13TH BIENNIAL OF ANIMATION BRATISLAVA
International Festival of Animated Films for Children
October 10th - 14th, 2016
The Festival Biennial of Animation Bratislava (BAB) has earned a special place on the map of international festivals due to its focusing exclusively on animation intended for children.
In 1991, it achieved the status of international festival and has cooperated with international organization of UNICEF since its very beginning.
The Festival’s mission is to foster artistic confrontation in the field of animation intended for children, create conditions for the evaluation thereof and hence support the complex development of this unique kind of art.
The international competition of animated films for children is unique, since it reflects the non-commercial audio-visual culture as well as animated films from all over the world, just like the one which has been presented by the BIB for half a century of universal book illustrations for children.
An international jury decides about the competition winners and awards prestigious prizes. The Festival also incorporates screenings of animated films from the whole world, specialized seminars, discussions, presentations of important personalities, competitions as well as animated film workshops. Important features of the Festival are numerous exhibitions...
… but above all, it is about fairy tales, fairy tales and once again FAIRY TALES!
During this year, the screenings of competing films and collections of selected film programmes take place also in other regions than Bratislava. In addition to three cinemas in Bratislava - cinema Nostalgia, Dom kultúry Dúbravka and Dom kultúry Zrkadlový háj – the screenings of competing films for children viewers take place also in Kunsthalle in Košice, cinema Scala in Prešov and in Art Point/cinema Baník in Prievidza.
As a part of the international competition, spectators watch the latest animated films from all over the world.
Children have a special opportunity to watch the premieres of the best animated films from the whole world, while teachers and parents can be inspired regarding many topics for working with children.
Non-competition screenings in cinemas Mladosť and Klap at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (FTF VŠMU) present not only the best works of European film studios, retrospective projections of works of Slovak animation personalities, legends of global animated film, but also personal encounters with authors of these films. In addition, spectators can watch also animated films created by children during workshops Animation- School at Play - Come and Play with Film!
The greatest highlight of this Festival edition is not only the timeless fairy tale, but also fairy tale as the European cultural treasure. It is an integral parts of the Festival’s programme sections as well as profile screenings and exhibitions. H. CH. Andersen is about to pay a visit to BIBIANA, followed by the legendary filmmakers of animated films Jannick Hastrup from Denmark and Tadeusz Wilkosz from Poland, who are both going to present their works to children in person.
Also, we cannot do without the best-known Funny bedtime stories by Vlado Malík, a Slovak director, or unforgettable fairy tales by bespoke Zlín studio filmmakers.
Another top film event is screening of collections of unique animated films for children and adults made by John Halas, a famous personality of the global animated film. These, including his cult film The Animal Farm, are going to be presented by his daughter Vivien Halas. Among other interesting programme sections are those introducing children to attractive fairy tales and stories as featured for the first time in The Prix Jeuness Suitcase, presenting the prestigious International Festival of TV Programmes for Children Prix Jeunesse in Munich (Germany) with introduction of festival coordinator Kirsten Schneid. While the most beautiful Polish fairy tales are going to be presented by the Ale Kino! partner festival from Poznan, introduced by Jerzy Armata, a renown Polish journalist.
Mastership of the Film Shortcut is the title of a brand new festival chapter, which will introduce collection of awarded animated films by well known Hungarian director and University lecturer Géza M.Tóth, member of the BAB International Jury BAB 2016.
The premiere of the excellent film collection Magic World of Animated Film, portraying half a century of Slovak animation, is meant to acquaint young viewers with our film history. Children in the regions look forward to it as much as to Funny Animation by Vlado Malík as well as a collection of selected films made at the Department of Animated Film of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), commemorating its anniversary.
The youngest generation of Czech animators along with Jiří Kubíček, a significant early Czech animator, author and professor are going to present their works in cinema Klap at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (FTF VŠMU).
The chapter on cross-border cooperation is going to start with the projection of four films by Slovak filmmakers. It enriches this year’s edition of the well-known section Slovakia Abroad - Štefan Martauz, Ové pictures and Peter Budinský.
It has been just under ten years since the BAB programme first included active animation workshops for children Come and Play with Film! led by famous foreign animators, assisted by students from the Animation Department of the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU).
In addition to the projection of award-winning films from the Cartoon d´Or, the programme also includes a unique screening marathon of prize-winning films The Best of Annecy from the 2014 – 2016 editions (featured also in other three Festival towns) are about to be introduced in Bratislava as well as in Košice by Sébastien Sperer, a member of the Annecy programme team.
Besides all other film sections, encounters with filmmakers and exhibitions in cultural institutions, there is going to be the Ist BAB International Forum, in the form of videoconference titled From Illustration to Animated Film, held in cooperation with the University of Prešov.
This is the third time that we have announced the Competition in Producing Flipbooks, a Slovakia-wide competition intended for children interested in animated films and filmmaking.
THE BIENNIAL OF ANIMATION BRATISLAVA
is held under the auspices of and with the financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic.
The Festival is organised by BIBIANA, International House of Art for Children.
