S’pore short films to compete at international animation festivals

SINGAPORE – Two animated short films by local directors will be taking part in competitions at international animation festivals in June this year.

The Great Escape by Tan Wei Keong, will compete against 215 other films at the Annecy International Animation Festival in France from June 6 to 11, after it was selected out of 2,680 entries from 85 countries. It will participate in the “Animation Off-Limits” category, dedicated to experimental and cutting edge works.

The second film, The Tiger Of 142B by twin brothers Harry and Henry Zhuang, was one of 46 films selected out of 1,700 entries for the Grand Competition of Animafest Zagreb in Croatia from Jun 13 to 19. The directors are expected to attend the festivals.

Tan, 31, said he was “honoured” that his “experimental work was selected for such an important festival”.

“Being selected felt like the whole team’s effort finally paid off,” said the brothers, both 33.

“We hope that the film captures the spirit of Dave Chua’s The Tiger Of 142B and encourages more people to read his other works,” they added.

The twin brothers said they were keen to watch other competing films at the festival, some of which were created by film-makers they idolised.

“We are certainly looking forward to meeting them in person,” they said.

Both films are part of Utter 2015: Head Trips, which was part of last year’s Singapore Writers Festival. It featured five animation short films adapted from original short stories and poetry by Singapore writers. The Great Escape was based on a poem of the same name by Alfian Sa’at, while The Tiger Of 142B was based on a short story by Dave Chua.

“We are thrilled that the short films are now being recognised by the rest of the world. We love how the

animators were inspired by their literary compatriots and the results have been heartfelt and intriguing,” said Yeow Kai Chai, director of Singapore Writers Festival.