BOY OH BOY (study no. 1 - early words and scribbles)

BOY OH BOY - the first in a series of non-narrative films - is playing at festivals now! Catch it at:
- Animac Spain (In Competition) 25 February – 7 March
- Kaboom Animation Festival, 31 March – 4 April
- Anifilm (In Competition), 4-9 May

Links and future screening details over there on the left...

WOOD CHILD RECEIVES HONOURABLE MENTION @ MINIMALEN

Wood Child & Hidden Forest Mother has received an Honourable Mention at the 33rd Minimalen Short Film Festival.

 

Jury statement: 

Exceptionally surprising and darkly funny, this animated curiosity loops and warps a message of monochromatic destruction and rainbow creation into a warning about nature - our own and Earth's. In an orchestral explosion of collapse and colour, this hypnotic trip shows life and death as a queer, surreal and grotesque pattern of regeneration and degeneration that affects both land and body. The jury is compelled to honor a zany singularity that defies category and expands form.

 

Thanks to jury members Jerry Carlsson, Angie Driscoll and Jonas Brenna!

Full list of awards here

WOOD CHILD AWARDED THE GRAND PRIZE @ NEW CHITOSE

Wood Child & Hidden Forest Mother won the Grand Prize at the New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival! Many thanks to Nobuaki Doi and Tomoko Ono, as well as the jury Naohiro Ukawa, Hiroko Tasaka and AC-Bu.

"The Grand Prix went to Wood Child & Hidden Forest Mother by Stephen Irwin (UK). The award includes a 1 million yen prize (US$9600).

The festival received 2,174 entries from 91 countries this year. From that, 100 short films and 5 features were selected. The international jury - Naohiro Ukawa, Hiroko Tasaka and AC-Bu - also presented numerous other awards, including those for new talent and Japan competition categories." 

 

WCHFM @ Melbourne International Film Festival

Full article at Broadsheet.com

NEW FILM AT SUNDANCE 2020!

My new film Wood Child & Hidden Forest Mother will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, 23 Jan - 2 Feb 2020.

Full list of times and venues coming soon. In the meantime here's the trailer...




74 short films will screen at the Festival from 27 countries and chosen from 10,397 submissions – 4,992 from the U.S. and 5,405 international.
Visit sundance.org for details of all the selected films.

GO SHORT FESTIVAL BAG & T-SHIRT

I designed the bag and t-shirt for this years Go Short Film Festival.
here are a few pics!

ANIM'EST AWARD

My award for Best Short Film arrived from the Anim'est Festival this week.

The jury (Amid Amidi, Christian Pfohl and Robert Morgan) said:
"A film that imaginatively re-interprets old cartoon iconography into a nightmarish and comical depiction of childhood angst."

And here's how the jury came to their decision. Amid included these notes in this Cartoon Brew article (the filmmakers don't normally get to see this stuff!):

THE OBVIOUS CHILD - UPCOMING SCREEEENINGS

SUNDANCE LONDON   25-27 April
STUTTGART  22-27 April
PICTOPLASMA  1-3 May
VIENNA INDEPENDENT SHORTS  23-29 May
KRAKOW FILM FESTIVAL  25 May - 1 June
HAMBURG INT'L SHORT FILM FESTIVAL  3-9 June
ANNECY  9-14 June

< < full list over there on the left < <

THE OBVIOUS CHILD - SUNDANCE 2014

My new film "The Obvious Child" will premiere at Sundance next month.
Here's a wee trailer:



If you're in Park City, UT in January why not pop along!
Exact times/dates/venues coming soon...

MOXIE NEWS UPDATE NEWS

Moxie recently won a couple of awards...

