The first GLAS Animation Festival, that took place earlier this year in Berkeley, California, was a fantastically successful event that brought an international-scale animation festival to the United States. The organizers at GLAS were only getting warmed up though; recent announcements about their 2017 line-up promise an even bigger and more ambitious event.

Today, the festival announced that it will host Brad Bird as a special guest at GLAS 2017, where they will screen The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,, as well as present a Q&A with Brad himself.

Another beloved director who will be in attendance is Masaaki Yuasa, the Japanese director of the feature Mind Game and series like Ping Pong and Kaiba.

Other directors and filmmakers who will present retrospectives or special programs about their work include Swiss animation legend Georges Schwizgebel, Chinese indie animation sensation Lei Lei, Belgian filmmaker Mathieu Labaye, whose remarkable short Orgesticulanismus can be seen below, and Canadian filmmaker Amy Lockhart.

The second edition of GLAS will take place March 2-5 in Berkeley, California. Early-bird rates for GLAS 2017 passes are available through December 15. Go to the GLAS web site to buy a pass and find further details.

(Photo of Masaaki Yuasa by tofuprod)

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