PROGRAMS 2018

We’re pleased to reveal the special programs for GLAS Animation Festival 2018. Check back in the coming weeks as more programs will be added. Click HERE to view the complete schedule.

Image	Program Title
	A Conversation With David OReilly David OReilly exploded on the animation scene as a CG wunderkind, pioneering a raw digital aesthetic and singular filmmaking style. His body of work, spanning nearly every format imaginable, from short films to experimental websites to games to concept twitter accounts, always returns to fundamental questions about how we live our lives and what it means to be alive. His dark, surreal sense of humor playfully pushes against the edges of whatever medium or tool it’s constrained to, deconstructing the form while indulging its inherent expressiveness. David will talk about what he has learned from creating 3d worlds in animation and video games, and describe his thought process in approaching different mediums. He will go into detail about his newest project ‘Everything’. We will also screen a retrospective of his short works, and his feature film The Agency.
	A Conversation With Phil Lord & Chris Miller Phil Lord and Chris Miller began to collaborate when they were animating short films in college. Since then, they’ve gone on to write and direct some of the most critically acclaimed film and television of the last decade. In addition to crafting films that are smart, hilarious, and visual delights, their work shines with an ability to create truly human characters with an emotional depth rare to the form. As the scale of their projects has expanded, they have continued to create expressive and personal worlds that reveal the creators in unexpected ways. Watching Lord & Miller’s films, it’s impossible to not sense a brimming excitement on the part of the directors to be telling this story, and in turn a reminder for how fun watching a movie can be. We will be hosting an intimate Q&A session with directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller. Throughout the festival we will screen a collection of their works including The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
	Ruth Lingford Retrospective Ruth Lingford’s animation career spans from the early 1990s to the present, and she has taught animation at Harvard for over a decade. She has been honing her digital drawing techniques since long before it was as common and streamlined in independent animation as it is today. One of her early films What She Wants was created by drawing directly into Deluxe Paint on an Amiga and saving it across 20 floppy disks. Her signature white lines etched over black background go beyond the look of a computer stroke, evoking the mood and look of German Expressionist printmaking. Her films are raw in style but also in psychosexual content, where environments pulse with a woman’s libidinal energy. These works are simultaneously seductive and uncomfortable, provoking the viewer with persistent eroticism and interweaving the subjects of desire, war, and death. We are excited to share this retrospective viewing of Lingford’s body of work, followed by a Q+A with the filmmaker.
	Jonathan Hodgson: Boring Subjects Growing up I was fascinated by the woodlice that lived under the stones in our back garden. I was intrigued by the monotony of their lives spent in darkness for millions of years, largely unseen and unnoticed. Though few would bother to give them a moment’s thought, nevertheless each of these tiny creatures resides at the epicentre of its own universe. I still find apparently boring things inspiring and conversely am mostly unimpressed by the spectacular. This tendency continues to inform and influence the content of my animated films, which celebrate the trivial details of everyday life such as walking the dog, traveling to work or simply staring at the carpet. Insignificant as they may seem, the obscure interludes that fill the spaces between more memorable events are what make up the fabric of our lives and surely deserve closer inspection.
	Réka Bucsi Retrospective Hungarian animator Réka Bucsi depicts the world through a stylized collage of contemplative moments. With a hat tip to the existential vignette films of Roy Andersson and the surrealist visual puns of Magritte, Bucsi’s worlds have their own dream-logic ecosystem and inner poetry. Plants and animals tacitly tell their stories by cycling through their own lifespan dramas in proximity of each other. Geometric forms found in unexpected places feel like a very organic part of the world. Everything shifts with confidence, immersing the audience in the undeniable pleasure of animal humor and luminescent nighttime spaces. At the center of the work is an awe of nature’s sincere beauty, dark sense of humor, and unflinching indifference. Bucsi’s films have screened widely and garnered over 50 international awards, which is no surprise to anyone who has seen the work. Bucsi will present a screening of her films in person, followed by a Q+A.
