An exciting mashup of screenings and live performances previewing seven upcoming events:

• Northwest Animation Festival – May 12-18
• Experimental Film Fest Portland – May 28-June 1
• Improvisation Summit of Portland – June 4-7
• Risk/Reward Festival of New Performance – June 20-22
• Quiet Music Festival of Portland – August 12-13
• Portland Underground Film Festival – dates TBA
• PDX A.I.R. Fest – September 26-28

This groundbreaking show is the first-ever collection of animated films created using letterpress printing. Twenty-four films and objects from the US, Canada, and Europe were chosen to illustrate this emerging cross-disciplinary art form. First shown in Salt Lake City, this screening will be the showcase’s Portland premiere. Co-presented by the Independent Publishing Resource Center and Northwest Animation Festival. The Curators and IPRC superheroes Barbara Tetenbaum and Marilyn Zornado will be in attendance.

The annual SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is one of the world’s most important showcases for innovative and visually stunning digital animation. Films that win honors here are qualified to compete for an Academy Award, and several in recent memory have either been nominated for or received an Oscar for “Best Animated Short.” Films chosen for this special “best of” show include narrative shorts, time-based art, visual effects, scientific visualization, and real-time graphics. Presented by Cascade ACM SIGGRAPH. (Guest Show)

Throw out the rules of traditional filmmaking! “EFF’N Animation!” celebrates untamed creativity with a collection of shorts culled from the past two years of Experimental Film Festival Portland (EFFPortland). These films explore diverse territories: humor and sadness, abstract imagery, poetry, music and storytelling. Welcome to the wide and wondrous world of Experimental Animation! (Guest Show)

Video mapped projections, rear screened windows, kinetic sculptures, interactive holograms – Rose Bond shares an international sampling of animation outside the movie house. From public squares to shop windows, from shopping malls to museums, this is animation that illuminates place and transforms space. “As screens proliferate and hybrid moving images expand into urban spaces, architecture, and our cyborged selves, new territories open for artists engaged in making images move beyond the traditional frame,” says Bond, Lead of PNCA’s Animated Arts program. Sponsored by Pacific Northwest College of Art. (Guest Show)

DMTV, the roving experimental/psychedelic/abstract animation festival curated by the fine folks at Portland’s Floating World Comics, presents the third eye-opening installment of its merry-go-wound-up madness. As its festivaleers say: “The emphasis is on non-commercial work. We seek pure vision. Some of the films push visual noise and glitch to the limit while others reach a peak of ambient degaussed bliss.” Includes films by David Oppenheimer, Lale Westvind, Pink Twins, Johnny Woods, Spectral Net, Suzan Pitt, Yoshihide Sodeoka and more! (Guest Show)

“Live music and an artistic masterpiece: that is what Billygoat has to offer its audiences. Both David Klein and Nick Woolley create animated art films, which they show to audiences on full-size screens. The duo writes an original score to perform along side the live showing of the movie. They use instruments ranging from the harp, accordion and electric guitar to entertain their fans.” —George Steffani, Aquarian Weekly. (Guest Show)

Gridlords is a monthly narrative arts and performance-based live experience curated by Sean Christensen. The series strives to embody the lectures of Lynda Barry as an explosive inspirational devotional performance piece, or the performance pieces of Laurie Anderson as a universe! Eleven local multi-media artists will present samples of their most recent work. Expect to see full body monster costumes, animated violence, and drippy cuteness. (Guest Show)

Get a tour of the amazing commercial animation work being done in Oregon: advertisements, music videos, product demos, visual effects, video games, and interactive environments. The evening begins with a showcase of video clips from our world-class local studios and freelancers. Next, Anne Adams from Oregon Arts Watch interviews a panel of Portland’s creative luminaries. Speakers include Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox), Gretchen Miller (Grimm), and others. The evening concludes with a very special hour-long presentation, “LAIKA presents: The handcrafted worlds of ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls.” See behind-the-scenes videos and actual puppets from the forthcoming feature film! (Special Event)

Immerse yourself in the world’s best animated films. Our weekend-long showcase kicks off with 35 amazing international shorts, selected from over 800 submissions. Here’s some of what you’ll see: African cheetahs, flamingos, and zebras that are inexplicably inflated like balloon animals struggle hilariously to live their ordinary lives. Kali the little vampire watches our world enviously from the shadows, stealing trinkets from careless children and yearning to join them. A pirate captain enters the Kingdom of the Dead and falls madly in love with a bewitching queen—but can he win her heart? Our featured film for this year’s festival, Premier Automne, is an astonishingly beautiful story about the first meeting of two children in a magical woods: one a child of summer, the other a child of winter.

