1. Screening May 1 - 7

17th Annual Animation Show of Shows

About
From 2015, the program contains 11 films created by 20 people of many ages & from many different countries. These films represent an outpouring of international and intergenerational creativity that underscores that what unites us is much greater than the arbitrary boundaries that divide us. Ranging from hand-drawn and stop-motion to the latest computer-generated imagery, these beautifully crafted films reflect a broad range of perspectives, while universally celebrating artistic excellence and the resilience of the human spirit. The program includes documentary portraits of four of the directors, who shed light on the motivation, process and experiences that led to the making of their films.

Review
"The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows' is one of the most profound cinematic experiences of 2015." - Carlos Aguilar, Indiewire

The Films
• The Story Of Percival Pits (Janette Goodey & John Lewis)
• Tant De Forets (Geoffrey Godet & Burcu Sankur)
• Snowfall (Conor Whelan)
• Ballad Of Holland Island House (Lynn Tomlinson)
• Behind The Trees (Amanda Palmer & Avi Ofer)
• We Can’t Live Without The Cosmos (Konstantin Bronzit)
• Messages Dans L’air (Isabel Favez)
• Stripy (Babak Nekooei & Behnoud Nekooei)
• Ascension (T Bourdis, M De Coudenhove, C Domergue, C Laubry, F Vecchione)
• Love In The Time Of March Madness (Melissa Johnson & Robertino Zambrano)
• World Of Tomorrow (Don Hertzfeldt)

2. Screening May 8 - 14

18th Annual Animation Show of Shows (Family Version)

About
From 2016 the program features an expanded selection of student films from leading animation schools in the U.S., Belgium, Korea, Canada, and Russia. Filled with humor, emotion, and a celebration of human nature, this entertaining and thought-provoking show is a treat for all ages. 

The Films

• Stems (Ainslie Hendersen)
• Shift (Cecilia Puglesi & Yijun Liu) 
• Pearl (Patrick Osborne)
• Crin-crin (Iris Alexandre)
• Mirror (Chris Ware, John Kuramoto, Ira Glass) 
• Last Summer In The Garden (Bekky O’neil)
• Waiting For The New Year (Vladimir Leschiov)
• Bøygen (Kristian Pedersen)
• Afternoon Class (Seoro Oh)
• About A Mother (Dina Velikovskaya)
• Exploozy (Joshua Gunn, Trevor Piecham, John Mcgowan)

3. Screening May 15 - 21

19th Annual Animation Show of Shows

About
From 2017, these 15 exceptional and inspiring animated shorts from around the world present compelling ideas about individuality, civil liberties, and our place in society and in the universe. Thoughtful, profound, and often very funny, this compelling and entertaining collection includes a newly restored version of the acclaimed classic, “The Hangman”.

Review
“An exceptional program that starts off strong and only gets better as it goes, the 19th Annual Animation Show of Shows overflows with charm, while containing more provocative observations about the nature of existence than most prestige feature films." - John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter

The Films
• Can You Do It (Quentin Baillieux)
• Tiny Big (Lia Bertels)
• Next Door (Pete Docter)
• The Alan Dimension (Jac Clinch)
• Beautiful Like Elsewhere (Elise Simard)
• Hangman (Paul Julian & Les Goldman)
• The Battle Of San Romano (Georges Schwizgebel)
• Gokurosama (C Frère, A Gal, Y Meignien, A Mertz, R Migliorelli, R Salvini)
• Island (Max Mörtl & Robert Löbel)
• Unsatisfying (Parallel Studio)
• My Burden (Niki Lindroth Von Bahr)
• Les Abeilles Domestiques (Domestic Bees) (Alexanne Desrosiers)
• Our Wonderful Nature: The Common Chameleon (Tomer Eshed)
• Casino (Steven Woloshen)
• Everything (David Oreilly)

4. Screening May 22 - 28

20th Annual Animation Show of Shows

About
From 2018, this program includes 15 thought-provoking, poignant, and very funny films from around the world, this curated collection of some of the years best animated shorts is both first-rate entertainment and a timely reminder of the universality of human experience and shared ideals. From the poetic musings of precocious preschoolers to the joys and heartbreaks of familial relations, this exceptional program is an exploration and celebration of what it means to be human.

