A recent change in venue has brought more locals to Ottawa’s International Animation Festival, a trend that’s been evident since the 1990s, says Chris Robinson, the OIAF’s artistic director.
Ottawa’s annual International Animation Festival features animated film shorts and full feature films from filmmakers based in Canada and across the globe.
In 2008, the festival location was switched from the National Arts Centre to various venues downtown, including the ByTowne Cinema, the Château Laurier, the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Civilization. Robinson says moving the location to more public venues has helped expose the festival to locals.
He says the Museum of Civilization helps attract more families, while the ByTowne Cinema and the NGC have exposed the festival to those already interested in artistic animation.
“ByTowne has always been the home of a wide variety of independent film, animation included,” says Bruce White, programmer at the ByTowne. “The OIAF screenings are simply a reinforcement of that programming strength.”
Kelly Neall, managing director of the OIAF, says last year the festival sold over 4,000 individual tickets, the majority to locals.
According to Neall, the festival also attracts a large international audience, being the largest and most well-known festival of its kind in North America. This year’s festival will welcome guests from Japan, China, Norway, the U.K. and Germany, “just to name a few,” she says.
Robinson says the change in location was initially seen as a disadvantage for international guests, who prefer a central place to gather. He says the international audience is getting used to the changes, and “attendance hasn’t dipped whatsoever.”
Despite the OIAF's international appeal, Neall and Robinson still admit to some ongoing challenges with getting local attendance.
After spreading the festival across the downtown core, Neall says the OIAF has invested in local marketing to attract more viewers, but it’s still difficult getting word out to locals.
“The media has been good to us, but when you see local outlets covering TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), and the OIAF gets one story, it’s a challenge,” Robinson says.
Neall says people still get confused about what the festival is and how you can attend. Organizers stress that coming to the shows is just like seeing a movie, and that tickets can be bought at the door.
Robinson says the animation community in Ottawa isn’t necessarily a huge one, but that the OIAF tries to get kids involved with free passes and outreach programs in the hopes of fostering a future animation audience.
“There’s still a misconception about what animation is,” Neall says, adding that the films they show aren’t simply cartoons but amazing, thought provoking films. “Each one is a work of art."
Though animation has grown, it’s still a niche art form that brings in a select audience, Robinson says. The OIAF exposes its audience to a different type of animation that’s not always seen on TV.
He says his goal over the last decade has been to change the perception of animation and make others realize it’s for everybody.
“Animators are creating a world where there are no boundaries,” he says, “I think there’s some powerful stuff here that really touches people.”