	The Tacos of Success are Dripping with the Sauce of Failure! Join Jorge Gutierrez as he takes us through his rollercoaster career from the mean streets of Tijuana to the CalArts Experimental Animation program to the Nickelodeon animated series “El Tigre, The Adventures of Manny Rivera” to the animated feature film “The Book of Life” with Guillermo del Toro and finally to the creation of the VR short “Son of Jaguar” for Google Spotlight Stories. Mustaches will be grown by all. You too, ladies!
	Sophie Koko Gate Talk Sophie Koko Gate’s work reminds us that we were born about as wet as a banana. The unique atmospheres and dialogue she creates in her films set them apart from other contemporary animation being made today. The humor is peculiar and on point, as characters deal with aging and longing in an amethyst and sea foam-hued environment of smooth beats.
	Boris Labbé Retrospective French filmmaker Boris Labbé’s films are kaleidoscopes. They shuffle space and time in a format that is puzzling while dazzling, slick and hypnotic. In his animation and installation work, technologies and histories fold into each other, over and over. The films feel both microscopic and monumental, and everything seems to be a window into something infinitely larger than our eye can register. Clean CG is haunted by Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, miniature drawn shapes tessellate, and mountains morph into one another, to cycle forever with or without us watching. Labbé will present his work in person and participate in a Q+A afterwards. – This program was made possible by the support of the Consulat Général de France à San Francisco
	1 Hour With Michael Frei The act of digital drawing becomes quite literal in the films of Michael Frei. His animations feature fingers as lead characters and props, drawn into the computer by his finger on the trackpad. His two films Not About Us (2011) and Plug & Play (2013) harness the humor of bluntly switching back and forth between binaries – black and white, on and off, up and down, yes and no, in and out, love and the lack of it. Michael will present a small collection of projects he made for the internet and talk about how he found himself making games. His upcoming project «Kids» is about a crowd. «Kids» is a Finalist at the Independent Game Festival but is also an animated short film and an art installation. Michael will read from his exhibition guide, play the game and probably not show the film. – This program was made possible by the support of the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco
	Sawako Kabuki Talk The films of Sawako Kabuki are not shy. Unapologetically cheeky and easy to like, her brightly-colored hand drawn films move at a fast clip. Nothing lingers from one morph to the next in this NSFW universe of abject pop. Positions, organs and actions that could otherwise seem shocking – like hiding inside of another person’s asshole – become bubblegum that you can’t help but swallow. There are plenty of films that try hard to be sexy, try hard to be weird, try hard to be transgressive, but Kabuki’s work doesn’t seem to try – like a body, it just is. Join us in viewing a selection of Kabuki’s films followed by a Q+A with the filmmaker led by Chris Robinson and Nobuaki Doi. – This talk was made possible by the support of the Japan Foundation
	M.A.X Helmut: Unlocking the Secrets of My Creative Mind M.A.X Helmut is a warrior-artist, futurist, polymath, trans-media + street artist, DJ, disruptor, digital prophet, inventor, hacker, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, rebel scholar, philosopher, tech evangelist, chief creative officer, storyteller, and content creator ready to rock your world! Born from Berlin, M.A.X. is now a digital-nomad, traveling around the world sharing his wisdom of digital creativity and life. M.A.X is a pioneer in VR, AR, AI, AL, ML and coined the term NR (New Reality) in his philosophy of the modern world, which is starting to gaining popularity in San Francisco and other place. Fluent in over 10,000 softwares, M.A.X. is a member of MENSA since he was 13 years old. Talk Description: In the world today, the individual is in digital relationships with many people, because of the internet and technology devices. We share ideas and society is always advancing, but is people happy? Can business and the future evolve together. M.A.X. Helmut is here to share his ideas and wisdom about the future of navigating the techno-scape, and offer his unique vision of creativity. M.A.X. will inspire and amaze with his personal history, and advice for creators trying to make it in todays competitive glocal economy. Full of tips and life hacks to Maximize your creativity, but get ready for a challenge. I am not afraid to tell you the truth!
