At the SPARK ANIMATION Festival, we LOVE animation. We want to share that love of all things animated with you. We are pleased to bring you the very best in animation arts from around the world.

FILM FESTIVAL: OCTOBER 22 – 26
From independent animation to special premieres, CGI to stop-motion, SPARK ANIMATION celebrates the emerging influence of animation in today's entertainment. From the roots of the medium to the advanced technologies available to studios and independent filmmakers, SPARK ANIMATION showcases the diversity of films and techniques in animation. There is something for every fan of film, animation and arts.

ATTENTION FOR FILM TICKETS
As a partner with SPARK ANIMATION, VIFF Vancity Theatre requires a $2 Annual Membership. This can be purchased at the VIFF Vancity Theatre. If you are already a VIFF Vancity Theatre Member, please bring your Annual Membership card with you.

For movie tickets, please visit VIFF Vancity Theatre's website.

IMPORTANT
Schedule and pricing subject to change without notice. Please check regularly.

SCHEDULE

Wednesday - October 22, 7:00 PM
SCREENING
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet
2014 // Canada · France · Lebanon · Qatar · USA // Dir.: Roger Allers, Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Joan Gratz, Mohammed Saeed Harib, Tomm Moore, Nina Paley, Bill Plympton, Joann Sfar, Michal Socha // 84 min // DCP // G
Special guest: Delna Bhesania & David Lipman

ADVISORY: VIOLENCE

The Power of Animation

Director Roger Allers (The Lion King) has brought together some of the world's foremost animators to realize several of Mr. Gibran's most cherished essays — on love, work, children, marriage, and freedom. These vibrant vignettes are brought to life by such animated luminaries as Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells), Bill Plympton (Idiots and Angels), and Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi (sequence directors on Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame). However Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is not merely a visual feast. With a musical score by Gabriel Yared (The English Patient, Cold Mountain) and local studio Bardel Entertainment tying all the stories together, it is a richly spiritual experience very much worthy of Mr. Gibran's lyrical poetry.

The obvious comparison of Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is to Walt Disney's Fantasia. Like that film, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet revels in the beauty of another art form and interprets it in other forms. As Walt Disney said of Fantasia, "The principal object of any of the fine arts is to arouse a purely emotional reaction in the beholder." In this Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet more than succeeds. Through inks, watercolours, oils, and acrylics Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet prompts us to think about the happiest, most loving, and most hopeful we can ever be. Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is a must-see festival favourite.

© 2014 Prophet Screen Partners LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday - October 22, 9:00 PM
SCREENING
Get Inspired: Around the World in Shorts (Part 1)

For many of the world's most respected, talented and imaginative animators, it was the short film format where they grew their reputation and developed their art. The result is that some of the funniest, entertaining, technically groundbreaking animated movies are never seen by the wider Vancouver public — until now. From award-winning to newly emerging, these spectacular, meticulously crafted and diverse animations from across the world are guaranteed to take you to the furthest reaches of imagination.

This is the First of Two collections being screened at SPARK ANIMATION.

1. Life Is Beautiful · 8:37 · The Netherlands
2. 8.9 · 3:12 · France
3. Somewhere Down the Line · 10:13 · Ireland
4. Ain't No Fish · 3:42 · United Kingdom / United States
5. Room Service · 6:01 · France
6. Nine · 8:34 · Thailand
7. Nebula · 3:20 · France
8. Aubade · 5:25 · Switzerland
9. Over the Moon · 7:13 · New Zealand
10. Birthday · 2:24 · United States
11. Cap'n Shmelly and the Sperm Whale · 3:30 · Singapore
12. The Numberlys · 11:25 · United States
13. Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou · 3:52 · United States
14. WILQ: Negotiator · 8:24 · Poland
15. Simorgh · 4:30 · United States
16. A Tale of Momentum & Inertia · 1:10 · United States
17. Assassin's Creed Unity: Arno Master Assassin · 2:51 · Hungary
18. Lune et le Loup · 6:00 · France
19. Bo Saris – "The Addict" · 3:52 · United Kingdom
20. Oasis · 5:00 · Singapore
21. Duo · 3:30 · France

