Estonian animation takes center stage at Zagreb film festival

This Monday (June 2), Animafest Zagreb, the second-longest running animation festival in the world, gets underway in Croatia. This year's festival features 7 Estonian animated movies, including the world premiere of Kaspar Jancis' short film "The Dog" ("Koer").
This Monday (June 2), Animafest Zagreb, the second-longest running animation festival in the world, gets underway in Croatia. This year's festival features 7 Estonian animated movies, including Kaspar Jancis' short film "The Dog" ("Koer").
The festival's main competition program includes Martinus Klemet's "Yummy" (produced by AAA Creative) and Anu-Laura Tuttelberg's "On Weary Wings Go By" ("Linnud Läinud") (produced by Fork Film and Art Shot, Lithuania). "On Weary Wings Go By" premiered last year at the Locarno Film Festival, while "Yummy" premiered at AFI Fest in Los Angeles.
Both films were also released in Estonia this year as part of the animation anthology "Animaffia."
"Like many historical animation festivals, Animafest Zagreb places great emphasis on animation technique and the way the film is made, in addition to the stories. This year's main competition program is a potpourri of different innovative and traditional techniques. The films selected from Estonia for the main competition – the poetic puppet movie 'On Weary Wings Go By' and the black comedy 'Yummy' – reflect the diversity of Estonian animation as well as the diversity of the festival's program," said Peep Pedmanson, animation expert at the Estonian Film Institute.
Kaspar Jancis' "The Dog "(produced by Rebel Frame) will be shown during the festival's World Panorama program. Producer Kadriann Kibus said she is delighted the film will have its world premiere at such a prestigious festival.
"The short film 'The Dog' is based on the story of a collection of erotic ancient Chinese literature, which is now banned in China. Director Kaspar Jancis has added his own personal, humorous and absurd take on the story. Kaspar and I have also begun production on two more similar films and our longer-term goal is to create a series of erotic, humorous ethnographic-historical stories from different cultures," said Kibus.
The Croatian competition program features the music video "Maaimä" ("Mother Earth") by artist Lucija Mrzljak, who has Croatian roots but is based in Estonia. The video is set to the song of the same name by Estonian folk musician Mari Kalkun. The student film competition program includes "Moons" by Evridiki Papaiakovou, who holds a master's degree in animation from the Estonian Academy of Arts.
The festival also features screenings of Estonian classics "Luna Rossa" by Pritt Pärn as part of the "Time for the Masters" program along with "Idyll" ("Idüll") by Rao Heidmets.
More information about the festival is available here.
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Editor: Neit-Eerik Nestor, Michael Cole