The latest animation films from around the world

Animation film festivals tend to focus on the works of young filmmakers worldwide. Animated movies tend to be quite short, while offering new talents opportunities to try out new things. In the section "Young Animation," the Festival of Animated Film in Stuttgart presents works by students of international art and media schools. A contribution from Finland is "The Moustache" by Anni Oia.

The festival takes place in Stuttgart in southern Germany, a hub for animation films. That's partly due to the renowned Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, as well as the numerous studios in the region. In 2016, the festival is also showing selected works by the production company "Studio Soi." Here an excerpt of the children's film series "Trudes Tier" (Trude's animal).

Next to the works of young filmmakers and particular studios, competition is high on the agenda. Awards will be handed out towards the end of the festival, which runs through May 1. One of the competitors for the main award is the French music animation film "Splintertime," featuring a crazy band that moves around in an ambulance.

The festival also presents animated movies for young children, which represent a growing segment of the market. Among the works presented in the section "Zwergenschau Tricks for Kids" (Dwarf show tricks for kids) is "Simon’s Cat - Off to the Vet" from Britain featuring a cat trying hard to avoid a planned visit to the vet.

Some of the best animated films aren't just made for kids, but speak to an adult audience as well. That's why numerous contributions aimed at the adult world are also shown in Stuttgart. In spite of its innocuous looking pictures, the Spanish animation movie "Psychonauts" carries a warning: "Not appropriate for children!"

Animation films have long become standard in the film world. Hollywood is making billionsof dollars with computer animated films, but they are also being produced in other countries as well, even if not all of them make it into German movie theaters. Shown in Stuttgart is the long French film, "Phantom Boy," which tells the story of Leo, an 11-year-old from New York who is a true trick master.

This year's Stuttgart festival will once again prove that Germany's neighbor is particularly creative when it comes to animation films. France not only saw the invention of the seventh art form - film - but is also the world leader in the art of animation. Co-productions are also being promoted in France. One of them is "The Mumins at the Riviera," a French-Finnish cooperation.

The participating filmmakers in Stuttgart represent diverse styles and aesthetics. Oil paintings were animated for the remarkable film, "The Jezables," an Australian production by directors Xin Li and Darcy Prendergast, which tells the story of a witchhunt in Tasmania during the colonial era.

Although real films profit from growing technical possibilities, animation films continue to offer the best opportunities for exploiting the imagination. Creative animators are free to design entire worlds on the screen. The French short animation film "Crabe-Phare" leads us into a nautical world dominated by the protagonist, a crab.

Finally, the 23rd Festival of Animated Film in Stuttgart also presents great films that can be expected to hit the movie theaters in the coming months. Apart from popular US productions by Disney or Pixar, there will be a lot to discover, like the French film "108 Rois-Démons," an epic on princes, kings and monsters set in 12th-century China.