Animation extravaganza is coming

They’re whimsical and childish, bizarre and disturbingly surreal.

Some of the best short animations on the planet will be playing at Southern Cross University on October 19 and 20.

Over two days the University is hosting the Australian International Animation Festival (AIAF) featuring ground breaking films from 13 countries.

All sessions will be screened at the Whitebrook Theatre in Y Block at the Lismore campus.

Sessions include the cult 90s MTV series Aeon Flux, which launched the savage style mimicked in The Matrix series, and a slate of amazing Australian works – from the exquisite tale of a boy who wants to touch the moon, to the adventures of Mr Money, the clownish coloniser.

Then there’s the Comic Art Meets Animation session, where filmmakers play with the graphic constraints on traditional comic strip characters – like The Bastard, driven homicidal by one too many computer crashes.

The festival, which has just run in Sydney and Adelaide, is coming to Southern Cross University courtesy of the media program and multimedia lecturer Sean O’Shannessy.

Sean wanted his students to have access to ground breaking animation techniques and figured this would also attract the region’s dedicated film buffs.

“The artistry and impact of these works is breathtaking,” he said, “They have been developed for the big screen, so there’s amazing detail in the imagery and sound.”

Local animator Tim Adlide, who will MC the festival, says we’re lucky to have access to shorts of this quality, which rarely get seen on television.

He said many are ephemeral gems “like balloons at the fair, or comets in the night sky which you have to grab quickly before they shoot past”.

Festival passes, covering all five sessions during Thursday 19th and Friday 20th October, cost $30 or $25 concession. They are available from the University’s Co-op Bookshop in person or by phone on 6621 4484. You can also buy tickets at the door for just $10 a session.

The $10 session ticket for Thursday runs from 4.30pm to 8.30pm and includes the festival launch and the local animation forum. Friday’s matinee program features two sessions commencing at 2.30pm and 4pm. Friday’s evening program also features two sessions, one at 5.45pm and the other at 7.15pm.

Further details about the program are available from www.aiaf.com.au under ‘Lismore’.