	Lu Over the Wall From visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa comes a hallucinogenic-but-family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale of the little mermaid who falls in love with mankind, and then comes ashore to join a dysfunctional middle school rock band and propel them to fame. New kid Kai is talented but adrift, spending his days sulking and isolated in a small fishing village after his family moves from Tokyo. When he demonstrates a proficiency at making music on his synthesizer, his classmates invite him to join their nascent garage band, but their practice sessions soon bring an unexpected guest: Lu, a young mermaid whose fins turn to feet when she hears the beats, and whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance – whether they want to or not. Winner of the grand prize at Annecy, Lu Over the Wall is a toe-tapping, feel-good demonstration of Yuasa’s genre-mixing mastery that will leave you humming long after you leave the theater.
	Night is Short, Walk on Girl Night is Short, Walk on Girl, directed by Masaaki Yuasa, takes place over the course of one strange night as a nameless young woman, known only as “the girl with black hair,” walks the streets of Kyoto and experiences a series of surreal encounters and odd characters, drinking middle-aged salarymen under the table, exploring an all-night used bookstore with a bird goblin, helping a guerilla theater company express their feelings… all the while unaware of the romantic longings of Senpai, a fellow student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her, in an effort to win her heart. The perfect “I guess it’s romantic?” comedy for the modern age, Night is Short is a celebration of the unconventional, confusing routes that love and life can take.
	ZAGREB SCHOOL OF ANIMATION – incomplete introduction This program is an introduction to historically important short films and filmmakers, gloriously known as the “Zagreb school of animated films”. From the end of 50s to the beginning of 80s, films from Zagreb studio were among the most interesting ones in the world of animation. Due to time limitations, this program offers an incomplete overview and I do invite you to look for further masterpieces. Starting in Disney style (Big meeting, 1951.) and very soon abandoning it completely to bring great innovations to the art form, Vukotić, Kostelac, Mimica, Kristl and the others were exploring what soon became the trademark of Zagreb authors – limited animation, flat and abstract space treatment, stories about a small man living alienated from the society. The term “Zagreb school of animation” was given by French journalists George Sadoul and Andre Martin at the Film Festival in Cannes in 1958., where a program of films from Zagreb Film (smuggled to the festival in a private car) enjoyed it’s international presentation and was an instant sensation. With a win of an Oscar for Vukotić’s Surogat (Ersatz) in 1962 (the first non-American animation Oscar in history and the only Oscar any Croatian film ever won) the animation from Zagreb reached another one of its peaks. This program is presented by Daniel Suljic, the director of Animafest Zagreb
	RECENT CROATIAN ANIMATION – new deck of cards Following on the tradition of the Zagreb school of animation, there is a vivid life in animation of Croatia of today with more and more new animators in search for a great film. In the old days almost all films were cell animations. New filmmakers from Croatia have much bigger variety in techniques to offer. Not only in terms of modern ones like 3D CGI, but also stop-motion, oil/sand on glass, or experimental object animation for example. Another important change which led to more diversity happened on a production level. All films from the “Zagreb school” were made in legendary Zagreb film studio. From the beginning of 2000s, a number of new highly enthusiastic producers emerge. Among others, top name is the Bonobostudio – in this moment internationally most successful production and distribution company from Croatia. At the end, we have to mention the Academy of fine arts in Zagreb. “Zagreb school” was never an educational institution where people could go and study. The university course for Animation and New Media was established just in 1998. Nowadays, new generations of students finally have an educational institution which delivers new talents every year. This program is presented by Daniel Suljic, the director of Animafest Zagreb
	Gettin’ the Perfect Gig Ever dreamed of working at Nickelodeon? Here’s your opportunity to learn how! Join Ariel Goldberg (Manager – Recruitment, Production) for a deep dive into Nickelodeon’s recruitment process. He’ll share first-hand tips on how to stand out from the competition in order to land your dream job.