Thursday - October 23, 7:00 PM
SCREENING
Song of the Sea
2014 // Ireland · Denmark · Belgium · Luxembourg · France // Dir.: Tomm Moore // 93 min // DCP
Special guest: Nora Twomey

From Academy Award-nominated director Tomm Moore comes Song of the Sea. Like its predecessor, The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea is rooted in Irish folklore. This hand-drawn animated film tells the story of 10-year-old Ben and his younger sister Saoirse, a Selkie, a being who lives as a seal in the sea and a human on land. Sent to live with their grandmother after their mother disappears, the children engage in a race against time to recover a coat that's the key to Saoirse's power as well as her very survival.

The Song of the Sea is about story and heart, emotion and wonder, and pure craftsmanship and because of that it becomes timeless, a beautiful piece of art that will delight and entertain you. It also confirms what we suspected of Mr. Moore five years ago: The man is a master storyteller, and we can only hope he has many, many more stories to tell.

It is our pleasure to welcome Nora Twomey, Head of Story and founding member of Cartoon Saloon. A talented animator in her own right and co-director on The Secret of Kells, Ms. Twomey will be on hand to introduce Song of the Sea and answer post-screening questions.

© 2014 Cartoon Saloon + Melusine + Big Farm + Superprod + Norlum. All Rights Reserved.

Thursday - October 23, 9:00 PM
SCREENING
Mothers of a Medium

Our collection of international shorts highlight the diversity of women animators. These shorts capture all the fun and foibles of human nature and leaves us knowing, without a doubt, that women are the mothers of invention.

1. Beluga · 2:07 · United States
2. Bus Story · 10:51 · Canada
3. Under the Bed · 2:58 · United States
4. Food · 3:32 · China
5. No Fish Where to Go · 12:28 · Canada
6. The Tree · 5:05 · Iran
7. Black Tape · 3:00 · Palestine, State of
8. Guida · 11:18 · Brazil
9. Man On the Chair · 6:55 · France
10. Marcescent · 5:25 · Taiwan
11. This Too Shall Pass · 3:55 · Italy
12. Humanexus · 10:25 · United States
13. Indigo · 9:00 · Canada
14. Fat & Skinny · 8:41 · Poland
15. Gerascophobia · 4:15 · United Kingdom
16. The Elephant & the Bicycle · 9:00 · France

Friday - October 24, 7:00 PM
SCREENING
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
(Jack et la mécanique du coeur)
2014 // France · Belgium // Dir.: Stéphane Berla, Mathias Malzieu // 84 min // BRD

Love is dangerous and love is risky, and both are worth it. Can you live without it?

From the French director Stéphane Berla comes the extravagant love story of a gloomy young fellow cursed with a faulty cuckoo-clock heart. Not only that, this tormented teen falls in love for a girl who is visually impaired from crying tears of ice. The romance is doomed to fail as his adopted mother Madeline informs him that even a single kiss could stop his ticking heart. But Jack is prepared to do anything to find his first love, like Don Quixote, he sets out on a quest for love that will take him from the Scottish lochs to Paris, and from there to Andalusia. The things we do for love.

In Jack and The Cuckoo-Clock Heart, our friends in France have given us a very stylish 19th century world full of unique and unusual characters. The CGI is done in a marionette picture-book style that is quite beautiful and a real treat for the eye. If you like your animation dark and Gothic, and you lean towards Tim Burton, Henry Selick and the LAIKA Studio style then you'll love this original tale. Warning. Not for the weak of heart.

© 2013 EuropaCorp. All Rights Reserved.

