OIAF Celebrates 50 Years With Brad Bird ‘Ray Gunn’ Talk, ‘Forgotten Island’ Screening, And Canadian Animation Showcase

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), one of the art form’s most important annual reunions, returns September 23–27 for its 50th anniversary, with more than 200 films, artist talks, industry events, and a celebration of the Canadian animation that has shaped the festival’s history.

This year’s program ranges from new work by Don Hertzfeldt and Niki Lindroth von Bahr to presentations on two forthcoming studio features. OIAF’s full schedule is available online.

Seven Features Compete For The Top Prize

The animated feature competition brings together seven films from across the independent landscape. Among them are Kenji Nakamura’s Mononoke the Movie: Chapter III – The Curse of the Serpent; Leah Nelson’s Tangles; Christopher Sullivan’s The Orbit of Minor Satellites; and Kohei Kadowaki’s We Are Aliens.

The field also includes Xi Chen’s Girlfriends of Father, Sun Xun’s Magic Atlas, and the Brazilian feature Son of a Bitch, directed by Erica Maradona, Tania Anaya, Otto Guerra, and Sávio Leite. Nakamura, Nelson, Sullivan, Chen, and Sun are scheduled to discuss their films together at Animation Exposé on September 26.

Shorts Bring Familiar Names And New Voices

Ottawa’s short-film competitions remain at the festival’s core. This year’s selections include Hertzfeldt’s Paper Trail, von Bahr’s The End, Georges Schwizgebel’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Stacey Steers’ The Stars Watch from Long Ago, and Anna Mantzaris’ PLEASE.

The lineup also features Honami Yano’s Eri, Sarina Nihei’s Five Orphans, Diane Obomsawin’s I Don’t Love You Anymore, and Winston Hacking’s Action Bog. Competition programs span independent shorts, student films, commissioned work, animation for platforms, and films made for young and teen audiences. OIAF artistic director Chris Robinson will moderate a series of Meet the Filmmakers conversations with attending directors throughout the festival.

Brad Bird And DreamWorks Headline Animation Exposé

The festival’s public-facing Animation Exposé takes place September 26 at the National Arts Centre. Brad Bird will discuss the making of Ray Gunn alongside Cinesite vfx supervisor Adel Abada, Cinesite head of character animation Jason Ryan, and Skydance Animation costume designer Neysa Bové.

A separate DreamWorks presentation will go behind the scenes of Forgotten Island with writer-director Januel P. Mercado, head of character animation Sean Sexton, production designer Ryan Carlson, and head of cinematography and layout Scott Cullen. The day also includes talks with the feature competition filmmakers, a conversation with Cordell Barker, career sessions, and a free exhibitor fair. Tickets or an AnimaPass are required for the artist talks.

Fifty Years Of Canadian Animation

OIAF will mark its anniversary with 50 in 50, a screening program of 50 Canadian animated shorts chosen by its programming team from more than 700 films shown over the festival’s history. A companion Exposé panel, 50 Films. 50 Years. Too Many Animators on One Stage, brings together filmmakers including Barker, Janet Perlman, Terril Calder, Winston Hacking, and Jean-Sébastien Hamel and Alexandra Myotte.

The Ottawa Art Gallery will also host Frame by Frame: Animation in Ottawa, an exhibition tracing more than 80 years of local animation. An accompanying program will examine the National Film Board of Canada’s animation activity in Ottawa between 1939 and 1956.

Industry Talks And New Projects At TAC

Running September 23–25, The Animation Conference will bring producers, creators, broadcasters, and distributors together to discuss financing, international co-production, children’s media, original IP, and changing career paths.

Its Pitch THIS! competition begins with eight semifinalist projects before two finalists pitch for the grand prize. Fast Track offers scheduled meetings with industry executives, while September 25’s Art + Biz Day adds mentoring, community roundtables, and career-focused programming.