One of the most significant strands at Rome’s Mia market is its Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum, which has fast become one of the leading co-production forums in the industry calendar.
This year more than 500 projects were submitted for the industry section for animation, documentary, drama and film from 80 countries. This was a 30% uptick of countries compared to 2022 and of these, 62 were selected from 36 countries.
“We build everything around content,” says Mia director Gaia Tridente. “We have built a program that really fits the needs of the industry and the co-production market is the perfect place for people to come and discover good partners for international co-productions.”
While the forum has a global reach, European projects remain at the heart of this year’s event with projects such as Leitzia Battaglia: Her Name is Battle, a documentary about the late photographer that...
This year more than 500 projects were submitted for the industry section for animation, documentary, drama and film from 80 countries. This was a 30% uptick of countries compared to 2022 and of these, 62 were selected from 36 countries.
“We build everything around content,” says Mia director Gaia Tridente. “We have built a program that really fits the needs of the industry and the co-production market is the perfect place for people to come and discover good partners for international co-productions.”
While the forum has a global reach, European projects remain at the heart of this year’s event with projects such as Leitzia Battaglia: Her Name is Battle, a documentary about the late photographer that...
- 10/2/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
When Lucasfilm asked legendary Aardman (“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”) to participate in “Volume 2” of the “Star Wars: Visions” animated anthology (currently streaming on Disney+), the Bristol stop-motion studio came through with the amusing day at the races comedy “I Am Your Mother.” For director Magdalena Osinska (“Share the Orange” Alzheimer’s U.K. Research campaign), it was an opportunity to not only introduce Aardman wit and handmade prowess to the “Star Wars” universe but to emphasize girl power and maternal pride as well.
In the lively, 10-minute short, Anni (Charithra Chandran), a Twi’lek teen and promising pilot, refuses to enter the annual parent-child starship race because she’s embarrassed by her clinging mom, Kalina (Maxine Peake). That is, until Kalina shows up and urges Anni to take on the snooty favorites: Julan Van Reeple (Bebe Cave) and mom Dorota (Daisy Haggard).
“I was thinking: What do I love...
In the lively, 10-minute short, Anni (Charithra Chandran), a Twi’lek teen and promising pilot, refuses to enter the annual parent-child starship race because she’s embarrassed by her clinging mom, Kalina (Maxine Peake). That is, until Kalina shows up and urges Anni to take on the snooty favorites: Julan Van Reeple (Bebe Cave) and mom Dorota (Daisy Haggard).
“I was thinking: What do I love...
- 5/9/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Like all good Star Wars stories, it began with a vital transmission. Except, this one wasn’t from Princess Leia, nor was it delivered in the memory unit of an R2 droid.
It was, simply, a phone call to the offices of Aardman Animations – beamed from Skywalker Ranch, home of the legendary Lucasfilm, to the Bristol-based HQ of Britain’s most beloved animation studio, back in March 2021. It was, says Aardman’s Executive Creative Director Sarah Cox, “a mysterious call”. And like Leia’s message, it came with a mission: for the quintessentially British stop-motion studio behind Wallace & Gromit to create its very own short for animated anthology _Star Wars: Visions, with an open remit for what that might entail. The possibilities were vast. But for the studio that once delivered a definitive answer on whether the moon is made of cheese Cox had one big question: “Can we be funny?...
It was, simply, a phone call to the offices of Aardman Animations – beamed from Skywalker Ranch, home of the legendary Lucasfilm, to the Bristol-based HQ of Britain’s most beloved animation studio, back in March 2021. It was, says Aardman’s Executive Creative Director Sarah Cox, “a mysterious call”. And like Leia’s message, it came with a mission: for the quintessentially British stop-motion studio behind Wallace & Gromit to create its very own short for animated anthology _Star Wars: Visions, with an open remit for what that might entail. The possibilities were vast. But for the studio that once delivered a definitive answer on whether the moon is made of cheese Cox had one big question: “Can we be funny?...
- 5/5/2023
- by Ben Travis
- Empire - Movies
Disney+’s acclaimed “Star Wars: Visions” anthology series from Lucasfilm moves beyond anime with “Volume 2.” The nine shorts in this second season tout a broader range of styles and techniques while showcasing the Star Wars franchise’s cultural impact throughout the world.
“We believed in this potential from the start when we expanded out more globally,” executive producer James Waugh told IndieWire. “We really thought we could show the world just incredible animation that’s being done out there and incredible cultural voices out there from different countries. Each one of these creators had something they wanted to say. They are such masters of their craft. And then we got to see the fun of watching all their different animation techniques and styles brought to life in ‘Star Wars’ in ways we never quite experienced before.”