Friday - October 24, 8:45 PM
SCREENING
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet
2014 // Canada · France · Lebanon · Qatar · USA // Dir.: Roger Allers, Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Joan Gratz, Mohammed Saeed Harib, Tomm Moore, Nina Paley, Bill Plympton, Joann Sfar, Michal Socha // 84 min // DCP // G

ADVISORY: VIOLENCE

The Power of Animation

Director Roger Allers (The Lion King) has brought together some of the world's foremost animators to realize several of Mr. Gibran's most cherished essays — on love, work, children, marriage, and freedom. These vibrant vignettes are brought to life by such animated luminaries as Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells), Bill Plympton (Idiots and Angels), and Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi (sequence directors on Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame). However Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is not merely a visual feast. With a musical score by Gabriel Yared (The English Patient, Cold Mountain) and local studio Bardel Entertainment tying all the stories together, it is a richly spiritual experience very much worthy of Mr. Gibran's lyrical poetry.

The obvious comparison of Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is to Walt Disney's Fantasia. Like that film, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet revels in the beauty of another art form and interprets it in other forms. As Walt Disney said of Fantasia, "The principal object of any of the fine arts is to arouse a purely emotional reaction in the beholder." In this Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet more than succeeds. Through inks, watercolours, oils, and acrylics The Prophet prompts us to think about the happiest, most loving, and most hopeful we can ever be. The Prophet is a must-see festival favourite.

© 2014 Prophet Screen Partners LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Friday - October 24, 10:30 PM
SCREENING
Late Night Snacks

It's 10:30 p.m. and WHAM! It hits you: An insidious, appalling and almost irresistible craving for a late night snack. Late-night snacks tend to be hidden snacks, stolen morsels — the kind of stealth feasts that leave one steeped in shameful self-loathing and neurotic denial. "I'm just having a little bedtime snack," we say to ourselves. Be warned; this edgy collection of animated shorts is for those late-nighters looking to satisfy a hungry craving.

1. Timber · 5:35 · Switzerland
2. The Looking Planet · 16:38 · United States
3. Tall Tales Part 2 · 1:49 · United Kingdom
4. Haiku 4: STILL · 6:25 · Canada
5. Here · 2:50 · United States
6. Hollow Land · 13:55 · Denmark
7. Mirage · 4:28 · China
8. The Age of Curious · 7:40 · United Kingdom
9. The Raven · 10:07 · United States
10. The Champ · 1:20 · Canada
11. Alosis · 2:45 · Greece
12. SUMER · 9:57 · Spain
13. Malaise · 1:54 · Canada
14. Beast · 8:00 · France
15. Afloat · 11:31 · United States
16. Kung Fu Crab · 2:17 · United States

Saturday - October 25, 7:00 PM
SCREENING
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
(Yume to kyôki no ohkoku)
2013 // Japan // Dir.: Mami Sunada // 118 min // DCP
In Japanese with English subtitles

My Neighbor Totoro. Princess Mononoke. Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli. It's not often that we as the viewing public get an outside glimpse into the legendary studio that produced these and many other fine works.

Originally intended to be a commercial DVD promoting Studio Ghibli for Disney Japan, Director Mami Sunada followed her intuition and made a more in-depth documentary, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. This documentary pulls back the curtain and we get to see the 'magicians' at work. Even with unprecedented access to the producers, artists and directors as they worked on their most recent film, The Wind Rises, Ms. Sunada still had challenges. As always it was the people. "If Miyazaki was Mount Fuji, then Mr. Takahata was Mount Everest." says Ms. Sunada. However the result is a rare "fly on the wall" glimpse of the inner workings of one of the world's most celebrated animation studios, and an insight into the dreams, passion and singular dedication of these remarkable creators.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness is a must see for any fan of the dream factory, Studio Ghibli.

© 2013 Dwango. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday - October 25, 9:10 PM
SCREENING
Get Inspired: Around the World in Shorts (Part 2)

For many of the world's most respected, talented and imaginative animators, it was the short film format where they grew their reputation and developed their art. The result is that some of the funniest, entertaining, technically groundbreaking animated movies are never seen by the wider Vancouver public — until now. From award-winning to newly emerging, these spectacular, meticulously crafted and diverse animations from across the world are guaranteed to take you to the furthest reaches of imagination.

This is the Second of Two collections being screened at SPARK ANIMATION.

