36 films have been selected and will be shown in the programme of the Nordic-Baltic Competition: Commissioned Film. They are competing for the Golden Gunnar for best-commissioned film. The program includes commercials, music videos, title sequences, games trailers and informational films that represent what has been produced by Nordic-Baltic animators and filmmakers for clients. Director's Note: The programme consists of films from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Estonia. This year’s call of entries received a record number of submissions which has led to a high-quality programme. The programme is as varied as the films and shows an enormous creative joy in the Nordic-Baltic animation environment. The audience should prepare themselves for a fast-paced programme, with the average length of each film being less than two minutes. Age limit: 15

Two frogs discuss the lottery and the meaning of life. Tonni Zinck began his animation career in the late '90, working his way from 2D animator to animation director, VFX supervisor, and director. Tonni has had his hands in most disciplines in animation and has also shot and directed live-action commercials, short films, music videos, and feature films. Dreambuilders is his third feature film as animation director, and second as co-director. Tonni's previous credits as animation director include Disco Worms and Marco Macaco. Tonni is a partner at the animation studio Hydralab. 
Following a nomadic career in big-budget VFX (Matrix: Reloaded, Hellboy, Happy Feet), Sunit Parekh journeyed to Berlin to pursue his own writing and film projects. His award-winning short film, Machine, kick-started Hydralab where he pursues diverse interests within animation, storytelling, VFX, robotics, technology, and education. He has directed and produced short films, commercials, music videos, and performance art pieces. Most recently, Sunit was a producer on the feature film Dreambuilders. Sunit is the founder and creative director of Hydralab and is currently situated in Copenhagen. 
Hydralab is an animation and VFX studio located in Copenhagen, which develops a wide range of animation, VFX, and live-action projects, as well as award-winning short films and commercials. Hydralab's client list includes Disney, LEGO, Momondo, and Interflora, as well as international and Scandinavian films such as Gräns, Thelma, The Neon Demon, and Along with the Gods. Dreambuilders is Hydralab's first animation feature.

Danskespil Frogs

A film about growing up and becoming a grown-up. Hanne Berkaak is an acclaimed illustrator and director based in Oslo, Norway. Berkaak holds a M.A. in communication, art and design from Royal College of Art, London, and a B.A. in animation from Parson's School of Design, New York.

Choice

Stop-motion for South Korean K-pop band Jannabi, promoting their much anticipated 3rd album. Sverre Fredriksen grew up in the woods of Norway. At 8 years old he discovered the magic of animation and started animating his toys. He studied film in Australia, where he shot Power Up on super 8, animated frame by frame with spray paint and graffiti stencils - it won the “Changemaker Award” in NYC, 2007. Since then, Sverre has been exploring new territories of analogue animation and satisfied a wide range of international clients with commissioned work.

Jannabi – The Land Of Fantasy (album promo)

This final installment in TV2’s thank you campaign is pieced together from payoffs and slogans from real commercials. It aims to thank advertisers who have supported the industry during challenging times and tell a visual story hinting to these brands and advertisers. They pulled everything together into a cohesive, intriguing visual style to help thread these disparate taglines into a thoughtfully choreographed and unified vision. Joseph Hodgson is an English-born designer and filmmaker whose career in the motion graphics industry spans over a decade. Previously a designer for Kemistry in London, he joined Racecar in 2003. His passion for and belief in the power of design and storytelling continually inform his work.

TV2 Brandstory

Some of the advertisers that have helped keep work flowing throughout the Covid-19 pandemic are celebrated in TV2's 'Thank You' campaign. They created three unique spots that seamlessly take over existing commercials to celebrate and thank the advertiser for keeping a whole chain of industries and people in work through challenging times. For Mills caviar, they illustrate a seamless journey through a world composed entirely of spheres. Franck is a French Norwegian director trained as an animator with a background in music and VJing. Even though he is continually curious about the intersection between technology, science, and design for discovering and experimenting with new interesting techniques, storytelling is always at the heart of his work. 
Bonsak is a trained architect with a background in music. He worked for two years as a set designer in NRK where he worked with various productions. In 1998 he co-founded arch-viz company Placebo FX, before co-founding Racecar in 2000. Bonsak is a strong believer in the creative intersection between art, design, and technology. 
Joacim Olofsson is a Swedish motion designer whose style is heavily influenced by his love for simple and bold design. His process is very much focused on his attention to detail combined with the curiosity to learn new things and combine different styles and techniques for a variation of projects.

