Several members of the SVA community recently travelled to the French Alps to participate in the 2015 Annecy International Animation Festival, the oldest and largest animation festival in the world, with participants from 73 countries and 115,000 screening tickets sold.
Films by SVA alumni Panop Koonwat (MFA 2014 Computer Art) and Nai Wei Liu (MFA 2014 Computer Art) were chosen as official selections and screened at the fest this year. Koonwat’s Cupidiculous, a humorous story about Cupid’s arrow working its magic on Adam and Eve, examines serious contemporary themes like overpopulation and overconsumption. Liu’s Something Important is a deeply personal and somber reflection on the loss of a loved one that uses abstract montages to capture the feelings and sensations of memory.
Among the other highlights: SVA alumnus Phil Rynda (BFA 2003 Animation), vice president of artist development at Nickelodeon, spoke on a panel about Nickelodeon’s Global Animated Shorts Program. MFA Computer Art had its own table at the International Animation Film Market, making SVA the only U.S. college with an official presence there. And Bruce Wands, chair of MFA Computer Art; Hsiang Chin Moe, director of operations in MFA Computer Art; and Angie Wojak, director of career development had the opportunity to meet and socialize with industry professionals from companies such as MPC, Pixar and Google, among others.
“Annecy gives the MFA Computer Art department and our alumni the opportunity to meet professionals and studios, reach wider audiences, and share the great things we do at SVA,” says Wands.