Seoul festival to show best of world animation

SICAF 2012 to feature 300 animated  films, diverse cartoon exhibitions


Some 300 animated films, diverse cartoon exhibitions and business workshops for anime-artists are to take place in Korea’s capital this month, offering entertainment for viewers and market opportunities for artists.

The annual Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) opens on July 18 in several locations in Seoul, the festival’s organizing committee announced last week.

The festival this year is divided into three different parts: Cartoon exhibitions, animated film festival, and Seoul Promotion Plan (SPP), a series of business workshops for local animated filmmakers and cartoon artists who are looking for business opportunities overseas.

This year’s film festival is opening with Spanish director Ignacio Ferreras’ award-winning feature-length film, “Wrinkles.” The 2011 piece tells the story of two aged men, Emilio and Miguel, living in a nursing home. The film begins as Emilio, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer, arrives in the care home and is greeted by Miguel and other colleagues.

For this year’s competition section, a total of 1,362 films were submitted from 45 countries. Among them, 154 films have been selected including five feature-length productions.

Director Yeun Sang-ho’s sensational debut “The King of Pigs,” which was invited to a non-competition section of this year’s Cannes, is among the five films in the competition section. The vicious middle school flick is recognized for its raw portrayal of bullying, violence and systemic poverty.

Director Lee Dae-hee’s “Padak,” also in the competition section, depicts the journey of a fish who ends up in a water tank of a sashimi restaurant. 

Other must-sees include Canadian directors Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s short film “Wild Life”; Czech director Tomas Lunak’s horror “Alois Nebel”; and French directors David Alaux and Eric Tosti’ s allegorical film “The Jungle Bunch -- Back to the Ice Floe.”

The SICAF 2012 exhibitions will consist of a series of educational programs for all generations, including a special exhibition on legendary SF cartoonist Kim San-ho and his works; an exhibition featuring a set of baseball-themed cartoons released in the past 30 years; and a show dedicated to American cartoonist Jim Davis’ famous cat character Garfield.

Some of its education programs include animated filmmakers Kim Seon-ah and Park Se-hee’s special lecture titled “Producing Animated Feature A to Z,” where aspiring animated filmmakers can learn about the process of making a film, from pre-production to distribution.

Vietnamese-American animator Mike Nguyen, who worked as a supervising animator on Warner Bros’ “The Iron Giant,” will also give a lecture on how to apply time affects to animated films.

Local animators and cartoonists will find the festival’s SPP helpful, where they’ll have a chance to network with international buyers, listen to business conferences, and attend one-on-one session with marketing advisors for tips and the latest animation market trends.

The animated film festival will be held at CGV Myeongdong and AniCinema, while exhibitions and business workshops will take place in COEX D Hall, Exhibition Hall and COEX Conference Center.

SICAF runs from July 18 to 22. Tickets range from 3,000 won to 8,000 won for cartoon exhibitions, and 4,000 won to 5,000 won for film screenings. For more information and the full line-up of the films, visit www.sicaf.org.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)