“Since' Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus' is going to screen in the Feature Film competition of this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival online edition, which will also be the film’s premiere, I wish to express my excitement and gratitude to all the people whose dedication has lent this film the appeal and quality recognized by the festival’s selectors. I was truly surprised to hear that the film has been selected among 3,180 other films. Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus is my most ambitious project yet, in terms of duration and the number of people involved in its making,” said the film’s author, Dalibor Barić.

“It is a film without cameras, film sets, lighting or production designers. The only thing we had was a script, a microphone, and eight actors in a sound studio, involved in a yearlong slow and arduous process of visualizing the film, image by image, scene by scene. The final appearance of the film emerged to the surface slowly and imperceptibly, making its way through layer upon layer of previous attempts, discarded solutions, corrections and erasures as if it was a palimpsest. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the making of this film,” Barić added.

Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus is a story about Martin, on the run after attempting to stand up to the system, and Sara, a conceptual artist. Together they join a revolutionary commune in the country, with police on their trail. Inspector Ambroz knows that the right questions are more important than the answers, because maybe there is no truth.  

Dalibor Barić created the animation, directed and edited the film, wrote the screenplay and also composed the music, while the film’s producer is Ivan Katić (Kaos). The voice cast includes Rakan Rushaidat, Ana Vilenica, Frano Mašković, Nikša Marinović, Mario Kovač, Željka Veverec, Boris Bakal and Pavlica Brazzoduro Bajsić, while sound design was done by Dino Brazzoduro and Ivan Zelić of Studio Nazor. Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus was created with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the City of Rijeka.

The film will screen in the Contrechamp Feature Film Competition, while the list of other films in this competition can be found here. 

Earlier this year, it was already announced that Natko Stipaničev’s Arka and The Adventures of Gloria Scott – Murder in the Cathedral, directed by Matija Pisačić and Tvrtko Rašpolić have been selected for screening in the Official Short Film Competition.

Arka, a story about a grandiose transoceanic cruise ship sailing the seas, was directed by Natko Stipaničev who, co-wrote the screenplay together with Maša Seničić and Damir Juričić. The animation for Arka was done by Pavao Stanojević and Natko Stipančev, who in addition created the design and backgrounds and is also credited with editing and sound design. The film’s producer is Igor Grubić (Kreativni Sindikat), with Bonobostudio as the sales representative. The film received the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the City of Split.

The Adventures of Gloria Scott – Murder in the Cathedral, directed and edited by Matija Pisačić and Tvrtko Rašpolić will have its international premiere in competition at Annecy IAFF, while the film is based on the story by Mima Simić, who co-wrote the script together with Jasna Žmak and Matija Pisačić.

The animation film is set in early 20th century London, where the celebrated detective Gloria Scott and her companion Mary Lambert are spending a quiet evening at their detective agency. Yet, when an unknown perpetrator murders professor Jansen at their doorstep, new adventures are afoot.

The Adventures of Gloria Scott – Murder in the Cathedral was produced by Dijana Mlađenović (Kinematograf), with Darko Lungulov (Papa Films from Serbia) as co-producer. The head animation artist is Kristijan Dulić, background art is created by Boban Savić (GETO) and the music is composed by Noa Pisačić, while Jadranka Krajina, Matko Knešaurek, Andy Tomlinson, Scott Fortney and Gavin Benson lend voices to the characters. The film received support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia and the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe.

The Annecy IAFF Graduation Short Film Competition will screen Sunčana Brkulj’s experimental film, I'm Not Feeling Very Well, a Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts production made under the mentorship of Danijel Šuljić. Created using cut-out and stop-motion animation, the film portrays the singing sculls who dream of breaking free from their geometric formation and taking a swim in the big blue sea.   

Croatian minority co-production Natural Selection, directed by Aleta Rajič, will appear in the competition side programme Perspective Short Films. The film is a Bosnian & Herzegovian-Croatian co-production, with Vinko Brešan (Zagreb film) as Croatian co-producer and it is a story about a woman-doe who is a living sculpture, trapped in urban spaces of boredom and melancholia and in the utopian museums where she works. She finds entertainment in pretending to be a human and posing as one (cleaning, drinking coffee, smoking, sleeping). But problems arrive when signs of animal rage begin to appear on her forehead in the form of horns. Aleta Rajič wrote and directed the film, created the animation, design, backgrounds and cinematography. The film was edited by Sanja Rajič Banjac, while the music was created by Vjeran Šalamon who is also credited with sound design. Natural Selection was created with the support of the Sarajevo Film Fund and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.

In addition, parts of the VR animated short film Dislocation by Veljko and Milivoj Popović will exclusively be presented in the Preview section, a new format for presenting works that were already a part of industry programmes at Annecy 2019 - Work in Progress or Studio Focus. 

The film raises the question of what happens at the moment of dislocation when a migrant or a refugee finds themselves in an environment and situation that completely denies their humanity, previous life experiences, and understanding of their position in society.

Veljko and Milivoj Popović directed the film, and also produced it, alongside Veronique Siegel. The film is being distributed by Bonobostudio. Dislocation is created with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and American video game developer Epic Games, through their support programme Epic MegaGrant. The film should have its premiere screening in September 2020. 

This year, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival has received over 3 thousand film submissions of which 179 have been selected for screening in different festival programmes. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s edition of the festival will be held online, 15th – 20th June. All technical details will be announced in time at the official festival website.

Cover photographs: Annecy International Animation Film Festival visuals; scenes from Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus, Arka, The Adventures of Gloria Scott – Murder in the Cathedral and I'm Not Feeling Very Well; Natural Selection; Dislocation