It’s a busy month in animation, but we’re not complaining!

This time venturing outside of Toronto to Ottawa, the capital of Canada and home to North America’s largest animation festival, the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF).  Now in its 42nd year, the festival is dedicated to bringing together the animation community for 5 glorious days of all things animation; talks, workshops, screenings, parties and exhibits.

To that we say, yes please!

With 28,000 artists, producers, students and animation lovers from around the world expected to attend, we can only suggest that a little pre-event itinerary planning will go a long way - winging it won’t be an option when the schedule looks like this! 

OIAF’s reputation for showcasing top talent makes for increasingly tougher competition each year. 

Out of 2469 entries from 84 countries, the programming team has picked 110 short films, 41 panorama and 7 feature films to be screened throughout the festival. Representing both local, international, new and seasoned talent, the festival’s site claims the selections include the “most interesting, original, cutting-edge, quirky and important animation”.

“The OIAF is known for showcasing independent as well as more commercial work. In Competition this year is the worldwide cult hit Rick and Morty with the episode Exquisite Corpse, directed by Matt Taylor; also, the Emmy Award-winning animator and director JJ Sedelmaier, known for his work on SNL and The Colbert Report is in Competition with Geico: He-Man : 30”

via – OIAF Competition Selection Press Release

The equally diverse jury, comprised of Steven Subotnick (Strange Fish, Ballerina), Chintis Lundgren (Life with Herman H.Rott, Manivald), Chel White (Little Donnie, The Animation show), Kelly Sears (Voice on the Line, Charles and Christopher) and Nicolas Brault (Foreign Bodies, The Circus), has an extensive background in animation and numerous festivals and award wins under their belts. The group is well suited for the difficult task of picking this year’s winners and will be doing just that during the scheduled GALA screenings. 

For a full listing of films in competition click here.

Oh yes, there is more!

We’re referring to Animation Exposé (September 29th) and The Animation Conference (TAC) (September 26th - 28th) 

Happening alongside the main festival, Animation Exposé presented by the Government of Ontario is a one day only experience at the beautiful National Arts Centre (NAC). A day of paid and free events, dedicated to:

The Exposé Talk Series
Artist Showcases
Career Fair
Animation Demos, Live Drawing Sessions and Workshops
Vendor Booths and more. 

For the business oriented, TAC is a professional forum industry-driven event intended for pitching opportunities, discussions around industry trends and networking.  This is the 15th edition of TAC, returning with programs like Pitch This! and Fast Track, both popular with participants looking to showcase their projects.

Here’s a look at last year’s event and full TAC programming.

Haven’t gotten your passes yet? A variety of passes are available for purchase and details on every pass type can be found on the official festival site.

Or for less of a commitment, there's always an option to attend individual screenings as well.