THE 16TH KECSKEMÉT ANIMATION FESTIVAL STARTS ON WEDNESDAY
This year marks the 16th edition of KAFF, the biggest and oldest animation event in Hungary, which will showcase the latest European films alongside the Hungarian productions of the past two years. 15 feature-length films, including films that have won awards at the world's most prestigious animation film festivals, Annecy, Bucheon, the European Film Awards and the Tokyo Anime Awards, 6 exhibitions, 5 book premieres, 2 concerts, thematic screenings, retrospectives, film studies, workshops and children's programmes will complete the programme of this free all-round festival.
Eight feature-length films are in competition at this year's KAFF: the title character of the well-known French children's book series is brought to life in Little Nicolas – It's time for happiness. Two prizes at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival went to the European Film Prize-winning film Dogs and Italians are forbidden! and the jury prize was recently awarded to Áron Gauder's Four Souls of Kojot in Annecy. But you'll also see our favourite bears and mice in Ernest and Celestine: On the Road of Melody, or My Grandfather's Demons, in which Rosa, who lives in the big city, discovers she lives in a place where she feels she is not loved after the unexpected death of her grandfather. Nayola depicts the impact of 25 years of civil war in Angola on three generations of women, and Where is Anne Frank? follows Kitty, the imaginary friend of a little girl, while this year's Annecy competition programme includes White Plastic Sky, which transports the viewer into the future, 100 years from now.
Áron Gauder: Four Souls of Kojot
On the main square of Kecskemét, a giant screen will show films such as The Tragedy of Man, Annecy-competitor Toldi, Johnny Corncob, the legendary Cat City, and ensembles like Kaláka and Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band will perform in the same venue. KAFF will screen, among other films, the Cannes-winning and Annecy-winning film 27 by Flóra Anna Buda, and the film Kavics-domb (Pebble Hill), which won the Best TV Production award in Annecy this year.
On 21 June, at 17:00, the exhibition of Marcell Jankovics' last work, The Making of Toldi, will open in the Hírös Agora, at 17:30 in the Kodály Hall, the exhibition Four Souls of Kojot – Creation, in a different way, and at 18:00 in Room 105, the exhibition Speaking in Bubbles: 150 years of Hungarian comics. On 22 June, at 17:00, the exhibition of 80-year-old László Haris is opening in the Chapel Gallery, while the works of Ulrich Sári, animation artist and illustrator born in Kecskemét, and the 21-year-old KEDD Studio’s oeuvre will be on show in the Hírös Agora.
At the Youth Home, the National Film Institute is inviting children and adults to an interactive session where they can make their own animated short on 35 mm film tape, while at the Primanima Animation Playhouse, children can learn about the world of animation in a workshop professionally equipped with state-of-the-art technology, computers, cameras, lights and puppet animation trick tables. A new initiative for this year's festival is the KAFFFER Art Fair, where talented students from five art universities will sell their own handicrafts.
