and Jury Special Program. Other events include the Master Class section and meetings with directors. "Best of Siggraph 2007" and Japan's "Sword of the Stranger" will be shown as part of special invitation session. Italia's renowned animation director Bruno Bozzetto and Shuhei Morita, an up-and-coming animator from Japan, will unveil their latest works.
In early May, an online movie festival will be staged via Cyworld (Open the link) free of charge, and the project which receives the most votes from internet users will be awarded a prize during the festival.
Key exhibitions include "Return of Gildong", commemorating the late artist Shin Dong-woo, who received SICAF Award in 2007. Also prepared as a special event is the "99 years waiting for 100 years" aimed at celebrating the 100th anniversary of Korea's cartoon history,
"Cartoon City: Ampelmann's Going Out" will integrate cartoons with public design, featuring a traffic-light man named Ampelmann who gives new insights into problems and solutions about city design. Audiences can join Ampelmann in a virtual city tour as well.
Kang Jin-sook, senior exhibition curator, said "Under the theme of cartoons and public design, we have organized a cartoon exhibition so that the audience can directly experience creativity of cartoons. It's much more than reading comics".
SICAF Promotion Plan, or SPP, takes aim at the Asian cartoon and animation market. To be held from May 21 to May 23, SPP will feature a range of events including project competition, business matching meetings, conferences, forums and receptions. On the closing day, the finalists for Best Planning, Best Creativity and Best Technology will be announced.
SPP is set to introduce a one-on-one business matching service for participants, the first-ever attempt to provide a marketplace for animation specialists in Asia.
SICAF, established in 1995, has received the formal recognition as an animation event from the Association International Du Film d'Animation in 2005, and is supported by the Culture Ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. For further information, call (02) 3455-8407 or Open the link www.sicaf.org
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