The studios tapped by executive producers Waugh, Jacqui Lopez, and Josh Rimes include Aardman from Bristol,...
“We believed in this potential from the start when we expanded out more globally,” executive producer James Waugh told IndieWire. “We really thought we could show the world just incredible animation that’s being done out there and incredible cultural voices out there from different countries. Each one of these creators had something they wanted to say. They are such masters of their craft. And then we got to see the fun of watching all their different animation techniques and styles brought to life in ‘Star Wars’ in ways we never quite experienced before.”
The studios tapped by executive producers Waugh, Jacqui Lopez, and Josh Rimes include Aardman from Bristol,...
- 5/4/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Close your eyes and meditate on the Force for a moment. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about "Star Wars"? For me, it's the opening shot of "A New Hope" when the Tantive IV is being stalked by Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, the Devastator. The next image is, without a doubt, Ben Solo igniting Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to give to Luke in his hut on Tatooine. By leaps and bounds, the lightsaber has become the most recognizable piece of "Star Wars" lore.
Used sparingly throughout the original trilogy, the Jedi's weapon was only unsheathed in a handful of key moments, allowing for maximum impact when Luke, Obi-Wan or Vader ignited their blade. As the Skywalker saga continued into the prequels, the lightsaber was used one too many times and the magic of seeing it on screen was severely diminished. By choosing to not...
Used sparingly throughout the original trilogy, the Jedi's weapon was only unsheathed in a handful of key moments, allowing for maximum impact when Luke, Obi-Wan or Vader ignited their blade. As the Skywalker saga continued into the prequels, the lightsaber was used one too many times and the magic of seeing it on screen was severely diminished. By choosing to not...
- 5/4/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
"Star Wars: Visions" Volume 2 seemed to have done its homework on Star Wars cartoons. For starters, the "Bandits of Golak" utters a quip like "All this for sweets?", which emulates a line like "All this for fruit?" in "Star Wars Rebels" season 1. But the Aardman stop-motion short "I Am Your Mother" takes its "Rebels" homages a step further through its Twi'lek character designs.
That is, if the creative and color choices aren't just a coincidence. The Aardman short concerns a teal Twi'lek mother and daughter, both of whom just happen to resemble the old teal concept art of Hera Syndulla, the Twi'lek pilot of the Ghost crew in "Rebels" voiced by Vanessa Marshall. This may feel coincidental until you spy Hera Syndulla floating in the background and suspect that the short's director, Magdalena Osinska, was deliberate about their nearly identical appearances to the Hera prototypes. After all, the young Twi'lek...
That is, if the creative and color choices aren't just a coincidence. The Aardman short concerns a teal Twi'lek mother and daughter, both of whom just happen to resemble the old teal concept art of Hera Syndulla, the Twi'lek pilot of the Ghost crew in "Rebels" voiced by Vanessa Marshall. This may feel coincidental until you spy Hera Syndulla floating in the background and suspect that the short's director, Magdalena Osinska, was deliberate about their nearly identical appearances to the Hera prototypes. After all, the young Twi'lek...
- 5/4/2023
- by Caroline Cao
- Slash Film
This year’s Star Wars Celebration drew to a close on Monday with the release of a trailer for Volume 2 of Star Wars: Visions, Disney+’s animated anthology series.
The nine shorts this time around hail from Rodrigo Blaas, the writer/director of El Guiri’s “Sith” from Spain; Paul Young, director of Cartoon’s Saloon’s “Screecher’s Reach” from Ireland; Gabriel Osorio, writer/director of Punkrobot’s “In the Stars” from Chile; Magdalena Osinska, director of Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother” from the UK; Hyeong-Geun Park, director of Studio Mir’s “Journey to the Dark Head” from South Korea; Julien Chheng,...
The nine shorts this time around hail from Rodrigo Blaas, the writer/director of El Guiri’s “Sith” from Spain; Paul Young, director of Cartoon’s Saloon’s “Screecher’s Reach” from Ireland; Gabriel Osorio, writer/director of Punkrobot’s “In the Stars” from Chile; Magdalena Osinska, director of Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother” from the UK; Hyeong-Geun Park, director of Studio Mir’s “Journey to the Dark Head” from South Korea; Julien Chheng,...
- 4/10/2023
- by Erianne Lewis
- TVLine.com
The animated anthology series "Star Wars: Visions," which debuted in 2021, may be the best way to explore the franchise's vast and complicated mythology, better even than legacy shows like "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi." Every one of the "Star Wars" movies has featured a lot of background detail, often depicting space aliens of all walks of life casually going about their business, oblivious to the adventures that our heroes may be going through at any given moment. In presenting out-of-timeline animated shorts, "Visions" has the leeway to look into the cracks and explore what life is like in the "Star Wars" universe outside the tiresome saga of the Skywalkers. It has only been through expanded universe fiction, and shows like "Visions," that Starwoids have been able to see what non-soldiers are doing in wartime.
