"There's a big talent pool in Danish animation," says Thomas Krag, Film Commissioner at the Danish Film Institute and one of the originators of a promotional campaign to be launched during Annecy's Animation Film Festival 8-13 June. FILM#66 issued prior to the Cannes festival draws up some lines in Danish animation right now. "One of the main reasons for this campaign is to show support to an industry that has been blooming, especially since the National Film School established its animation programme in 1992," Film Commissioner Thomas Krag explains. Festival DVD
One important new initiative is a DVD published by the Film Institute that will be distributed during the six-day-festival. The DVD contains clips from animation films, showing evidence of the diversity in the field: A. Film's "Journey to Saturn" and "Niko & the Way to the Stars", Dansk Tegnefilm's "A Tale of Two Mozzies", Crone/Radar Film's "Sunshine Barry & the Disco Worms", Copenhagen Bombay's "The Apple and the Worm" and "The Great Bear" – plus many more excerpts from both short films and features.Also, the Film Institute will be hosting a social event 10 June at Lake Annecy, where film professionals may meet under more informal circumstances. Encouraging co-productions
"Skilled and creative directors and animators are coming out of the National Film School in Copenhagen and the Animation Workshop in Viborg – two schools at the opposite end of the country with different education profiles supplementing each other really well," says Thomas Krag, also stressing the point that the tools of the trade have evolved. "They are cheaper, faster, more powerful now, and more mobile – making it easy to collaborate on different production phases across national borders. So it’s possible to do animation on a relatively low budget.""On the other hand," says Thomas Krag, "we at the DFI are also encouraging the animation projects suited for working on a larger scale to become European co-productions – like 'Niko' and 'The Apple and the Worm', for instance. In this effort, a platform like Annecy plays an important role in paving the way for more Danish film professional to participate in large co-productions," says Krag.This year, five Danish graduation films are selected for the official competition, see press release Promoting Danish animation in AnnecyNews brief only – not released as newsletterFor further information:Festival website
Annecy International Animated Film Festival (8-13 June)Animation special in FILM#66, May 09
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New Danish feature film animation / a selection
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Cheeky on the outside, moral at the core
Animation education
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