TEHRAN – Iranian movies “Sympathy Syndrome” and “The Boat No. 5” are competing in the Supertoon International Animation and Comics Festival in Croatia.

The 12th edition of the event that opened on Monday in the Adriatic city of Sibenik has selected the short films to screen in its Planktoon Competition.

The four-day animation workshop Planktoon encourages children and young adults to take their first steps in animation.

Directed by Maral Alizadeh, “Sympathy Syndrome” is an animation adaptation of a book written by Iranian children’s book writer Tahereh Eybod.

A child is at home, looking out the window. Mesmerized by outside world’s beauty, the kid decides to leave the house. Once outside the kid begins to worry if the chaos is destroying the environment. 

“The Boat No. 5” directed by Reyhaneh Kavosh is about Alma, a little girl who lives by a beautiful and lively lake full of fish, boats and birds. One day she and her family move to the city. When she returns to the lake, nothing is what it used to be. It is a beautiful animation about climate and environmental change for the younger audience.

The Supertoon festival specializes in short animated films and authorial comic book editions, and will run until July 22.

Over 200 of the freshest, most interesting short animated films from around the world have been selected to be screened at Mala Loza, Gorica and City Park open-air cinemas with all the necessary precautions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and public gatherings. 

The festival creates a space of freedom for filmmakers and students of filmmaking, as well as comics authors, providing them with the opportunity to meet, socialize, participate in panels, Q&A’s and workshops, exchange ideas and experiences, and hopefully even come up with ideas for future collaboration.

As part of a platform called Animated Sibenik, the festival organizes a series of year-round events that include pop-up exhibitions by illustrators, animators and comic artists, animation workshops for children and adults, VJ and 3D mapping shows and concerts. Once a month we bring visual arts to the center of attention in downtown Sibenik.

Photo: “The Boat No. 5” directed by Reyhaneh Kavosh.

MMS/YAW