Bradford Animation Festival 2013

BAF & BAF Game 2013 Early Bird Deadline Friday 18^thOctober!

12^th – 16^th November at The National Media Museum & University of Bradford

 

The last chance for delegates to take advantage of the early bird discount for the 20^th Anniversary edition of the Bradford Animation Festival and BAF Game 2013 is this Friday, 18th October. To coincide with the deadline, festival organisers are delighted to make the following final exciting programme announcements this week.

 Local animation hero Lee Hardcastle, a former student of Leeds Met’s Northern Film School, will attend BAF 2013 to present a masterclass offering insight into the life of a truly independent film maker, including a screening of his soon to be completed short film Ghost Burger.

This year, BAF pays tribute to Bob Godfrey (Roobard, Henry’s Cat), with Guardian Cartoonist Steve Bell taking part in a panel discussing the career of the late, world renowned animator.

Channel 4’s Random Acts artists Sean Vicary, Elizabeth Hobbs and Mandy McIntosh will also be attending BAF to take part in a Q&A following a showcase of their work, alongside other films produced on Animate Projects Random Acts for Channel 4.

Leeds Met Alumni Lee Hardcastle, originally from Lofthouse, specialises in stop motion videos using clay models, including internet sensations Pingu’s The Thing, Claycat’s The Raid as well as a series of Done in 60 seconds movie parodies. Lee recently won a competition to direct a segment of the film The ABCs of Death, which screened in this year’s Bradford International Film Festival.

The ABCs of Death, a gruesome assault on the senses, brings together an impressive roster of horror directors from across the globe, all of whom were given a letter of the alphabet, a $5000 budget and carte blanche to create their own vision inspired by death in one of its myriad forms.

For many, the work of the late Bob Godfrey remains a key influence on their life. For children of the seventies and eighties, it was iconic characters Roobarb and then Henry’s Cat that brightened up television. But Bob was much more than these and we take this opportunity to discover some of the unknown aspects of his career with a special screening of rarely seen films, including part of his great unfinished animated feature Jumbo (voiced by Frankie Howerd); and a special panel with Oscar nominated animator Kevin Baldwin, Guardian Cartoonist Steve Bell and animator John Challis sharing their experiences of working with the legendary Bob Godfrey.

BAF will showcase 15 animated films produced for Channel 4’s Random Acts, introduced by Abigail Addison, Animate Projects’ Associate Director. The films collectively demonstrate the broad range of animation techniques that artists from across the globe are using today to tell stories about our world.

Random Acts artists Sean Vicary, Elizabeth Hobbs and Mandy McIntosh will be attending the event to take part in a post screening Q & A.

The main strand of the Bradford Animation Festival will open on the evening of Wednesday 13^th November with a 20^th birthday gala drinks reception at the National Media Museum, followed by a special anniversary screening of Tim Burton’s acclaimed The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG).

BAF Game, organised each year in partnership with Game Republic and the University of Bradford, attracts some of the most revered legends and radical developers from the world of gaming. The festival, which has earned itself a reputation as one of the UK’s premiere games events, takes place as part of the Bradford Animation Festival at the National Media Museum on 12^th November and the University of Bradford on 13^th November.