The 44th annual Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) wrapped up its nearly two-week online run after successfully overcoming COVID-19 barriers.
The OIAF, North America’s leading animated film festival, screened 160 films from Sept. 23 to Oct. 4.
It announced the decision to move its programming online on June 16 after the team determined a live experience would be too risky, since 80 per cent of the festival’s attendees are from out of town.
According to OIAF managing director Kelly Neall, the festival’s team embraced the challenge of transforming the event into an online experience.
“We also had to find ways for members of the animation industry to recruit, network, and promote themselves,” Neall said. “So we had to create all sorts of ways to make it feel like our in-person event.”
For Neall, success lay in the details. The festival included live Q&A sessions after scheduled screenings, and live chat forums during streams.
Hangout events on Zoom featuring industry professionals also made the online showcase an alternative for bringing the animation community together.
“My favorite part was seeing young animators have the chance to meet with all the famous animators who were there, that was fantastic,” Neall said.
He added that getting to see how excited and inspired the attendees of the festival are makes it all worthwhile.
Filmmaker Anne Koizumi is a participant in the OIAF and 2020 winner of the Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation for her short film, In The Shadow of the Pines.
“I think Ottawa especially did such a good job of hosting a virtual film festival experience,” Koizumi said.
“I’ve experienced a few online virtual film festivals now, and Ottawa really went the extra mile to create the sense of a live experience and community within this virtual environment,” she said.
For Koizumi, technology connected her with audiences in innovative ways which made it feel like an in-person event.
“The Q&A really simulated that live experience you would have at a screening,” she said. “I was so thrilled and felt there was a connection with the audience, that the film resonated with the audience.”
Robert Weychert, a graphic designer and regular attendee of the OIAF, thought the virtual festival went smoothly and captured the inspirational artistic range of the live event.
“It’s a sort of a rare opportunity to see a really broad variety of animation,” Weychert said.
“I like that the ideas, images and those songs presented find a way to stick in my subconscious. They all kind of percolate together and then you’re able to generate new things.”
Weychert added online programming can enhance live festival experiences post COVID-19 as a way to improve international engagement.
“Accessibility is a huge aspect of what I do,” he said. “I think there’s something to be said about reducing exclusivity of an event like this by making it virtual.”
Featured image provided by the OIAF