TV2-Reklamebrudd, Mills

Sometimes everyday chores feel like climbing Mount Everest. Julian Nazario Vargas (b. 1983) graduated from Volda University College in 2007 with a B.A. in animation. Since then he has gained a lot of experience from working with animation, graphics, and VFX for TV series, drama series, films, and documentaries. His work has been screened at festivals both in Norway and abroad, and he has received several awards. Today he works as the creative director at Animaskin, the company he established in 2013. He directs both live-action and animation.

Fatigue

On the journey to his afterlife, a hero is guided through serene and beautiful nature by a fox, but the world reveals its dark and dangerous side when an evil spirit attempts to lure the hero off his path. As co-founder and director at Sun Creature, Kenneth utilises his versatile skill set as an animator, storyboard artist, and character designer to create unique worlds and immersive storytelling. Nuanced and expressive characters, epic tales, and masterful attention to detail fill his worlds and captivate the audience. The characters feel real and convey genuine emotions, allowing the audience to connect and identify with the
narrative as it evolves and reaches its climax. With strong decisiveness, Kenneth has created and directed immensely successful works, among them The Reward, Tales of Alethrion, which went viral immediately after its online release, and as animation director on Sun Creature’s first feature-length film, FLEE, that was featured at this year’s Sundance and Cannes film festivals. His work excellently portrays how he beautifully balances heavy action with stillness, and dark subject matter with comedic and more lighthearted tones. The tension and contrast between these are evident throughout his work, and it is this approach that makes his work so evocative, palatable, and unique. 
Sun Creature is an international production company and creative animation studio based out of Copenhagen, Denmark and Bordeaux, France. The creative studio was founded out of a shared love for the traditional artistry of hand-drawn animation, and to this day remains dedicated to delivering high-quality work from concept to completion. Sun Creature is made up of a talented group of artists, directors, and producers who firmly believe in the wonders of animation and storytelling to convey immersive narratives and meaningful entertainment. At its essence, Sun Creature is a place where the world’s most talented creatives, crafters, trailblazers, and go-getters can dream big and fly high. With a unique understanding of animation and its capabilities, Sun Creature develops and creates rich, compelling, out-of-this-world narratives and cinematic experiences that have aesthetic appeal and strict attention to detail. The studio’s knack for fantastic worldbuilding and charismatic characters make for long-lasting impressions and an exceptional look and feel. As a relatively young studio, Sun Creature brings a breath of fresh air to the industry by breaking with outdated conventions and insisting on maintaining the highest level of craftsmanship. Sun Creature tailors bespoke teams of elite artists around the world to meet the ambitions of each individual client and project. The studio’s fresh perspective combined with their collective expertise has already earned Sun Creature
international recognition and attention from heavy-weight entertainment and commercial brands like Cartoon Network, Netflix, Riot Games, and Travel Oregon.

League of Legends: The Path, An Ionian Myth

The Norwegian Tax Administration's spring campaign for the tax assessment, where renowned rapper OnklP helps deliver the message with an awesome beat, coupled with two other spots informing the public of important information regarding your tax return. The Oslo-based production company TRY Motion is a part of the TRY House and consists of design-driven motion designers, animators, and 3D artists. They direct and produce moving images at the intersection of design, animation and live action.

Skatteetaten feat. OnklP: Money Back On The Skætt

Health at Work is a government initiative that will provide important knowledge about mental health and musculoskeletal disorders. The Oslo-based production company TRY Motion is a part of the TRY House and consists of design-driven motion designers, animators, and 3D artists. They direct and produce moving images at the intersection of design, animation and live action.

NAV – Health At Work 2

Opening film for the 2021 edition of Animac, the International Film Festival of Animation in Catalonia. Gina Thorstensen is an artist who works in multiple fields including animation, illustration, wall painting, sculpture, and virtual reality. Her work has been shown in exhibitions, publications and film festivals around the world.

Opening film Animac 2021

Analogue frame by frame animated music video for Ben Baptie's "Reenactment Of A Memory", an ambient track he made exploring a past relationship. The music video revolves around the theme of emotional memory, and how feelings like loss and love can be transferred between important people we encounter in life. Steph Hope is an animator and Illustrator from the UK living in Norway, working mainly with traditional frame by frame animation on paper, then colouring and compiling digitally.

Ben Baptie – Reenactment Of A Memory

All children in school, a commissioned film by the humanitarian aid organisation ADRA. Bjarne Anmarkrud is an animation director and senior animator at Animaskin. Bjarne graduated from Volda University College in 2008 with a B.A. in animation. He has since worked on a multitude of highly acclaimed projects for various studios. He is a traditional animator who excels in character animation.

