Only a Child won SWR Online Film Audience Award and it also received a special mention at the Grand Prix of the ITFS 2021.
The ITFS is one of the international festivals for animated films which has developed into an essential event within the field of animated film in Germany and worldwide. This year, the International Festival of Animated Film was conducted online; there was a live program from 4 May to 9 May 2021 and the media library with around 200 films were from 3 May to 16 May.
Only a Child is a six minute film directed by Simone Giampaolo produced by Gabriella de Gara. It is a visual poem created by over 20 animation directors, which gives shape and colour to the original words spoken by Severn Suzuki at the UN Summit in Rio in 1992, a child’s desperate call to action for the future of our planet.
ITFS Film and Media festival organiser Ulrich Wegenast said, “It is very gratifying that such good use was made of our digital platform OnlineFestival. ITFS and the users interest not only continued after the actual Festival but could even be expanded. The combination of a media library, personal statements by the animators, media- pedagogical accompanying material and voting possibilities are real added value for the ITFS, which we would like to offer at the next Festival too. The recorded lectures and panels in the Online PRO section were also very well received by accredited professionals and offer a valuable pool of information for the animation industry.”
ITFS Film and Media festival Commercial managing director Dieter Krauss said, “The 2021 Festival was like a lab test, which we completed successfully, and which gave us the necessary expertise and experience to be able to better assess which target groups can be addressed with which content in which formats in future hybrid Festivals. But these will also include onsite encounters and exchange again, in cinemas and on School places. The digital formats thus not only have the chance to reach a significantly expanded and international audience, but also to inspire them to visit Stuttgart in the future.”
The OnlineFestival.ITFS.de website had almost 250,000 page views by more than 6,800 users from a total of 63 countries between 3 May to 16 May, with an addition of almost 100,000 page views by more than 1,300 users within the festival extension period after ninth May which shows how well this extension was received by the audience. The short films were viewed more than 41,000 times, the feature films more than 6,000 times and the voting phase for the winning film was also extended to 16 May 2021, where the audience chose a favourite from all entries in the International Competition. In total, more than 7,000 votes were cast.