Review
"The best short-form animation — like the most memorable short stories — is daring in perspective and malleable in interpretation. [The Animation Show of Shows includes films that are] wonderfully original... dazzling... and provocative." - Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

The Films
• The Green Bird (M Bougeois, Q Dubois, M Goalard, I Nguyen, P Perveyrie)
• One Small Step (Andrew Chesworth & Bobby Pontillas)
• Grands Canons (Alain Biet)
• Barry (Anchi Shen)
• Super Girl (Nancy Kangas & Josh Kun)
• Love Me, Fear Me (Veronica Solomon)
• Business Meeting (Guy Charnaux)
• Flower Found! (Jorn Leeuwerink)
• Bullets (Nancy Kangas & Josh Kun)
• A Table Game (Nicolás Petelski)
• Carlotta's Face (Valentin Riedl & Frédéric Schuld)
• Age Of Sail (John Kahrs)
• Polaris (Hikari Toriumi)
• My Moon (Eusong Lee)
• Weekends (Trevor Jimenez)

5. Screening May 29 - June 4

EyeCANdy: Contemporary Canadian Animation Program

About
10 Films // for mature audiences // Run Time = 77m

A collection of wildly inventive and provocative Canadian independent animated short films that showcase an amazing range of styles and stories from across the country. EyeCANdy highlights Canada's prolific and inventive animation culture and illustrates the medium's endless possibilities.

The Films
Casino | Steven Woloshen | 2016
"A film for my Father, who gambled with love."

Girl in the Hallway | Valerie Barnhart | 2018
Why does 'Little Red Riding Hood' give Jamie nightmares? It's been 15 years, and the girl in the hallway haunts him still.

Ravines | Guillaume Pelletier-Auger | 2018
Nervous lines continually draw the contours of moving mountains.

Biidaaban | Amanda Strong | 2018
Biidaaban sets out to harvest sap from Sugar Maples from an urban Ontario neighbourhood which is primarily inhabited by Settlers. The practice of harvesting sap goes back to time immemorial for the Anishinaabe people. Biidaaban works in continuum with this practice, accompanied by their friend Sabe and other spirit beings that once lived in this area. The neighbourhood acts as both nemesis and provider. The fear of being caught plays up against the bravery it takes to continue ceremony and practice on occupied lands.

Erodium Thunk | Winston Hacking | 2018
A barrage of hyperlinked cable television commercials.

Emergency Broadcast | Pixie Cram | 2017
Built at the height of the Cold War to withstand a five-megaton nuclear assault, the Diefenbunker is a massive underground, four-story, 100,000-square-foot fortress designed and constructed entirely in secrecy in 1959. Inspired by the objects, rooms, and spaces of this Canadian Historic Site, this stop-animation film depicts the beginnings of a nuclear war.

Only Lovers Leave to Die | Vladimir Kanic | 2016
Emily begins perceiving the world as it was made from painted film stock shortly after being injured in an accident. On her way to a hospital, a story of love, death, passion and loss unravels through dialogues of characters surrounding her, each represented with a different pattern of film stock.

My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes | Charlie Tyrell | 2018
Filmmaker Charlie Tyrell seeks to better understand his emotionally distant late-father through the personal belongings he left behind... including a stack of VHS dirty movies. Narrated by David Wain.

Insect Express | Emily Pelstring | 2016
The film explores an intersection of species; insect flight patterns and modes of industrial travel merge as collective rituals in a fever dream.

Finding Uranus | Ivan Li | 2019
If Kubrick returned from the dead and was going to make an animation film about self-pleasure... well...this might be it.

EyeCANdy Program