The fourth edition of this festival reaffirms Universidad ORT Uruguay commitment Universidad ORT Uruguay promoting and showcasing animations created by students and graduates of animation schools, independent animators, and production companies, as well as to fostering a space for artistic and technological reflection on the discipline of animation.
Since its first edition in 2007, the competition has received entries from more than 20 countries on nearly every continent, with the number of participants growing in each subsequent edition.
This year, 80 entries from eleven countries were submitted.
Animated shorts were accepted regardless of genre or theme. The call for entries was open to students and graduates of animation schools, animation production companies, advertising agencies, and independent animators.
The Festival President was Alejandro Erramún, Academic Coordinator of Multimedia, Animation, and Video Games at the School of Communication and Design. The jury was composed of Gonzalo Sobral from Radio El Espectador, María de la Paz Goldaracena from Santander Universidades, Hugo Romay from Montecarlo Televisión, and Ryan Woodward.
The winners were:
The short film Copia A, by Argentine director Gervasio Rodríguez Traverso, received the Grand Jury Prize and also won Best Animated Short.
The Best Uruguayan Short was Completed by director Florentina Pérez, and Uruguayan director Diego Miranda, a graduate of the Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design, received the award for Best Experimental Short for Psyclo.
The Uruguayan production company Locomotion received first prize in the Best Advertising Short / Music Video category for Charoná (Artigas’ Birthday – Cell Phone Use).
Pratt Institute won first prize in the Animation School Reel category; and the Audience Choice Award went to Os anjos do meio da praa, by Brazilian director Al Camargo.
The awards were:
Grand Jury Prize: $800 (eight hundred U.S. dollars) and Diploma
Best Uruguayan Short Film: $500 (five hundred U.S. dollars) and Diploma
Best Animated Short Film: Diploma
Best Experimental Video and Animation Short Film: Diploma
Best Web Animation: Diploma
Best Animation School Reel: Certificate
Best Advertising Short / Music Video: Certificate
The program of activities was as follows:
October 25
10:30 a.m. - Series A / Official exhibition of selected works
12:00 p.m. - Gonzalo Sobral: "Daring to Entertain"
1:00 p.m. - Jesse López: "Cartooning Workshop"
3:30 p.m. - Series B / Official screening of selected works
4:45 p.m. - Series C / Official screening of selected works
6:00 p.m. - Andrés Costa: "The Role of Music in Audiovisual Productions"
7:30 p.m. - Series D / Official screening of selected works
October 26
9:30 a.m. - Series D / Official screening of selected works
11:00 a.m. - Álvaro Calandra: "Adobe Creative Suite CS5 Production Premium: High-PerformanceEditing forthe New Generation of Cinematographers" 1:00 p.m. - Jesse López: "Character Design Workshop"
3:30 p.m. - Series C / Official Screening of Selected Works
4:45 p.m. - Series B / Official screening of selected works
6:00 p.m. - Series A / Official screening of selected works
7:30 p.m. - Ryan Woodward: "Back to the Roots" - Interview with Woodward published in El País digital
8:45 p.m. - Awards ceremony and closing.
Speakers:
Álvaro Calandra
Video and Audio Editor at ElCanal.com. He has worked on the editing and post-production of more than 50 audiovisual projects. Translator of White Papers for Adobe in 2009.
Jesse López
A graduate of CalArts, he works for the video game companyWayForward Technologies, creatingcharacter designs, storyboards, and animations. He was part of the development team for the Batman video game for Warner Brothers, Brave and the Boldfor Nintendo Wii, and is currently working on the Thor video game, which will be released following the premiere of the film of the same name.
Gonzalo Sobral
Programming Manager at Radio el Espectador and General Manager of Espectador.com. Journalist at Radio el Espectador and TV Ciudad. Master’s in Business Administration and Bachelor’s in Social Communication Sciences.
Ryan Woodward
Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Arts and Animation at Brigham Young University (Utah, United States). He served as an Animation Instructor for A.C.M.E. Virtual Training Network (Warner Brothers Studios), Associates in Art ( Van Nuys, California), and The Academy of Art University ( San Francisco, California). He has worked on productions such as: Iron Man 2 (2010), Desperate Housewives, Spider-Man 3 ( 2007), and Spider-Man 2 ( 2004).
As in previous editions, the festival was supported by Banco Santander, Montecarlo Televisión, and Nexsys Uruguay.