The Competition Programme of the 15th KAFF Is Finalized

Out of almost 300 works coming from 23 countries, the competition programme of the 15^th KAFF has been pre-selected. 

Three of the five competing full feature animation films deals with a historical subject. The French–Luxembourger–Swiss animation film titled The Swallows of Kabul, directed by Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, is set in Kabul, in the summer of 1998. The ruined city is occupied by the Taliban. Mohsen and Zunaira are young, in love, and despite the always present violence and all their misery, they still believe in the future. But when Mohsen does something senseless, their plans get ruined.

Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen’s My Favourite War, a Norwegian–Latvian work that won both at Annecy and Bucheon, presents the ideological warfare of the authorities in power aimed at oppressing the citizens through the personal story of the director, who grew up in the Soviet Union between 1970 and 1990.

The German–Luxembourger–Belgian–Czech family adventure film of directors Matthias Bruhn and Ralf Kukula made for the 30^th anniversary of the end of socialism also revolves around a historical subject: set at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Fritzi – A Revolutionary Tale tells the story of the exciting adventures of a brave little girl and a nice dog, taking them from the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig to the strictly guarded borders. German film critics chose this animation as the best children’s film of 2019, it won the prize for best animation film at the Pilsen JuniorFest, and it was awarded the prize for best screenplay at the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film.

A French, Romanian and Belgian coproduction directed by Anca Damian, the poetic and touching film titled Marona’s Fantastic Tale that won the prize for best animation at the Bucheon International Animation Festival and was nominated for the European Film Award also features a dog as its protagonist, an eternally optimistic stray pup that is fanatically loyal towards its missing owner. The dazzlingly colourful, stunning visuals of the film were created by one of the most exciting figures of contemporary Belgian comic art, Brecht Evens. The film reminds us how little is enough to be happy.

Finally, in an Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated film made by legendary Tomm Moore—who previously produced his full feature animation film The Secret of Kells in cooperation with Kecskemétfilm—and Ross Stewart, titled Wolfwalkers, a young girl travels to Ireland with her father to hunt wolves. But everything changes when she makes friends with a free spirited girl coming from a mysterious tribe, who is said to turn into a wolf by night.

6 European TV specials, 22 European and 8 Hungarian TV series—including Gipsy Tales, The Grickles and Urban Legends —, 16 Hungarian short films—including Gábor Ulrich’s Dune, Judit Orosz’s Out There, Kinga Rofusz’s Home and Éva Darabos’s Bye, Little Block! —, 21 Hungarian applied animation films—commercials, music videos and signals— and 12 Hungarian student films will compete at the biggest animation event of Hungary between 11 and 15 August. Besides the competition programmes, thematic panorama screenings, retrospective selections, film industry roundtables discussions and masterclasses, as well as workshops and exhibitions will make the festival even more diverse, to which admission is free.

 

HUNGARIAN COMPETITION

Short Films

1. Lesser of Two Evils / A kisebbik rossz – Máté Horesnyi 
2. Our Sleepings / Alvások – Boglárka Ászity
3. Attitude / Attitűd – Szandra Pataki, Zsuzsi Kemény
4. Dune / Dűne – Gábor Ulrich
5. Echo – Félix Baudouin
6. Helfer – Anna Szöllősi
7. Needs – Júlia Lerch
8. Out There / Odakint – Judit Orosz
9. Home / Otthon – Kinga Rofusz
10. Bye, Little Block! / Pá, kis panelom! – Éva Darabos
11. Plantarium – Tomek Ducki 
12. Reduction – Réka Anna Szakály
13. Down / Sok – Gabriella Muresán
14. Sola – Zoltán Debreczeni
15. Bros / Tesók – Marci Nagy
16. Last Time They Saw Me Awake / Utoljára ébren láttak – Alexandra Scheffer

TV Series

1. Door to Othertown / Átjáró Másvárosba: Döbrögi – Bálint Farkas Gelley
2. Gypsy Tales / Cigánymesék: Valaha madarak voltunk – Mária Horváth 
3. Cipelő cicák: A zoknifa – Csaba Bárdos
4. Cserebogarak: Papp Laci – Ervin B. Nagy
5. Hunor: A gyilkos bojlerek inváziója – Béla Klingl, Árpád Koós
6. Kuflik: A kuflik és a máshogyoszkóp – Kristóf Jurik
7. Cat Princess / Macskakirálylány – Iván Tamás
8. Urban Legends / Városi legendák: Családi ökörség – Kati Glaser