ADRA

The vignettes and bumpers are based on the new visual profile of the Cultural Council made by Bleed. The animation tries to support the design language and the rotating hierarchy concept in the profile in a simple and clear way. William Stormdal is a graphic and type designer, working with brands and products. His work is based on identity with a strong interest in typography and design systems. Bonsak is a trained architect with a background in music. In 1998 he co-founded arch-viz company Placebo FX, before co-founding Racecar in 2000. Bonsak is a strong believer in the creative intersection between art, design, and technology.

Kulturrådet – Titles and bumpers

Netron was challenged by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to make a conceptual film to tell about ICT security in industrial systems. They spent a lot of time on concept development and script, as the film focuses on values and emotions. Morten Marius has been a part of Netron since the very beginning, way back in 2001. As the creative director of the bunch, he enjoys finding new and unexpected ways of solving a client's proposal. When he's not working on concepts, storyboards, and scripts, Morten Marius is an avid bike rider, baseball player, and self-proclaimed musical virtuoso. Not so much with the bagpipe, which his family, unfortunately, made him get rid of after a short period in the Apenes household. At the top of Morten Marius' wish list is an accordion. Don't tell his wife.

PTIL

Rise of the Underworlds is a story of antiheroes, monsters, and rebels rising up against an elite-established power. The balance of power is about to shift. Rise of the Underworlds combines a classic 1940's film noir with steampunk, creating an exciting new genre, Punk Noir. MIKE&PAYNE are a directing duo who aren’t limited by the medium or platform. Working across 3D and 2D animation as well as live-action, their work is driven by a fascination with sci-fi, anime, and cinematic storytelling. They have a meticulous eye for detail and take great pleasure in creating explosive visuals - bringing characters to
life that do incredible things in impossible worlds. They don’t shy away from darkness and inject visceral energy into everything they do. Sun Creature is an international production company and creative animation studio based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bordeaux, France. The creative studio was founded out of a shared love for the traditional artistry of hand-drawn animation, and to this day remains dedicated to delivering high-quality work from concept to completion. Sun Creature is made up of a talented group of artists, directors, and producers who firmly believe in the wonders of animation and storytelling to convey immersive narratives and meaningful entertainment. At its essence, Sun Creature is a place where the world’s most talented creatives, crafters, trailblazers, and go-getters can dream big and fly high. With a unique understanding of animation and its capabilities, Sun Creature develops and creates rich, compelling, out-of-this-world narratives and cinematic experiences that have aesthetic appeal and strict attention to detail. The studio’s knack for fantastic worldbuilding and charismatic characters make for long-lasting impressions and an exceptional look and feel. As a relatively young studio, Sun Creature brings a breath of fresh air to the industry by breaking with outdated conventions and insisting on maintaining the highest level of craftsmanship. Sun Creature tailors bespoke teams of elite artists around the world to meet the ambitions of each individual client and project. The studio’s fresh perspective combined with their collective expertise has already earned Sun Creature
international recognition and attention from heavy-weight entertainment and commercial brands like Cartoon Network, Netflix, Riot Games, and Travel Oregon.

Legends of Runeterra: Rise of the Underworlds

Identity for TIFF. Art direction in collaboration with Thea Apeland Moen, and Tank Design in Tromsø. Here's a riddle: What do Syracuse, Kenya, and Spydeberg have in common? The answer? A young Torgeir Holm resided there. Today, he lives in Fredrikstad, a swift bike and ferry ride from the secret location of the Netron Headquarters, where he's the creative director of 3D & VFX. Having worked with animation since 1996, his resume includes TV2, Monster, Telenor, Statoil, WWF, Kygo, and Universal Music. As the VFX & 3D maven he is, he's one of the organisers of the comp. graphics conference End User Event in Utrecht. Fun fact: Torgeir is the brother-in-law of Morten Marius. Their dogs were also related.

TIFF2021

A dreamy music video for Charlottesville musician Kate Bollinger, animated on paper using a combination of Frame by Frame and Rotoscope techniques. Steph Hope is an animator and Illustrator from the UK living in Norway, working mainly with traditional frame by frame animation on paper then colouring and compiling digitally.

Kate Bollinger – Grey Skies

After the 1994 Rwanda genocide, there were only 347 nurses left in the country. This is a story about the recovery of the Rwandan healthcare system. NSF (Norwegian Nurses Organisation) assisted its sister organization RNMU with the Catch Up program to raise the competence of its members. They chose an informative, documentary-style, collage film to tell the story. After receiving a B.A. in illustration and electronic imaging, Jeppe turned his eyes towards motion design and has never looked back. Jeppe started his career at NRK before co-founding Racecar in 2000. His love for visual storytelling expands through a variety of techniques.