	Inside Nickelodeon’s Artist Program The Story Starts Here… The Nickelodeon Artist Program offers aspiring artists the opportunity to hone their artistic skills while working on our animated TV shows… you want in? NAP alumni and storyboard artists, Celestino Marina (The Girl from Dinosaur Island, Harvey Beaks) and Lisa Vandenberg (Someone Needs To Stop Aunt Phyllis, Henry Danger the Animated Series), will share their Program experience and advice on navigating the animation industry. Sherley Ibarra (Sr. Manager, Talent Development & Outreach) will moderate the panel, and be on hand to offer tips and tricks on the application process; what we look for and how to separate yourself from the pack. If you’ve ever wanted to work in TV animation, here’s your exclusive opportunity to get the inside scoop.
	Meet-n-Greet Don’t forget your portfolio and resume! Portfolio reviews will be available with Ariel Goldberg (portfolio reviews). By appointment only.
	Developing Talent with Cartoon Network Studios Join the Cartoon Network Studios Talent Development team for a behind-the-scenes look at their production pipeline. Then learn about the variety of artistic opportunities available and some tips and tricks for enhancing your portfolio!
	So You Say You Have a Portfolio… Looking for some portfolio feedback? Don’t miss this opportunity to receive feedback and tips on polishing your portfolio with the Talent Development team at Cartoon Network Studios! (Reviews limited to 5-10 minutes each)
	Distributing Short Films Online: Filmmakers Forum & Happy Hour Join filmmakers and online curators for an open discussion on the latest strategies and techniques for filmmakers who want to share their animated films on the internet. All attendees will be encouraged to share their experiences with online film distribution. Following the discussion, attendees can continue networking during a sponsored happy hour event. Moderated by Cartoon Brew editor-in-chief Amid Amidi.
	GOOGLE SPOTLIGHT: Lucky us – Making short films out of nothing at all The early days of a new medium are a fertile time for artistic exploration and technical experimentation. At Google Spotlight Stories, our mission is to discover the storytelling possibilities of new mediums like 360º and VR, and develop the tech that makes it possible. Taking big risks is part of our mandate. Google has allowed us to play – something studios can’t easily do. Lucky us. So we have the privilege and the responsibility to keep exploring new styles, new looks, new sounds and new voices that might never be heard in the halls of a commercial studio. Panelists Karen Dufilho, Executive Producer, Google Spotlight Stories Scot Stafford, Creative Director, Music & Sound, Google Spotlight Stories Cassidy Curtis, Technical Art Lead, Google Spotlight Stories David Eisenmann, Producer, Google Spotlight Stories
	Get Into Pixar’s Creative Imagination Join this conversation with some of the creative minds behind Pixar’s most notable films. In this moderated discussion, the panelists will talk about their personal experiences working in the animation and how production has evolved over the years, as well as what their creative process entails and how departments work together to create the unimaginable worlds and stories audiences see on the screen. Q&A to follow led by Azarin Sohrabkhani
	Rachel Sale Workshop: Exquisite Entourage Exquisite Entourage is a celebrated and dynamic drawing game that was developed by 5 young artists on a cold night in Amsterdam during 2012. If you have a multiform music taste, GSOH and a crush on character design, this game is for you. So come along and take part in Exquisite Entourage’s state-side premiere. See you there players.
	Ugly aesthetics and Dynamic Animation Embracing crude, spontaneous and interactive modeling, texturing and animation methods is the main concept behind Ugly. The talk, led by director Nikita Diakur will focus on the process and development of ideas leading to the final “Ugly” look and approach to animation. Animation in Ugly is a combination of puppeteering and dynamic computer simulation and varies between physically accurate and broken. The Ugly characters are ragdolls built from interconnected dynamic body parts. To enable the characters to interact with the environment, the body parts are fixed to animated controllers via simulated strings. Animating like this feels closer to real-life filmmaking: Like a real actor, the computer follows the action set by the animator and produces results that are organic, unexpected and personal.
	Tonko House Please join us for a Q&A with Erick Oh, director of Tonko House’s “PIG: The Dam Keeper Poems.” Erick Oh is a Korean filmmaker / animator based in California, USA. His independent films have been introduced and awarded at numerous international film festivals including Student Academy Awards, Annie Awards, Annecy Animation Festival, Hiroshima Animation Festival, Zagreb Film Festival, SIGGRAPH, Anima Mundi and more. After receiving his BFA from Fine Art Department at Seoul National University and his MFA from UCLA’s film program, Erick worked at Pixar Animation Studios from 2010 to 2016 as an animator to participate in Oscar winning films like ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Finding Dory’. Erick recently joined Tonko House, founded by Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo, also former Pixar artists and directed ‘PIG : The Dam Keeper Poems’ which was nominated at Annie Awards 2018 for the Best Special Animation.