The first seasons of "Visions" featured shorts exclusively from Japanese animation studios, including...
The first seasons of "Visions" featured shorts exclusively from Japanese animation studios, including...
- 4/10/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The Disney+ animated short anthology "Star Wars: Visions" will be back with its second season in early May. In season 1, we were shown some gorgeous shorts set in the "Star Wars" universe by Japanese studios. For season 2, "Star Wars: Visions" is going worldwide for inspiration. On the final day of "Star Wars" Celebration, fans were treated to a "Star Wars: Visions" panel, which gave us a new trailer for the nine new shorts, a few cast reveals, and key art. The filmmakers, including Rodrigo Blaas of Spain's El Guiri animation studio, were on hand to discuss their shorts and some of the things they wanted to get across.
Blaas's episode is the first one in the lineup, and it's entitled "Sith." Though we still have to wait for a little under a month to see these, you get enough of a glimpse from the new trailer to see how much...
Blaas's episode is the first one in the lineup, and it's entitled "Sith." Though we still have to wait for a little under a month to see these, you get enough of a glimpse from the new trailer to see how much...
- 4/10/2023
- by Jenna Busch
- Slash Film
Part of the joy of Star Wars: Visions is, you never know quite what you’re going to get when you load up an episode. Lucasfilm’s anthology series lets animation houses present their own unique spin on the galaxy far, far away – taking any characters, any settings, any imagery from George Lucas’ sprawling space opera and doing whatever feels right or interesting with them, canon be damned. Think of it like a remix compilation, with wildly creative spins on familiar material from fascinatingly varied voices. Where Volume 1 of Visions was comprised solely of Japanese anime studios, Volume 2 is going worldwide – including a contribution from British stop-motion legends Aardman.
While there’s no Wallace and Gromit or Feathers McGraw here, Aardman’s short ‘I Am Your Mother’ (see what they did there?) is set in the aftermath of the original trilogy, and tells the story of wannabe-pilot Twi’lek tween...
While there’s no Wallace and Gromit or Feathers McGraw here, Aardman’s short ‘I Am Your Mother’ (see what they did there?) is set in the aftermath of the original trilogy, and tells the story of wannabe-pilot Twi’lek tween...
- 4/10/2023
- by Ben Travis
- Empire - TV
Out of all the studios announced to be working on Volume 2 of the animated anthology series, "Star Wars: Visions," it's Aardman Animation's involvement that's got me the most intrigued. The "Wallace & Gromit," "Shaun the Sheep," and "Chicken Run" stop-motion powerhouse's various idiosyncratic settings and toothy-mouthed characters aren't as far removed from the galaxy far, far away as you might imagine, either.
Speaking during the "Visions" panels at "Star Wars" Celebration 2023 in London, England (where members of the /Film crew are currently on the ground), the team behind Aardman's "Visions" short, title "I Am Your Mother," noted that stop-motion has a long history in "Star Wars." Indeed, the Industrial Light & Magic visual effects legend Phil Tippett famously used never-before-seen VFX to make the stop-motion tauntauns and At-ATs more convincing for the Hoth sequences in "The Empire Strikes Back." Magdalena Osinska, the director of "I Am Your Mother," referred to Aardman...
Speaking during the "Visions" panels at "Star Wars" Celebration 2023 in London, England (where members of the /Film crew are currently on the ground), the team behind Aardman's "Visions" short, title "I Am Your Mother," noted that stop-motion has a long history in "Star Wars." Indeed, the Industrial Light & Magic visual effects legend Phil Tippett famously used never-before-seen VFX to make the stop-motion tauntauns and At-ATs more convincing for the Hoth sequences in "The Empire Strikes Back." Magdalena Osinska, the director of "I Am Your Mother," referred to Aardman...
- 4/10/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Here's a little secret that many "Star Wars" fans have clued into by now: This franchise is oftentimes at its best in animated form. "Rebels" and "The Clone Wars" have received the bulk of the attention in recent years (and for good reason), but a whole new contender has entered the ring. The first season of "Star Wars: Visions" definitively brought the fantasy space opera back to its roots, having been produced by seven Japanese animation studios that were allowed the freedom to reinterpret George Lucas' classic stories as they saw fit. The final results, needless to say, were as creative, breathtaking, and just plain entertaining as "Star Wars" has been in years.
