The 16th Weird Market has confirmed the 36 animation short films that will be part of its WFest and the 12 companies participating in the recruitment day. The festival and the session dedicated to promoting employment in the sector are two defining features of this animation, videogame and new media market. The festival will be held at the Filmoteca Valenciana (Rialto Building) in Valencia, Spain, on October 1-3, while the meetings between talent scouts and industry professionals will take place at Las Naves on the morning of Thursday, October 2.
WFest presents a full selection of works that attest to the strength and creativity of the animation industry worldwide. The year, there will be 11 productions in the domestic competition and 25 in the international competition.
In the Spanish section there are works for grown-up audiences alongside others of a more familiar nature, established names and new blood. Creators such as Goya winner Víctor Monigote or the directing duos Carlos F. De Vigo & Lorena Ares (Cafunè), and Omar Al Abdul Razzak & Shira Ukrainitz (The Biological Invasions. The Case of Ovis Orientalis Musimon on the Island of Tenerife: “The Last Mouflon”) — all of whom have been nominated for the top awards of Spanish cinema — will have their works in competition.
Other filmmakers featured in the official section are Victor Bonafonte (Crimson Harbor), Nacho Arjona a.k.a. “Naolito” (with his directorial debut, Homework) and Valencia’s own Sam Orti (The Fence). This edition will also feature the premiere of the winning short film of the Weird Market Movistar Plus+ Short Project Award 2022: Paradise Buffet by Héctor Zafra and Santi Amézqueta.
The list is completed by works such as Pablo Ballarín’s A Border Guard and His Dog, set on the Belarus-Poland border; Mary Cruz Leo’s adaptation of Fermín Solís’ graphic novel Medea Adrift; Alex Rey’s tribute to animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, Parakeets; and Choche Hurtado, a well-known name at this event returning with Feeling.
The international competition will feature 25 short films from 20 countries, a diverse and representative selection of today’s world animation, with submissions covering all types of themes and techniques, such as 3D, 2D, stop motion and hand-drawing. Productions and co-productions come from Hungary, the United States, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Chile, Portugal, Iran, Finland, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Iceland, the Czech Republic, Japan and South Korea.
This selection includes works awarded at some of the leading festivals both for animation and film in general: Berlin, Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, Sundance, Venice, Rotterdam and Cannes. In fact, the latest Palme d’Or-winning animated short film will be shown: 27, by Hungarian filmmaker Flóra Anna Buda.
Two other women are also among the prominent figures: Iran’s Yegane Moghaddam and Nina Gantz from the Netherlands. The former is competing at WFest with her Oscar-nominated short Our Uniform, while the latter has a BAFTA nomination to her credit and will present her latest work, Wander to Wonder.
A mixture of established names and debut filmmakers results in “a selection of the highest quality,” says José Luis Farias, director of Weird Market.
See the full list of selected films here.
Weird Market is a multidisciplinary event and in addition to presentations, conferences, networking spaces, screenings and other activities, its spirit as a catalyst for talent is one of its most characteristic hallmarks. The recruitment day is the best expression of this spirit. This year a total of 12 international studios will be looking to complete their work teams. A sizeable group of headhunters will travel to Valencia to conduct interviews on October 2 with more than a hundred candidates.
The Recruitment Day activities will take place in one of this year’s new venues, Las Naves, and a number of companies have already confirmed attendance, including 3Doubles Producciones, Ánima Kitchent, Hampa Studio, Aupa Studio, TV ON Producciones, Studio Kimchi, Lightbox Animation Studios, Arxlight Pictures, Arx Anima, Alkimia Animation Studio, Pixel-Nexus and Flying Bark Productions.
Potential applicants wishing to schedule an interview must complete registration through the event website (weirdmarket.es/en) by September 13 or until availability is reached.
The 16th edition of Weird Market is co-organized by the Valencian Institute of Culture, attached to the Council of Education, Culture, Universities and Employment. It also has the main sponsorship of Europa Creativa MEDIA, the Valencia City Council and the Valencia Provincial Council; the participation of the Ministry of Culture, ICEX, Valencia Innovation Capital, Acción Cultural Española through the Program for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture (PICE) and the ICAA; it is also sponsored by HP-AMD, and has the support of IndieDevDay, AVEPA, Animat, Movistar Plus+ and RTVE, among others.
