Montréal Has Its International Animation Festival: Animaze!

From April 16 to 19, the Montréal International Animation Film Festival Animaze will entertain adults hungry for animated films. Here, little characters do not mean childishness. Animation makes it possible to explore taboos, rich subjects and even social critique. We have all laughed uncomfortably at an episode of The Simpsons or Family Guy.

LaurieGordon, the energetic director of the Animaze festival, reminds us that cartoonscan be underestimated. Think of the worldwide success of Avatar and South Park. Double meanings appeal to audiences. Animation translates into every format; it is a world of movement, from websites to wall projections. Montréal is a creative hub. So much happens here and we do not always realize it.

The metropolis’s expertise in video games, visual effects and digital arts provides a perfect laboratory for the emergence of innovative animation projects. Over three days, the program includes animated feature films, shorts and experimental films, several of which have won international awards.

Three screenings not to

miss. The opening film, La honte de

Tarzan, celebrates the 40th anniversary of its release. This irreverent delirium is a Tarzan parody by the Belgians Picha and Boris Zsluzinger. Almost unavailable anywhere, the film symbolizes the explosion of the limits of cartoons, in madness, eroticism and violence. For Mozart lovers, the screening will be preceded by the poetic film Le pays de la flûte enchantée, a modern interpretation of the 200-year-old classic. April16 at 7 p.m.

A fun return to the 1980s comes with

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the influential Métal Hurlant, or Heavy Metal, by Québec-born English director Gerald Potterton. Following the arrival of a mysterious object from space, a green glow named the Loc-Nar spreads its evil power over the entire surface of the Earth. The renowned director was also behind the animation of the Beatles’ famous Yellow Submarine. He will be present after the screening to speak with festivalgoers. Date to be

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announced. Manieggs is a Hungarian production by Zoltán Miklósy that humorously critiques the injustices around us. It tells the story of a prisoner just released after being locked up for a crime he did not commit. He is now seeking revenge. April

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19 at 7 p.m.

For specialists, industry conferences, panels of stakeholders and workshops are also part of the program. Montréal International Animation Film Festival Animaze, April 16 to 19.