Norsk Sykepleierforbund – Rwanda

Health data is an essential part of understanding viruses and disease. Access to this data in the form of statistics, research and analytics can, and has lead to the eradication of many dangerous diseases. Here they tell the story of how Leprosy, which once plagued the world, has become a thing of the past, thanks to one of the world's first official health registers (created in Norway). There are many different registers and sources of health data available, and the Norwegian Directorate of eHealth aims to create a centralised portal for easier access to advanced analytics for better public health, enhanced patient safety, and to help save lives. Franck Aubry is a French-Norwegian director trained as an animator with a background in music and VJing. Even though he is continually curious about the intersection between technology, science, and design for discovering and experimenting with new interesting techniques, storytelling is always at the heart of his work. Joseph Hodgson is an English-born designer and filmmaker whose career in the motion graphics industry spans over a decade. Previously a designer for Kemistry in London, he joined Racecar in 2003. His passion for and belief in the power of design and storytelling continually inform his work. Joacim Olofsson is a Swedish motion designer whose style is heavily influenced by his love for simple and bold design. His process is very much focused on his attention to detail combined with the curiosity to learn new things and combine different styles and techniques for a variation of projects.

Helsadata - Direktoratet for e-helse

Before everything fades into chaos, the last polar bear gets to enjoy and experience many pleasures and vices known to men. Ave Taavet (b. 1988) is an animator, cartoonist and filmmaker from Estonia. She has directed two short animations: Seniors´ Choice (2015) and Vello (2015), which have both successfully participated in many festivals. She has also directed one documentary film Monument to Grandmother (2019) about the March deportations of 1949. 
 
August Varustin (b.1992) is an animator from Tallinn, Estonia. He focuses on creating animated music videos, inspired by trippy visuals, animated sitcoms and rock & roll.

Gifts of Destruction and Disorder

Ten concerts, ten unique productions. Sigrid, Aurora, Girl in Red, and Frida Ånnevik spearheaded Norway's largest digital music festival. The Strømme festival had a lineup that matched the major physical festivals in Norway, and thus wrote a new chapter in music history. Et helt annet sted was to be an escape from reality in an otherwise rather awkward period, and a surplus project from a united culture in Norway across the music, film, and culture industry. When the Corona epidemic hit Norway last year and Easter was "canceled", Et helt annet sted was to be a positive and different alternative for experiencing music and culture. With the use of a very coarse-grained style and strong colors, the film and the shorter promos show absurd and subtle situations that should express aspects of the new reality we were all in. The images and the graphic style express both loneliness and isolation in different settings but also something new and fresh and different that has not been done on this scale in Norway. The impression left would be that the festival Et helt annet sted was actually just this. Stian Johansen is a Norwegian director working with both animation and classic film directing. His background is from advertising as an art director with an interest for art and design in both static and moving forms. For the past three years, he has moved on to directing commercials for the production companies Einar Film and Willy Nikkers.

Et helt annet sted

An exaggeration of the wasteful process that goes into production of single used plastics inside factories. Hera Hallsdóttir (b. December 31st, 1994 in Reykjavík, Iceland) She is currently a 2nd-year student at The Animation Workshop in Denmark, working on her B.A. in character animation. She has previously directed a short film called Jollyfish which was screened at the Cinekids festival and Odense International Film Festival in 2019. She likes to integrate her love for music into her work as well as humour. In her personal time, she likes to read and play the bass.

End of the line

Yasmin is exposed to negative social control in her family. She is subjected to constant surveillance, shame, and punishment. One day she decides to escape from home, into uncertainty. Julian Nazario Vargas (b. 1983) graduated with a B.A. from Volda University College in 2007. Since then he has gained a lot of experience from working with animation, graphics, and VFX for TV-series, drama series, films, and documentaries. His work has been screened at festivals both in Norway and abroad, and he has received several awards. Today he works as the creative director at Animaskin, the company he established in 2013. He directs both live-action and animation.

Bufdir

Climate change is here. How will we plan for these inevitable changes? The Norwegian Environment Agency adresses these challenges to the municipal employees.

Climate Adaptation

Advertisement for The Red Cross. With love for film and commercial, Martin have been doing what he does best for over 16 years.

