14. StopTrik IFF: OFFICIAL SELECTION
We are proud to unveil 14th StopTrik IFF Official Selection. We are grateful to all the Submitters. The fact that not all of the films which have gained our selectors’ attention made it to the final list, truly saddens everyone behind the Festival. Working in stop motion not only requires talent but also dedication and patience and we respect and admire everybody who live their live for and in this wonderous form of cinema. We congratulate those who made it to the line-up, and we thank all the artists, producers, and distributors for their trust. We hope that the Audiences who grant the Grand Prix and the Student Juries in both festival cities, Maribor and Łódź, will find the choices presented intellectually and artistically stimulating.
Michał Bobrowski, the Programme Director who selects the films for “Stop Motion Animation”, “Boderlands”, and “Panorama” sections, acknowledges that in comparison with the previous experiences, StopTrik 2024 Official Selection appears as less dark and pessimistic. This does not mean that the authors of the selected works lost their critical angle in discussing the most serious issues of contemporaneity; they still frequently adhere to irony and macabre. Consistently with the developments of the art-house animation scene of the recent decade, strong women’s voices are especially heard.
The line-up of Stop Motion Animation competition presents 25 outstanding films made by well-established animation artists (among them Izabela Plucińska’s Joko, Nina Gantz’s Wander to Wonder, or Andres Tenusaar’s Little Other) as well as by newcomers (along the students from such institutions as NFTS or Konrad Wolf, we will also encounter the works of the so-called “underdogs” from the Finish Aalto University, Slovenian University of Nova Gorica, or Polish LAF-WFA Legnica talent workshop).
In 2024 we expand and enhance our programming and introduce some new features of the Official Selection. Aesthetically daring and experimental by nature, the 13 films from the Borderlands Competition revisit a conventional understanding of ‘stop motion’ as an umbrella term reserved for hand-made, filmmaking operations that frame-by-frame transform and manipulate the photographed matter. No spoiler intended but let us admit that through the main theme of the 14th StopTrik IFF we will widely expand this habitual understanding of “stop motion”. In such a spirit the Borderlands programme exhibits a number of works which derive from stop motion sensitivities in creation of textures and layers, or representation of spatiality, but technically do not fit the conventional definition. The reason for enlarging the scope of selector’s interest in this category was related to acknowledgement that day-by-day the creative technologies undergo changes and enhancement, and it is high time we started looking for ways to catch up with the fast-pacing reality.
We also welcome changes in the structure and curatorial motivations of the non-competitive programme Panorama. For many years this selection showcased diversity of traditional stop motion through intriguing, witty, and very often, really short animations. This goal remains valid for the programme Panorama: Wide View that this year consists of 17 works. Counting only 6 films, the new programme section Panorama: New Weird. It seems that the works of these few selected authors could be described in terms of fascinating, literary and cultural trend of “new weird” that encompasses imaginaries of climate catastrophe, generic mash-ups, and creative pessimism.
Three competition programmes of Stop Motion Animation for Children were selected by Brina Fekonja and Jelena Dragutinović. Rather short screenings targeted at three consecutive age groups (6-8 years old, 9-11 years old, 12-14 years old) will leave enough time for the selectors to engage the youngest viewers in conversations about the animation techniques, employed film styles, varied means of storytelling. Films that will surely be enjoyed by the youngest viewers in Slovenia and Poland come to StopTrik from all around the world; the animated children’s production in Europe, Asia, and South America appear dominant.
See the list of selected films below
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See the list of selected films below 〰️
Producer of StopTrik International film festival is Pekarna Magdalenske mreže, co-producer is Narodni dom Maribor – Vetrinjski dvor. Festival's co-financiers are Slovenski filmski center, Mestna občina Maribor, Active citizen found Slovenija, Urad RS za mladino in Ministrstvo za kulturo. Soorganizers of the festival are Lutkovno gledališče Maribor, Akademija umetnosti, Univerza v Novi Gorici, Društvo slovenskega animiranega filma, Film Factory, KUD Coda, AGD Gustaf, Zavod Mars in Društvo Slon.