57 AAFF Animation Highlights

still from Silver Seeds by Kim Collmer

The Ann Arbor Film Festival appreciates and celebrates all different styles of experimental filmmaking and we are excited to offer some great animation selections at the 57th AAFF!

A fan-favorite night of the festival returns again this year on Friday, March 29, with Films in Competition 9, or Animation Night, at 9:15 p.m. in the Main Auditorium of the Michigan Theater (603 East Liberty Street). This program features 14 unique animated films exploring different topics and themes. Learn more about the films to be featured on Animation Night!

still from Edge of Alchemy by Stacey Steers

In addition to Animation Night, the juror presentation Stacey Steers: Animation and Surrealism features Steers’ handmade animated films. Steers uses found footage in new ways to explore dreamscapes drawn from allegory, myth, and archetype in her films. This program will be presented on Thursday, March 28 at 1pm in the Michigan Theater Screening Room.

still from My Exercise bvideo game by Wada Atsushi

On Saturday, March 30, don’t miss Wada’s World: Wrestling with Existence, a special program featuring works by Japanese animator Wada Atsushi and curated by Markus Nornes, a U-M professor of Asian studies and film in the College for Literature, Science, and the Arts and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design. These are a far cry from traditional Japanese anime. Using animation, Wada presents his own strange, wonderful, and instantly recognizable world through his .3mm sharp pen.