Jul 16, 2021

Ottawa Animation Festival announces selection for its 45th edition, including 7 anime features

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) has announced its official selections for its 45th edition, which will be held virtually from September 22 to October 3.

The festival has chosen 107 short films and animated series from 38 different countries, with 48 of those entries playing in the out-of-competition Panorama strand. There will also be seven features in competition. The vr selections will be announced in August.

The organizers made their selections from 2,528 entries - a record, and a significant increase from last year's 1,950 (after two consecutive years of falling numbers).

The shorts/series lineup includes Joe Hsieh's Night Bus, winner of this year's grand prix at Animafest Zagreb; Špela Cadež's Steakhouse, whose trailer we recently premiered; and an episode of Death Hacks, whose creator Aaron Augenblick we interviewed last year. It also features the latest work from major talents of today, including Yoriko Mizushiri, Marta Pajek, and David O'Reilly.

The features lineup is reproduced in full below:

On top of these selections, OIAF has announced several special screenings. They include retrospectives of acclaimed experimental animator Jodie Mack and Mariusz Wilczynski, whose Kill It and Leave This Town won the festival's feature prize last year.

To explore the full program announced so far, head to the OIAF website.

The festival's poster was designed by Amanda Bonaiuto and Angela Stempel:

Images at top, left to right: “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko,” “Anxious Body” by Yoriko Mizushiri, “Bob Spit - We Do Not Like People”