Alternative Animation Festival Cartoons Underground Returns on 22 October 2016

Poster art by Jia Lee

Looking for animated films that are more edgy and more adult? Then, head to Cartoons Underground, a festival consisting of alternative animation films which will be held at Kult Kafe on Mt Emily, on 22 October, from 6 PM.

Many movie and art fans might not be aware that the festival has actually been around for the past few years, and this year's show will be their fifth edition.

Cartoons Underground is also the jump-off point for many new animators in Asia as selected projects get to be screened during the event. The festival organizers receive film submissions with 487 applications from around the world, three times more than last year's! As a result, the festival director Tan Wei Keong has curated a total of 20 films listed in two programs called "Time Loop" and "Time Warp". Red Dot Diva imagines it must been be really tough for him to narrow the slew of interesting shorts to just 20!

Opening the independent animation festival will be a hand drawn 2D short by local award-winning director Jerrold Chong. (BTW, Red Dot Diva says to check out Jerrold's other films here. Especially "Nascent", which won Best Animation Award at Singapore Short Film Awards in 2015.) Other local directors include Soh Fia, Mirza Ja’afar, Grace Ong, Kai Yuan Tao, Geraldine Toh, Davier Yoon and Joshua Tan, have learned their craft from Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design and Media and LASALLE College of the Arts. These young talent will be sharing more about their personal journeys in the animation and film-making field at a Q&A after the show.

“The most exciting thing I’m seeing at the moment is that Asian voices are starting to break through,” said Chris Shaw, Head of Puttnam School of Film and Animation, LASALLE College of the Arts. “No longer is Singapore somewhere to simply do the animating. Singaporean studios and directors are in the forefront of a new wave of Asian storytelling and animated film is a perfect medium for that, just as Cartoons Underground is a perfect platform.”

The non-profit festival, founded by Patrick Smith, Director of MTV’s Daria and Vicky Chen, is funded by donations from the community. With such passionate support from art and animation film fans at ground level, the annual gathering takes on a unique and vibrant atmosphere.

As in the past year, admission to the event is also by donations. There will be two screenings at 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM, and everyone is invited to mingle and meet the creators and artists of these imaginative animation film shorts.

For a taste of what's in store at Cartoons Underground, watch this teaser trailer with an opening segment by Jerrold Chong!


Cartoons Underground - TRAILER 2016 from Jerrold Chong on Vimeo.