(Includes 35 films. Two intermissions. Some mature themes.)

Have a drink, then try making animation yourself. Attendees are provided with sharpie markers and lightboxes. Make twelve drawings, then pass them on to the next person. At the end of the night, all of the drawings are assembled… And we’ll have made a hilarious, chaotic short film together. Hosted by ASIFA-Portland, a chapter of the International Animation Society.

A single day workshop for Portland’s budding animators. Participants create their own stop-motion shorts, develop skills and realize their creative ideas while using the latest software and equipment. Bring your child’s imagination to life with the power to animate paper, objects, people and more! The final product will be delivered via electronic file to participants and be shared on the Hollywood Theatre’s social media platforms. Make Saturday a full day of inspiration by grabbing a quick pizza lunch at the theatre’s “pie hole” immediately afterwards, then attending NW Animation Fest’s all ages show at 1:00pm (Shorts 2).

(Pre-registration required, $65 covers equipment, materials and snacks. Enrollment deadline May 16. Not included in festival pass.)

Saturday afternoon is an all ages show for savvy animation-loving adults that’s also safe and fun for kids. Here’s some of what you’ll see: Rabbit and Deer’s friendship is put to the test by Deer’s new obsession for finding a way to reach the 3rd dimension. An orphaned Inuit boy is adopted by an elder polar bear and learns the skills he will need to survive. After crash-landing on an alien planet, a Dogonaut and Space Flea must overcome their mutual hatred and work together to escape. A young man inherits a mysterious box that contains something incredibly dangerous: an unstoppable jazz band!

Bring the kids! Special $5 ticket for youth <18 at this screening only.

(Includes 40 films, two intermissions. All ages.)

Saturday night’s films are in turn sidesplitting, heartwarming, and mind-bending. Here’s some of what you’ll see: A man with acute social anxiety receives unwanted help when an invisible eight-foot-tall creature suddenly moves into his home. An expatriate couple expecting their first child land in a Kafkaesque country where wearing toilet plungers is mandatory. The first-ever animated Western from Slovenia unfolds in a gender-swapped world where rough and tumble women duel for justice and vengeance, and giant chickens are the steed of choice.

(Includes 34 films, two intermissions. Some mature themes.)

Will Lewis leads an expedition into The Neverhood, a remarkable 1996 point-and-click video game rendered entirely with clay animation. Also see Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake, and learn how to connect with local game developers. Organized by Portland Indie Game Squad.

Arrive early on Sunday for a live interview with some of the filmmakers in this year’s festival. “What keeps you inspired as an artist? What unusual tricks went into making your film? What advice do you have for aspiring animators?” …Bring questions of your own for an open Q&A at the end.

Sunday afternoon showcases more of the fantastic visions that only animation can conjure. Here’s some of what you’ll see: Where forest and city meet, a human-shaped deer tries to steal a man’s family by taking away his head. Studying a solar eclipse on some distant planet, two scientists discover a gateway to… Somewhere else. Following a character known only as “the assassin,” legendary stop-motion animator Phil Tippett (Star Wars) leads us into the surreal and hypnotic landscape of his new independent film series, Mad God.

Our wildly popular “Strange & Sexy” block begins after second intermission. It’s a very peculiar romp through the wilds of psyche and sexuality that you won’t want to miss!

(Includes 35 films, two intermissions. Explicit sexuality during final hour.)

NW Animation Fest concludes on Sunday night with several of this year’s very best films. Here’s some of what you’ll see: George Takei (Star Trek) narrates The Missing Scarf, a philosophical black comedy about fear of the unknown, of failure, rejection and the impending end of the universe. In Maják, a castaway on a mysterious island fights to escape the clutches of a spirit-possessed lighthouse. Gloria Victoria (short-listed for this year’s Oscars) is an abstract yet exuberantly engaging anti-war film noted as the Most Well Liked Animated Short of 2013 in a survey of the world’s top animation festivals. The festival’s not over until you’ve seen a flock of gelato trucks sprout wings and fly south for the winter!

(Includes 33 films, two intermissions. Some mature themes.)

After the last film has screened, gather for an informal post-festival party at the Moon & Sixpence. It’s lively a British-style pub with some of the best Cornish pasties we’ve tasted.