How about putting on your own festival on at the Sydney Opera House- how does that feel?
It’s our second time at the Sydney Opera House. It’s a similar format – three screenings for different age groups. It went really well last year in Sydney. People loved it. The Barbican in London is our home venue which we’re very grateful for. We draw in all kinds of people that might not normally have come across us. It’s the same with Sydney Opera House. For five years we screened in Moscow, in a beautiful old huge cinema, and it was always packed, but of course that stopped with the war. One of our funniest venues was in Tehran 10 years ago. It was a kids screening, and I heard all this giggling, and when I turned round I saw someone had come into the cinema with two goats, and the goats were chewing the seats and making loud goat noises. And they one of the goats escaped and ran across the screen. It was mayhem, the kids loved it.
So an actual kid screening?
Exactly
How is the interest in animation now compared to previous years?
In London, the interest is really increasing, especially for kids content. We put screenings on all over the UK. There’s a real pick up in interest for content for kids outside of the mainstream. The big studios are fantastic, but there’s so many great independently made films around, and I think parents want to show their kids what else is out there.
There is an audience out there, but animation is a niche art form. But you only need an audience to see the films once or twice to realise it’s an amazing thing. The process of making these films is quite mind blowing
Some filmmakers will make films on very low budgets- they still get it done. We source a lot of these films, and we’re more than happy to get them shown around the world. There’s a new wave of young very talented filmmakers in the film schools making beautiful work.
Which parts of the world does a lot of animated film come from?
Some countries have a really strong tradition of making animated films, for more than 100 years. Especially Eastern European countries like Czech Republic and Poland. They love stop – motion films with puppets, it seems to be part of their DNA. France has a very strong arts culture generally which is very well supported by the government, so there’s a lot of funding. Quite a few film schools in France have longer, five year courses, and they really hone their techniques and stories and some of the films coming out of France are really incredible. Unfortunately, funding in the UK is very difficult! Amazingly really good work still comes out of the UK. I think British people are just quite resilient.
What about Australian animators?
I’m in touch with a lot of Australian animators, like Adam Elliot. There aren’t a lot of Australian animated films, but what does come out is really good.
Memory of a Snail is a fantastic film. It’s getting a theatrical release here in the UK next month which I’m exited about. Adam Elliot would be one of my favourite filmmakers. I knew him when he was a still a student in the 90s. I knew all his work when he was at the Victorian College of Art. He’s a lovely guy. We’ve screened all his films. He’s very humble about his work, but an amazing filmmaker.
Do most animated filmmakers come from other parts of the film world?
There are a lot of animators I know who have another job. Mostly it’s hard to live on short animated films, a few can, but generally the filmmakers work most of the time teaching in film schools, making titles for TV programmes, or commissions like advertising films and music videos. They might work on a mixture and then work on the animations in their spare time. But it interesting that the appetite in film schools hasn’t gone anywhere.
Have you ever made a film?
I did make up films up to 20 years ago, until I started running the festival, which completely took over my life. I actually made a film in 1998 while I was living in Australia, funded by the Australian film commission. We had a great budget and we spent two years making a ten minute film. It did very well and we travelled with all over the world to different festivals for a couple of years, and it was by seeing what a great environment a film festival is, that I had the idea to set up MIAF and then LIAF.
Nowadays, I am consumed by LIAF every day! We screen 250 films in London. Curating and programming the festival is my life. Five days a week I watch at least 1-2 hours of new animated films. I have to, to keep on top of it.
Which are your favourite other animated film festivals?
Not necessarily my favourite, but the biggest animated film festival is Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market, in France. It’s been going for fifty years, and so it is very established. It’s in a beautiful location but it is very business orientated. Most countries now have at least one animation focused festival. My favourite is in Ottawa, the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The director Chris Robinson and I have very similar taste, so I love that one.
What is the mood in the animated film world about advances in technology?
There’s a lot of people who are very wary of AI in the animation world. It’s not exactly a backlash because nothing has really happened yet, but an extreme wariness. In our call for entries, we’re starting to see films submitted that are obviously just made by AI. Like most festivals around the world, we won’t screen anything made with AI. And at the moment you can tell very easily what is, the films are clunky and poorly put together, there’s a certain look. But I’m worried that is could become more difficult to tell. As AI gets more sophisticated it could change. I know a couple of films were screened at the Annecy festival that were made by AI. The audience started booing. I can only assume the organisers knew that those films were AI, because it’s so obvious, and they wanted to see what happened. The audiences don’t like AI.
What else is happening in animation?
There’s more and more animated documentary being made, which can be on any issue based subject like climate change or any kind of activism, to more personal subjects, with internal worlds and stories.
The great thing about animation is that it can depict anything, in a way that live action can’t, as it’s a purely visual medium. You can show literally what is going on inside someone’s head; it makes animation such a brilliant way of depicting those internal worlds. That’s very valuable for documentaries.
You travel to a lot of films school and speak to young filmmaker and students. What advice do you give them?
We have strong connections with a number of film schools and we actually have a few students from the National Film and TV School in the UK make our trailer every year. The students get to work on a professional pitch and a get lot of exposure, and we get a brilliantly made festival trailer. I think the main advice I give all the young filmmakers is to have perseverance. Animation is a painstakingly slow process. On any day, if you make 3-4 seconds of animation that’s a good day’s work. Patience, perseverance and a belief in what you are doing is essential.
London International Animation Festival
Celebrating a world of animation for kids
17 – 19 January 2025
In the Playhouse