Best Short 5 - 15 min at Anifest (wonderful trophy above), and the Audience Award at the 50th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Lots more screenings coming up including Annecy and Zagreb (full list over there on the left...) 

and here's   some    nice    write-ups  from the internet

SUNDANCE SCREENING TIMES

If you're at Sundance this week / next week Moxie is playing in the Shorts Competition (Program V)

Friday 20th January, 9.30pm
Redstone Cinema, Park City

Saturday 21st January, 9.00pm
Broadway Centre Cinema, Salt Lake City

Tuesday 24th January, 2.30pm
Prospector Square Theatre, Park City

Friday 27th January, 1.00pm
Holliday Village Cinema, Park City

More details > here <

MOXIE NEWS & WHATNOT

Moxie will screen at Sundance in January (19 - 29) in the International Narrative Shorts programme.
Full list at the Hollywood Reporter (full screening dates will follow soon...)

It's also playing at IFF Rotterdam and the London Short Film Festival in January.

And it received an Honourable Mention at Etiuda&Anima in Krakow in November.

__________________________________________

Some nice words from Dan Sarto in his Ottawa roundup...

"Moxie, by Stephen Irwin – I actually picked this film to win the Grand Prix, which it did. Unlike so many films ruined by pointless absurdities inserted by filmmakers trying too hard to be cute, hip, odd or suicidal, Moxie displayed both the heft and the quirkiness a truly funky, offbeat film must have in order to ring genuine. I didn’t always know what was going on, but it made sense somehow in a completely enjoyable way."
http://www.awn.com/blogs/animated-travels/final-thoughts-ottawa-2011

and more nice words from The Animation Pimp...

"...I will take messy, flawed films (e.g. Phil Mulloy's work, the late Helen Hill's Mouseholes, J.J. Villard's Son of Satan, Stephen Irwin's Moxie and Black Dog) that bear souls, that show proof of a human touch trying to make some sense of the world, trying to articulate a deeply personal experience, not allowing technology, preacher teachers, Preston Blair or "proper" aesthetics to dictate and direct their voice. I will always take the sloppy joes over those achingly crafted and polished works that show no evidence of human touch."
http://www.awn.com/blogs/animation-pimp/sensual-healings

MOXIE WINS GRAND PRIZE AT OTTAWA

Moxie won the GRAND PRIZE for Best Independent Short Animation at The Ottawa International Animation Festival on Sunday.

This was the Bear's first outing and it's a great way to kick start the festival run. It's encouraging when a festival like Ottawa selects your work (which they've done for the past few years), and even more so when it wins an award like this.

I was also pleased to see Phil Mulloy win the Grand Prize for Best Feature. He's a fellow Animate filmmaker and his work has had a big influence on me.

Here's some coverage on the festival and awards....

Cartoon Brew
Ottawa Citizen
Animation Magazine
CTV Ottawa
Animation World Network
Suite101
Canadian Animation Resources

MOXIE - trailer & screenings

My new film 'Moxie' will premiere at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, 21 - 25 September 2011.

Full screening and programme details > here <



Click here to view BIGGER

Click here to view even BIGGERER (full screen hd)


it'll also be on at Animest Int'l Animation Festival, Bucharest, 7 - 16 October 2011.

More screening details and whatnot coming soon...

festival news

lots of new Black Dog festival screenings in the next few months including:

Ottawa Int'l Animation Festival, China Digital Arts Festival, Klik! Amsterdam, Lille Short Film Festival, Curtociruito Spain and DOK Leipzig Germany.

details over there on the right.....

it'll also be screened at the Too Art for TV exhibition in New York in September/October. more details soon.

nice things about the black dog (part 2)

- Weep For The Black Dog's Progress (Twitch Film)

- The Edge of Reason Toronto screening (Robert Bell)

- Eye for Film review

- Scene 360

- Movie Moxie

(nice things part 1)

la progression du chien noir

the black dog's progress is screening at the clermont-ferrand short film festival this week.

it's in the lab competition (L4) and playing most days.
times & dates & venues here

i'll be there from thursday 5th to sunday 8th and details will follow early next week on here and on the animate projects blog.

screenings and that

london short film festival screening this sunday....
18th january at the ICA, 4pm / leftfield & luscious
details here

rotterdam international film festival screening times....
26th January & 28th January
details here