This Thursday, November 9th, the 19th Annual Animation Show of Shows is coming to campus! Not many people outside of the School of Film and Animation are aware that this fun, traveling, annual curation of fantastic animated short films has been screened at RIT for the last few years. The Show is curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder, Ron Diamond. It has been going on since 1998, with its original purpose being to bring inspiration to other animators and directors in the industry. I have attended the show every year since I have been an RIT student, so this will be my third Animation Show of Shows to date.
Here are a few of the films (or film trailers, because some of the films are still in the festival circuit) that have been screened in the past which I am a very big fan of:
"ABOUT A MOTHER", Dina Velikovskaya (2015)
This film is not available online at the moment, but it's one of my favorites. It is about a mother who gives everything she can to her children until she has nothing left. It is a very touching story about a mother's love and protection over her children. It has been described as having a "Giving Tree" vibe, and I totally see it. This film makes me want to hug my mother forever.
"STEMS", Ainslie Henderson (2015)
This film is also not online right now, but check out the trailer! This film is super cool. All of the stop-motion puppets (like the one shown) have been made from found objects. I think this is crazy amazing because stop-motion requires so much patience. I have an endless appreciation for stop-motion animators and their unique talents.
"AFTERNOON CLASS", Seoro Oh (2015)
What an awesome film. I love how funny and clever this narrative is. I think we can all relate to this feeling of trying to stay awake in a boring class. I was literally laughing out loud in the theater when I was watching this for the first time at last year's Animation Show of Shows.
"SNOWFALL", Conor Whelan (2015)
Again, another trailer (I know! I'm sorry!), but this film is BEAUTIFUL. The animation, the colors, the story... amazing and very touching. Just check out how breathtaking the trailer is.
"WORLD OF TOMORROW", Don Hertzfeldt (2015)
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/worldoftomorrow/155051031
This is hands-down one of my favorite animated short films. I love Don Hertzfeldt's work, and I think this is so clever and well-done. This kind of weird, dark humor is right up my alley. This is also on Netflix! Check it out!
If you are interested in seeing this year's Animation Show of Shows, it is going to be screening in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Carlson Auditorium at 7pm this Thursday, November 9th. Tickets are available at Eventbrite at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-19th-annual-animation-show-of-shows-rit-tickets-39092411455 Even if you are not able to attend this year, I definitely recommend attending next year! It's a super fun event with so many talented filmmakers having their work shown.