Bristol’s acclaimed Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival kicks off next Tuesday with more than 400 films and 60 events across six days showcasing the best of animation and short films from new and emerging talent.
This year’s competition programme is extensive and diverse, featuring a range of genres from sci-fi to documentary, with 247 competing films being shared with audiences and judges across the festival week. 
Desert Island Flicks – one of the festival’s traditional high points – will feature Michael Dudok de Wit, Academy Award-winning animator of The Red Turtle, taking over the stage next Thursday to talk to audiences about the key influences for his animation career.
Another key event of the festival – now in its 23rd year – will be an exclusive masterclass with Pierre Coffin, pictured below, of Illumination, co-director of the Despicable Me films and voice of the Minions. There will also be short films from the Tate’s Art in the Age of Black Power exhibition, with work of filmmakers including Zawe Ashton.
This year, more than ever, the festival is shining a spotlight on female talent including a Polish female focus, together with ‘Final Girls: Female Body-Shock Horror’ and ‘Females in Puppetry’, as well as the festival’s two guest VR programmes curated by Catherine Allen from the female gaze.
From 3,000-plus submissions this year, 247 films have been selected for the competition, programmed into themes including ‘Sci-Fi – Other Worlds’ to ‘Flights of Fancy’, ‘Talk to Me’, ‘Happy Together’ and ‘Horror – Thrilling and Chilling’. 
New to the festival this year is Immersive Encounters. Audiences can enjoy four days of collaborative viewing experiences from the best new filmmakers making VR/AR and 360-degree work. In a huge coup for the festival, Stuart Warren-Hill will be showing his futuristic music/VR crossover piece Holotronica 3D. The electronic musician, AV producer and visual artist will be taking over the Arnolfini next Friday with a 3D experience like Bristol has never seen before.
Encounters will also feature two interactive audience exhibits – Marieke Verbiesen’s Mayhem Machine and Playback from Random Acts, whose short films reflect the vision of young people working with film today.
This year, the festival’s focus on accessibility continues the success of its ‘Widening the Lens’ initiative, with a workshop for emerging filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. The festival will take a family friendly turn on Saturday morning featuring an extended interactive version of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, a screening of the Children’s Jury selections from local children and a screening of Revolting Rhymes, two half-hour screenings based on Roald Dahl’s book.
Accessibility continues with the festival’s pricing structure – this year it is offering a ‘Festival for a fiver’ with film screenings priced at £5.
Encounters Festival is funded by Bristol City Council and the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Main Sponsors include the University of the West of England (UWE) and Aardman Animations.
Encounters Festivals Ltd operates as an independent company and is a registered charity. For more details visit: www.encounters-festival.org.uk
