The emotional and humorous story of a woman who refuses to be defeated by life’s adversities will open the 19th edition of the Animest International Animation Film Festival (October 4-13, Bucharest) with a national premiere screening. A drama told with humor and authenticity through the voice of Australian actress Sarah Snook, the animated Memoir of a Snail explores the complex defense and coping mechanisms people develop in the face of trauma, as well as the incredible inner resources they have available to to break free from situations in which they are corseted—by other people, by unforeseen circumstances, or perhaps even by mental illness—beyond their will. The animation, awarded with the Crystal for the best feature film at this year’s edition of the Annecy Festival, will be shown in Bucharest on October 4, from 19:00, at Sala Luceafărul (former Cinema PRO). Tickets have gone on sale and are available on the Eventbook platform.
Grace the Pudel is a solitary misfit, collects ornamental snails and has a boundless love of books. Her childhood was a merry-go-round full of unexpected meetings and breakups, deprivations and small joys, anxiety and escape in the imagination. Despite a series of hardships and unfortunate events, meeting the eccentric Pinky and the friendship that develops between them will bring hope and inspiration to Grace’s life. “Full of poetic ways in which he transforms into qualities and strengths the labels of ‘different’ or ‘strange’ imposed by a society that does not know how to accept the differences between people.“ (Variety), “An authentic portrait of the ‘renegade,’ constructed with undeniable creativity.” (The Hollywood Reporter) or “A story both funny and heartbreaking.“ (Screen Daily) are just some of the words critics are using to describe the latest production directed by Adam Elliot, winner of the 2004 Academy Award for his short film Harvie Krumpet.
“The protagonists of all my films are misfits, and the themes I choose explore the differences between people. I love to tell stories infused with humor and pathos, reflections on aspects of our everyday lives, capturing moments of happiness that illuminate the darkness that comes with life’s inherent challenges. For 30 years, my goal has been simple: to make my audience laugh… and cry,” said Adam Elliot, who will open the Animest Festival for the second time. His first feature film, Mary and Max, inspired by the director’s personal history, was screened for the first time in Romania at Animest in 2009, when it opened the fourth edition of the festival, remaining years later one of the most beloved animations of all editions.
Memoir of a Snail is Adam Elliot’s second feature film using clay figurines and brings together thousands of hours of work by Australia’s best animators who, over the course of a year, hand-sculpted the 7,000 backgrounds, characters and objects in film, moving them frame by frame, according to the rules of the classic stop motion technique. The animation does not include any CGI effects, with the final production tally reaching over 135,000 shots that meticulously recreate the story of the charismatic Grace. Among those who give voice to the characters are the Australian actors Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Eric Bana, the TV presenter Tony Armstrong, but also the famous singer and songwriter Nick Cave.
Pitch, please! – registrations are open for the Animest workshop dedicated to animated films
Starting today and until September 10, the directors and producers of animated films from Romania and the Republic of Moldova are challenged to give voice to ideas not yet realized and to enter their projects in the Pitch, please! development program, which has already reached its 6th edition within Animest. There is no registration fee, and selected participants will have free access to the events included in the program of the 19th Animest edition (October 4-13, 2024). Eligibility criteria, conditions of participation and the application process are detailed on the official page of the competition.
All projects selected in the final stage will receive feedback and recommendations from the three-member jury, screenwriters, directors or international producers with extensive experience in the field of animation. The best projects are eligible to win one or more of the prizes up for grabs for this edition: participation in the Black Sea Animation Workshop 2024 – a specialized training, after which the best projects in the program have a chance to be included in the section Partner Pitches of the Annecy International Animation Festival 2025, the most prestigious animation event in the world; double accreditation (director and producer) at Rise & Shine Animation Pitching Lab 2025 – an international workshop for the development of animated film projects, organized in two modules; and full audio post-production services provided by Raza Studio.
In the previous 5 editions, more than 40 projects were registered, of which 18 were selected and participated in the training program within Animest. It was supported at all editions by the trainers Cristian Pascariu (screenwriter, director) and Dan Panaitescu (animator, director), who offer mentoring and consulting to the participants, supporting them in order to support the presentation, from the point of view of the script and creative development and technical aspects of the project.
Among the projects that have already materialized or obtained funding to be produced following participation in the Pitch, please! include the animations Dirty Paradis (dir. Alina Gheorghe), Balázs Orbán the collector of legends (dir. Szabolcs Fazakas, Hunor Bálint), Happy New Year (dir. Radu Gaciu) and Mr. Ladybug (dir. Ioana Păsărin). Others, such as A Horse in a SwanSea (dir. Maria Brudașcă) and The Shoebox (dir. Cristina Pîrvu), are in the development stage, while Stejărelul (dir: Nicoleta Miron, Liana Chiriță) continues to work on the script under the mentorship of Dave King, last year’s pitch judge.