Commissioned Films 

1. Bob Moses - Desire – Airplan Studio (video clip)
2. Bolyai – Zsuzsi Rádóczy (ad)
3. Borostyán – Gíta Krasznai (video clip)
4. Csillagtengeren – Noémi Barkóczi (video clip)
5. Ethno-zoom – Attila Bertóti (ad)
6. George, a mágus – Katalin Egely (video clip)
7. Globális öngyilkosság – Szandra Pataki (ad)
8. Gróf a moziban – Tamara Bella, Gábor István Gurka , Kata Hollós, Kornél Pittmann (ad)
9. Herself – Anna Tőkés (video clip)
10. Hikers Tale – Domonkos Erhardt (ad)
11. Jóbarátok promo spots – Dániel Huszár (trailer)
12. Mantaro - A kávéba zárt misztikum – Péter Vácz, Attila Hartung (ad)
13. McDonald's Hot Devil – Airplan Studio (ad)
14. Meghökkentő autós történetek – Airplan Studio (ad)
15. Moholymotion – Éva Darabos, Melinda Kádár, Borbála Mákó, Lili Korcsok (ad)
16. Odett - Fehér Fény – Csaba Klement (video clip)
17. OnePage – Airplan Studio (video clip)
18. Onleihe, Goethe Intézet – Tomek Ducki (ad)
19. Paramount Channel Idents vol3. – Airplan Studio (signal)
20. TPSRPRT - Rattle – Mirjána Balogh, Dominika Demeter, Janka Feiner, Márk László, Barnabás Nemes, Zsófia Pethő, Katalin Sárdi, Imre Balázs Szentesi, Alexandra Júlia Szujó, Gréta Tercza (video clip)
21. Zsigmond Vilmos Nemzetközi Filmfesztivál szignál 2019 – Ádám Verhóczki (signal)

Student Films

1. Anywhere / Akárhová – Zsófia Osztós
2. When / Amikor – Ani Nguyen
3. Bardo – Fiorella Spitzer
4. Incognito / Inkognitó – Júlia Lantos
5. Password to the ***** / Jelszó a * * * * * * * * * - hoz – Adél Szegedi
6. Mostanában nagyon... – Lejla Gyarmati
7. Outsider – Adrienn Gál
8. Plato's Room / Platón szobája – Viktória Varró
9. Sunshower – Ádám Wator, Attila Fekete
10. Utopia / Utópia – Orsolya Tóth
11. Void – Adrien MacCallum
12. Wezzztern – Albert Fazekas-Illyés

 

EUROPEAN COMPETITION 

Animated Features

1. Fritzy – A Revolutionary Tale – Ralf Kukula, Matthias Bruhn (DEU, LUX, BEL, CZE)
2. Marona’s Fantastic Tale – Anca Damian (FRA, ROU, BEL)
3. My Favourite War – Ilze Burkovska-Jacobsen (NOR, LVA)
4. The Swallows of Kabul – Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec (FRA, LUX, AUT)
5. Wolfwalkers – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart (IRL, LUX)  

TV Specials

1. Mum is Pouring Rain – Hugo de Faucompret (FRA)
2. Vanille – Guillaume Lorin (FRA, AUT)
3. The Snail and the Whale – Max Lang, Daniel Snaddon (GBR)
4. Shooom's Odyssey – Julien Bisaro (FRA, BEL)
5. The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Robin Shaw (GBR)
6. My Life in Versailles – Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat, Nathaniel H'limi (FRA)

TV Series 

1. Macskakirálylány / Cat Princess – Iván Tamás (HUN)
2. Hungry Bear Tales: Truffles – Katerina Karhankova, Alexandra Majova (CZE)
3. Pompon Little Bear – Matthieu Gaillard (FRA)
4. The Adventures of Gloria Scott: Murder in the Cathedral – Matija Pisacic, Tvrtko Raspolic (HRV, SRB)
5. Moominvalley: Moomin Papa and Son – Steve Boksz (FIN, GBR)
6. The Other Way Wolf: Flow – Ira Elshansky (RUS)
7. Women Undercover: Yola – Aurélie Pollet (FRA)
8. Fox and Hare: Ladies Club – Mascha Halberstad, Tom Van Gestel (BEL, NLD, LUX) 
9. Brazen: Mae Jemison – Charlotte Cambon de Lavalette, Phuong Mai Nguyen (FRA)
10. Draco a borzasztó: A hajszárító akció / The Thrilling Tales of Dreadful Draco: Operation Hairdryer – Bálint Kelen (HUN)
11. Fail in love: Bite on the Side – Cécile Rousset, Romain Blanc-Tailleur, Adrienne Nowak (FRA)
12. Mush-Mush and the Mushables: Let it Bee – Joeri Christiaen (FRA, BEL)
13. Cigánymesék: Valaha madarak voltunk / Gypsy Tales: We Once Were Birds – Mária Horváth (HUN)
14. Pablo: The Spork – David McGrath (IRL)
15. Claymotions – Musical Instruments: Bowed String Instruments – Sergey Merinov (RUS)
16. Stinky Dog: Stinky Dog's Batteries – Davy Durand (FRA)
17. Brave Bunnies: Brave Heroes – Tim Fehrenbach (UKR, ESP)
18. Milkshake Bar – Urtė Oettinger (LTU)
19. Kiwi and Strit: The Sticky Snails – Esben Toft Jacobsen (DNK)
20. Language Full of Colours: Who’s on a Lead? – Stepan Koval (UKR)
21. B.O.T. and the Beasties: Stompy Chomper – Anne Wood, Steven Roberts, Joel Stewart (GBR)
22. Huggleboo: New Neighbours – Anneke De Graaf (NLD, BEL, DEU)