Røde Kors Gatemegling

Two wanted criminals in the wild west team up and become much more than partners in crime. But for how long can their trust last? Mikkel Mainz is an animation film director who graduated from The Animation Workshop in 2013 and founded 2D studio Skjald in 2018. Additionally, he co-founded the 2D studio Sun Creature (2013-2018). He created and directed the webseries and universe Tales of Alethrion and is developing feature films and TV-series. He has been animating on various other 2D projects like Ivandoe, Song of the Sea, and Emara. He has grown an online community of more than 200K followers and is a teacher and supervisor at The Animation Workshop and Højer Design School.

Align

MatStart wanted to communicate food waste and sustainability to children. Children often have a distant relationship with food production, but are at the same time engaged in the environment and concerned about what they can do to contribute. Emphasis was placed on quick transitions and a lot happening in each scene, to keep the interest of a target group. Marte Maren Holth works as a producer, but also as an animation director in the film agency Clockwork. She holds an M.A. in directing animation from the National Film & Television School, England. She probably holds the Norwegian record in the number of unique commercial film deliveries to TV in the last decade.

How does grass turn into food?

Original art work by Bjarne Melgaard. Based on a poem by Kristina Lugn. Commissioned by Kristiania Design. Yaprak Morali and Are Austnes have been working in the animation industry for more than 20 years. They are now both working at Qvisten Animation.

Melgard Shark Love

Vän med virus is a mockumentary aimed at 9-12 year olds, following Nina, a super normal Swedish girl who likes floorball, her fish, and Youtube, and she also has HIV. Salla Lehmus is a Finnish animation director, animator, and illustrator who studied at the Institute of Design and Fine Arts, Lahti and Hyper Island, Stockholm. Her previous credits include directing animation on the successful #Wombstories campaign, animation in the Swedish mini-feature Topp 3, and children's TV series Sånger med Superkompisarna.

Vän med virus

According to tradition, Eve offered all animals the forbidden fruit. The phoenix is the only animal that resists and God honors him by making him immortal! Syed Hasan Abbas is an experienced animator and illustrator making his debut as a film director in the short animated music video titled Phoenix. Hasan's approach to filmmaking is rooted in technical experimentation and philosophical discourse.

Phoenix

Through comedic situations, a cardboard character learns about the dangers of UV radiation. Tonni Zinck began his animation career in the late '90, working his way from 2D animator to animation director, VFX supervisor, and director. Tonni has had his hands in most disciplines in animation and has also shot and directed live-action commercials, short films, music videos, and feature films. Dreambuilders is his third feature film as animation director, and second as co-director. Tonni's previous credits as animation director include Disco Worms and Marco Macaco. Tonni is a partner at the animation studio Hydralab. 
Following a nomadic career in big-budget VFX (Matrix: Reloaded, Hellboy, Happy Feet), Sunit Parekh journeyed to Berlin to pursue his own writing and film projects. His award-winning short film, Machine, kick-started Hydralab where he pursues diverse interests within animation, storytelling, VFX, robotics, technology, and education. He has directed and produced short films, commercials, music videos, and performance art pieces. Most recently, Sunit was a producer on the feature film Dreambuilders. Sunit is the founder and creative director of Hydralab and is currently situated in Copenhagen. 
Hydralab is an animation and VFX studio located in Copenhagen, which develops a wide range of animation, VFX, and live-action projects, as well as award-winning short films and commercials. Hydralab's client list includes Disney, LEGO, Momondo, and Interflora, as well as international and Scandinavian films such as Gräns, Thelma, The Neon Demon, and Along with the Gods. Dreambuilders is Hydralab's first animation feature.

Solcreme

3 films were made for the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted. Robin Jensen (b. 1978) is an award winning writer / director from Norway. He studied animation and documentary at Volda college and has a Bachelor's degree in graphic design from the Royal College of Art in Oslo. He has written and directed several short films and documentaries that have screened at festivals worldwide. The animated documentary

Help! We Have a Blind Patient

Intro sequence made for the series Familien Lykke produced by Seefood for NRK. We wanted to show in the simplest possible way the general dynamics in the family. The solution was to create simple form-based 2D animation as a contrast to the visually busy aesthetics in the series. In the process, the solution was time and time again to strip down the visual until only the most fundamental remained. Since the series' format is typically sitcom, almost timeless in a television context, it was designed based on slightly retro shapes and colors. The pacing in the series is hectic and jokes come on the assembly line, the vignette should set the pace and get the viewers into the series' rhythm without giving away anything before it begins. It was important to stand out from other series in the same segment that most often have live action clips from the series that introduce the characters, this should feel more conceptual and general, as a parody of the genre itself. Ole Magnus Saxegård is an animator, illustrator, and director in the animation department at Animation Department.

Familien Lykke

Nordic-Baltic Competition: Commissioned Films

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