	The Dam Keeper’s Poems Pig lives at the top of a hill in a town surrounded by a destructive, dark cloud. Before Pig’s father leaves to find a solution to the cloud, he builds Pig a small wooden dam to protect him and the town. The dam’s windmill keeps the cloud at bay, and Pig now has the responsibility to care for the dam. Young and alone, Pig finds love and family through his friendship with Fox, and continues to care for the townsfolk in a variety of ways. However, Pig struggles with the absence of his father, and his desire to search for his father competes with his need to keep the town safe. In Tonko House’s first short-form series written and directed by Erick Oh, we see how Pig remembers becoming the Dam Keeper. Seen through Pig’s youthful perspective, the visuals are abstract and surreal, but the source of his pain and his joy are clear.
	Voyager Guide to Virtual Reality Starting with the 1992 release of The Lawnmower Man, we were promised a universe of limitless possibilities if we donned the goggles and jacked in. After that film’s popular success, a years-long wave of movies and TV shows used VR as a plot device to varying effect — everything from Murder, She Wrote to Skinemax, documentaries and high art. Join L.A.-based video swashbucklers The Voyager Institute for a found-footage tour of this cultural phenomenon featuring absurd wearables, whooshing CGI-scapes, erotic futurism, cybernetic dolphins and other 21st-century toys. Your kernel’s never been panicked quite like this!
	Video Games in Animation Obsessiveness is a trait common to animators and gamers alike. Those frogs need to cross that busy freeway, and we are not about to let them down. Video game nostalgia is the aesthetic model for this collection of films. These animations riff on different game tropes, from the distinctive sound of nabbing a coin in the air to recreating a Let’s Play style youtube walkthrough. The films construct different kinds of game environments and the illusion of agency in a virtual world.
	The American Landscape The films in this program explore the distinct flavor of Americana. This can be done without setting foot outside the home, nesting in suburbia while tasting the outside world through the portals of TV news and online chat rooms. And then there are the exterior explorations of American life – the lure of adventure and desire to wander without purpose through the sprawling landscape. This program invites you to shut your blinds or hit the road and ruminate on the choice of truck nuts.
	Late Night Late Night is a varied assortment of films that linger around the darker end of the pool. These animations are united by their sense of foreboding. The looks and content of the films in this grouping are quite diverse, ranging from abstraction to narrative character animation, and made using a broad range of techniques: stop-motion puppetry, CGI, watercolor on paper, treated photographs, etc. The overall tone is serious, except in moments when you’re not quite sure. Challenging and polarizing on many levels, this program is not for the lighthearted viewer.
	Signals SIGNALS is a collaborative project by artists Nicolas Sassoon (Vancouver, BC) and Rick Silva (Eugene, OR). Sassoon and Silva share a broad and persistent theme in their practice – the depiction and alteration of natural forms through computer technology. Rooted in this common interest, and produced by pairing complementary fields of research in computer imaging, SIGNALS focuses primarily on immersive audio-visual renderings of seascape environments. The project draws from scientific oceanic surveys, virtual reality and natural phenomena to generate video works, prints, sculptures and installations that reflect on environmental inquiries, concepts of monumentality, and alteration.
	John Daker John Daker is the musical child of 4 IRL intimate associates: Frontwomen Sophie Koko Gate and Rachel Sale, backed by their m9s from Skillbard. An Arse Pop Love Band, 2 chicks sing about other chicks with the help of an unsavoury pixelated band member. Order yourself a large white wine, tuck in that tie and prepare to watch 4 of the softest attitudes in show business. John Daker will sing from their new EP ‘Dubai Was Liiiiiit’ released on NAT RALE records ltd.