Now, over a year and a half since its debut, we've finally received our first look at the next season. Dubbed "Volume 2," the next batch of episodes in this anthology series looks even more exciting than the last.
Now, over a year and a half since its debut, we've finally received our first look at the next season. Dubbed "Volume 2," the next batch of episodes in this anthology series looks even more exciting than the last.
- 4/10/2023
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
If you’re both a Star Wars fanatic and an animation nerd, get ready for Lucasfilm to make your wishes come true – the animation studios handling episodes of the next batch of Visions have just been announced, and there’s plenty to look forward to. The anthology series (telling not-necessarily-canonical stories in the Star Wars universe) initially centred on studios from Japan, but Season 2 of Visions is broadening the scope to showcase animation houses from around the world – including ones from the UK and Ireland.
Now, we know that the UK studio is none other than Aardman – behind the likes of Wallace And Gromit and Chicken Run – and that the Irish studio is Cartoon Saloon, the geniuses behind Song Of The Sea, WolfWalkers and more. Let that sink in for a second: Aardman and Cartoon Saloon are doing Star Wars shorts! Aardman’s episode is titled ‘I Am Your Mother...
Now, we know that the UK studio is none other than Aardman – behind the likes of Wallace And Gromit and Chicken Run – and that the Irish studio is Cartoon Saloon, the geniuses behind Song Of The Sea, WolfWalkers and more. Let that sink in for a second: Aardman and Cartoon Saloon are doing Star Wars shorts! Aardman’s episode is titled ‘I Am Your Mother...
- 2/2/2023
- by Ben Travis
- Empire - TV
Last year I previewed all 33 of the Oscar qualifying animated shorts that were up for consideration for the Academy Awards and this year I have 12 additional shorts to consider and I have found either the full short, a clip, a trailer or an image from all but two of the contending shorts and put them together in this one article. These shorts have all been screened for members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who will soon vote on the ultimate short list that will be in contention for an Oscar nomination. Last year ten films made the list. Take a look over the next eight pages and see which ones stand out to you. There are a few instances where you may have to click a link to watch a clip and, in one instance, to watch the entire film.
- 11/16/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
This is the list of 45 animated shorts that the Academy is considering in the Best Animated Shorts category (with links to official sites when I could find them). The Animated, Docs, and Shorts Oscar page is going to be updated piecemeal this week as I work on beating all this information into some form of pundited submission.
Until then, the list. Do you ever try to see the nominees in this category?
A Shadow Of Blue (Carlos Lascano)
A Morning Stroll by Grant Orchard (Studio Aka) A Shadow of Blue by Carlos Lascano Birdboy by Alberto Vasquez (Abrikim Studio) Chopin’s Drawings by Dorota Kobiela (BreakThru Films) Poland Correspondence by Zach Hyer (Pratt) Daisy Cutter by Enrique Garcia and Rubin Salazar (Silverspace) Dimanche / Sunday by Patrick Doyon (Nfb) El Salon Mexico by Paul Glickman and Tamarind King Enrique Wrecks the World by David Chai *Annie Nominee Last Year* Ente Tod...
Until then, the list. Do you ever try to see the nominees in this category?
A Shadow Of Blue (Carlos Lascano)
A Morning Stroll by Grant Orchard (Studio Aka) A Shadow of Blue by Carlos Lascano Birdboy by Alberto Vasquez (Abrikim Studio) Chopin’s Drawings by Dorota Kobiela (BreakThru Films) Poland Correspondence by Zach Hyer (Pratt) Daisy Cutter by Enrique Garcia and Rubin Salazar (Silverspace) Dimanche / Sunday by Patrick Doyon (Nfb) El Salon Mexico by Paul Glickman and Tamarind King Enrique Wrecks the World by David Chai *Annie Nominee Last Year* Ente Tod...
- 11/15/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Last week, at Iaşi, in Romania, people had the chance to discover new and intriguing films at the second edition of International Iasi Film Festival. Top prize winner was Georgian-director Levan Koguashvili's Street Days. Koguashvili, who previously directed The Debt, the 2006 Sundance Film Festival short, said his debut feature “is about a strange and a very sad generation. These people were born and grew up in the Soviet Union, but after this country collapsed in front of their eyes, they were forced to adapt to a different reality. For many of them this new reality was very difficult. Wars, poverty, power-shortges, and also a new and strange capitalist environement. For those who survived the wars and poverty, capitalism became an insurmountable obstacle. Having grown up in the corrupt but care-free Soviet system, they couldn’t find their place in a new but no less corrupt Georgian reality driven by...
- 10/19/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.