Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
When directors Sebastian Kellermann and Robin Pfister saw the image of an elephant hanging from a crane, they were captivated and while at first they didn’t intend to make a film about it, they kept coming back to that image.
In this conversation, the directors talk about the inspiration for film and the importance of animated documentaries.
SPEAKERS
Sebastian Kellermann
Director
(Circus in Town)
Sebastian Kellermann came into contact with 3D animation during an internship in 2009 at the age of 14. Since that day, animation became his passion. He pursued it as a hobby and later completed an apprenticeship as a media designer with a focus on 3D animation and postproduction after graduating from high school. During this time, he became increasingly aware of his fascination for animation in movies. So he started studying at ifs internationale filmschule köln and worked on an animated feature film as an animation intern for the first time in 2019. During his studies, he started to work part-time in an animation studio, which he then continued full-time after graduating from filmschool in 2021.
Website // Instagram // LinkedIn
Robin Pfister
Director
(Circus in Town)
Robin Pfister grew up in Balingen, a small town in southern Germany. After finishing school in 2016, he travelled across Vietnam to get to know a different culture. Always accompanied by a sketchbook and a guitar, his fascination with audiovisual media ultimately led him to the ifs internationale filmschule köln to study vfx&animation. During his studies he worked on various animation short films to explore the diverse possibilities of animation and was fascinated by the combination of art and technology. After receiving his degree in 2021, he started to work for LAVAlabs Moving Images to work on animated feature films.
Website // Twitter // Instagram // LinkedIn
MODERATOR
Dean Hamer
Director // Kanaka Pakipika
Dean Hamer is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and New York Times Book of the Year author whose feature and short films combine live-action with animation to explore pressing social issues through innovative storytelling. His work has screened and won awards at film festivals around the world including Berlin, Tribeca and Toronto, been viewed by millions on PBS, Netflix and international networks, supported by Sundance, Ford and Pacific Islanders in Communications, and received widespread attention for their role in promoting social change.
Hamer’s recent animated short film Kapaemahu, which won five Oscar-qualifying awards and was shortlisted at the 93rd Academy Awards, is the basis of an upcoming children’s book and museum exhibition about Hawaii’s long tradition of gender diversity.
Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
When directors Sebastian Kellermann and Robin Pfister saw the image of an elephant hanging from a crane, they were captivated and while at first they didn’t intend to make a film about it, they kept coming back to that image.
In this conversation, the directors talk about the inspiration for film and the importance of animated documentaries.
SPEAKERS
Sebastian Kellermann
Director
(Circus in Town)
Sebastian Kellermann came into contact with 3D animation during an internship in 2009 at the age of 14. Since that day, animation became his passion. He pursued it as a hobby and later completed an apprenticeship as a media designer with a focus on 3D animation and postproduction after graduating from high school. During this time, he became increasingly aware of his fascination for animation in movies. So he started studying at ifs internationale filmschule köln and worked on an animated feature film as an animation intern for the first time in 2019. During his studies, he started to work part-time in an animation studio, which he then continued full-time after graduating from filmschool in 2021.
Website // Instagram // LinkedIn
Robin Pfister
Director
(Circus in Town)
Robin Pfister grew up in Balingen, a small town in southern Germany. After finishing school in 2016, he travelled across Vietnam to get to know a different culture. Always accompanied by a sketchbook and a guitar, his fascination with audiovisual media ultimately led him to the ifs internationale filmschule köln to study vfx&animation. During his studies he worked on various animation short films to explore the diverse possibilities of animation and was fascinated by the combination of art and technology. After receiving his degree in 2021, he started to work for LAVAlabs Moving Images to work on animated feature films.
Website // Twitter // Instagram // LinkedIn
MODERATOR
Dean Hamer
Director // Kanaka Pakipika
Dean Hamer is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and New York Times Book of the Year author whose feature and short films combine live-action with animation to explore pressing social issues through innovative storytelling. His work has screened and won awards at film festivals around the world including Berlin, Tribeca and Toronto, been viewed by millions on PBS, Netflix and international networks, supported by Sundance, Ford and Pacific Islanders in Communications, and received widespread attention for their role in promoting social change.
Hamer’s recent animated short film Kapaemahu, which won five Oscar-qualifying awards and was shortlisted at the 93rd Academy Awards, is the basis of an upcoming children’s book and museum exhibition about Hawaii’s long tradition of gender diversity.
