GLAS Unveils Full Program For 5th Edition And New Cartoon Brew Award – Exclusive

America’s finest animation event, Berkeley’s GLAS Animation Festival, has unveiled the trailer and full programming slate for its fifth edition, which will take place March 19–22. The festival had previously announced its guests and a signal film by Lénaïg Le Moigne.

This year’s edition boasts 80 short films from around the world, spread across four competitive strands. It will also screen six features, ranging from Oscar nominee I Lost My Body to experimental documentary Breathless Animals. The full program line-up can be viewed here. Watch the festival trailer below:

For the first time at GLAS, Cartoon Brew will present its Filmmaker to Watch Award. A prize of US$1,000 will be given to one of the short films screening in any competition category. This award aims to highlight a filmmaker in the early stages of their career who has created a bold and exciting piece of animated filmmaking that suggests the promise of great work to come.

The festival will also welcome an array of guests from across the world and all corners of the animation industry. They include:

• Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-Head and co-creator of King of the Hill. Judge will discuss his work and present two of his features, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Office Space.
• Caroline Leaf, filmmaker (The Street) who is well known for her many collaborations with the National Film Board of Canada. Leaf will be present for a Q&A after a retrospective of her films.
• Paul Wenninger, filmmaker (Uncanny Valley) and dancer, who will talk about his work as a choreographer and show how this led him to animated films.
• Sam Rolfes, filmmaker (Bunny’s Dream) and digital performer, who will talk about the semi-improvisational vr puppetry and virtual choreography on which he draws in his work.
• Pia Borg, filmmaker (Abandoned Goods) and installation artist who works with archival footage, cg animations, and performed re-enactments. Borg will be present for a Q&A after a retrospective of her films.
• Sarina Nihei, filmmaker (Small People with Hats) and illustrator, who will talk about how she became an independent animation director and detail her influences, including horror films and quirky Estonian animation.
• Gabriel Harel, filmmaker, who will present his two films Yùl and the Snake and The Night Of the Plastic Bags and discuss his creative process.
• Terry Moews, layout artist, who will talk about his extensive career at Walt Disney Animation Studios and explain how he came to direct his short film The Race.
• Simón Wilches-Castro, director at Titmouse, who will give a talk on the development of animation in Latin America. A panorama of contemporary films from the region will also be shown.
• There will also be a panel discussion about the ins and outs of pitching a project. A range of executives, talent managers, and producers will delve into the process of getting a series or film off the ground.

Passes for the festival are available on the GLAS website.

(Image collage at top, l. to r.: Beavis and Butt-Head, Algen, Mr. Mare.)