×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema Announces First Films

Headlined by premiere of Evangelion 1.0, complete Genius Party anthology

WATERLOO, ON – The 8th edition of the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema will be running November 13-16, 2008 in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada.

A unique film festival celebrating the artistry of animated feature films, the Waterloo Festival showcase is one of the most comprehensive public exhibitions for animated feature films in the world. More ambitious than ever, the first titles revealed in the 2008 programme span the gamut of animation and storytelling styles. Tracing the historical beginnings of feature animation, the Festival will be presenting a rare retrospective screening of the earliest surviving animated feature film, Lotte Reiniger's Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (1926). The 35mm print was restored from nitrate fragments by the British Film Institute, hand-tinted, and will be presented with a new soundtrack commissioned by the Northwest Film Forum and performed live at the Festival by the musician-composer duo of Miles and Karina. Also screening will be the Canadian premiere of Quirino Cristiani: The Mystery of the First Animated Movies, a documentary on the artist who created the first known animated feature film in the world.

Continuing the Festival's tradition of celebrating animated feature films made by small, dedicated teams of (sometimes just one) artist, the Tidbits programme includes Nina Paley's Sita Sings The Blues, an utterly charming interpretation of the Indian mythology The Ramayan, drawing parallels with the filmmaker's own life, and set to 1920s jazz vocals by Annette Hanshaw; and the mind-twisting
bravado of We Are The Strange, presented by director M dot Strange in person.

For anime fans, a smorgasbord: the 2008 TAF anime feature film of the year Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone lands at the Festival for its Canadian premiere. The Festival is especially proud to present the complete Genius Party anthology, with back-to-back screenings of the astounding films Genius Party and Genius Party Beyond. Also making its Canadian premiere is a tale of innocence and friendship between two budding artists, Piano no Mori (The Piano Forest).

Attending the Festival
All screenings will be held at The Gig Theatre (the old Hyland Cinema), 137 Ontario Street North, November 13-16, 2008. The theatre is conveniently located near rail and bus services, and there is plenty of parking nearby.

For adults, single admission prices are $12 per screening. A limited pass, good for any five screenings, is $45 for adults. A full festival pass (best deal), good for all festival screenings and activities for $90. Passes are transferable.

For children and high school students (ID required), single admission prices are $8 per screening. A limited pass is $30, and a full festival pass is $60.

As a special offer to early purchasers, full festival passes will be available at a discounted earlybird pricing of $60 for adults ($30 off), and $40 for high-school students ($20 off). Only fifty passes will be available at this incredible discount.

Single admission tickets and passes will be available in advance from the website and also at the door. To avoid disappointment, we strongly advise purchasing in advance.

Further details will be published on the Festival website at http://www.wfac.ca.

About the Festival
The Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema (WFAC) is a premiere film festival for animated feature films, founded to promote appreciation for animation as a narrative medium for mature cinematic storytelling, and to review and celebrate animated feature films in the venue they were meant to be seen in: a theatre.

The Festival is community-based, non-profit, and run by volunteers for the love of the art of animation.

bookmark/share with: short url

Press Release homepage / archives