1. Mortal Infernal Breakup · 3:30 · France
2. Cupidiculous · 1:46 · Thailand
3. Bear Story · 10:18 · Chile
4. Assassin's Creed Unity: E3 Cinematic Trailer · 3:49 · Hungary
5. The Dam Keeper · 18:05 · United States
6. Religatio · 3:22 · Canada
7. Sodagreen – "Story" · 4:50 · Taiwan
8. Chaud Lapin · 5:22 · France
9. Flight of the Stories · 1:30: · United Kingdom
10. Crush · 1:57 · Canada
11. Ex Animo · 6:52 · Poland
12. The Gulf (Le Gouffre) · 10:36 · Canada
13. Love Letter · 2:34 · Canada
14. SuperBot - A magnifying mess · 3:17 · Argentina
15. Perpetual War · 5:05 · Taiwan
16. The Planets · 12:00 · United Kingdom
17. The Legend of the Flying Tomato · 4:30 · United States

Sunday - October 26, 6:30 PM
SCREENING
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
(Yume to kyôki no ohkoku)
2013 // Japan // Dir.: Mami Sunada // 118 min // DCP
In Japanese with English subtitles

My Neighbor Totoro. Princess Mononoke. Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli. It's not often that we as the viewing public get an outside glimpse into the legendary studio that produced these and many other fine works.

Originally intended to be a commercial DVD promoting Studio Ghibli for Disney Japan, Director Mami Sunada followed her intuition and made a more in-depth documentary, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. This documentary pulls back the curtain and we get to see the 'magicians' at work. Even with unprecedented access to the producers, artists and directors as they worked on their most recent film, The Wind Rises, Ms. Sunada still had challenges. As always it was the people. "If Miyazaki was Mount Fuji, then Mr. Takahata was Mount Everest." says Ms. Sunada. However the result is a rare "fly on the wall" glimpse of the inner workings of one of the world's most celebrated animation studios, and an insight into the dreams, passion and singular dedication of these remarkable creators.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness is a must see for any fan of the dream factory, Studio Ghibli.

© 2013 Dwango. All Rights Reserved.

Sunday - October 26, 8:50 PM
SCREENING
Giovanni's Island
(Giovanni no Shima)
2014 // Japan // Dir.: Mizuho Nishikubo // 102 min // HD-CAM
Awards: Jury Distinction at Annecy 2014
In Japanese with English subtitles

From the acclaimed Japanese animation director Mizuho Nishikubo (Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence) comes the historical drama Giovanni's Island. Like the anime classic Grave of the Fireflies, the gracefully executed Giovanni's Island examines the struggles of the Japanese in the immediate aftermath of their defeat in World War II, from the perspective of a child. While the adults plot, Giovanni and his brother forge unlikely friendships with the Russian children as they try to make sense of their new surroundings. Giovanni's Island is a touching and tragic tale of childhood innocence in political conflict. Ordinary people managing as best they can under extraordinary circumstances.

The animation for Giovanni's Island is hand-drawn, and to call it stunning is an understatement. Most importantly, the art maintains a tricky balance between realism and imagination, so that both the child's-eye perspective and the adult perspective of the realities of their lives are honoured. In doing so, it offers us a window of understanding into incomprehensible events.

Winner of the Jury Distinction at the Annecy Film Festival 2014, the Satoshi Kon award for anime at Fantasia Film Festival 2014 and the Audience award for anime at Fantasia Film Festival 2014 Giovanni's Island is an important film you definitely don't want to miss.

© 2014 Production I.G. All Rights Reserved.

BIOGRAPHIES

Delna Bhesania
CEO, Co-Founder // Bardel Entertainment
(Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet)

Delna’s inspiring career in animation began over 25 years ago and tells a story of determination, commitment and vision. Starting from an office in a spare bedroom, Delna and her partner Barry Ward have grown their business from a small team with big talent to a really big team with ground-breaking talent.

As CEO and Co-founder of Bardel, Delna manages the studio’s corporate affairs, production, and business development. She works closely with her executive team and all stages at the studio to strategize, manage and uphold the highest quality standards on which Bardel’s reputation was built.

www.bardel.ca

IMDb.com

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