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The\u00a0Ottawa International Animation Festival\u00a0<\/strong>(OIAF<\/strong>) reveals its 2025 jury members, including Canadian animators\u00a0Winston Hacking<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Chris Lavis<\/strong>. The Short Film Jury includes the expertise of Hacking (Canada),\u00a0Gina Kamentsky<\/strong>\u00a0(USA) and\u00a0Phil Mulloy<\/strong>\u00a0(UK), while the Feature Film Jury is formed by\u00a0Dr. Magdelena Zira<\/strong>\u00a0(Cyprus), Lavis (Canada) and\u00a0Honami Yano<\/strong>\u00a0(Japan). The respective juries will view the OIAF Official Selections during the Festival and determine which films will be recognized at the Award Ceremony on September 27, 2025, at the\u00a0National Arts Centre<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u201cSelecting the perfect jury is much like crafting a memorable meal: it\u2019s all about balancing the right ingredients and flavours. This year\u2019s festival brings together some of the world\u2019s most celebrated independent animation artists\u2014many of whom are already beloved by OIAF audiences,\u201d says OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson<\/strong>. \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to feature two of the most creative contributors to Canadian culture: the collage master Winston Hacking and Chris Lavis, one half of the acclaimed Clyde Henry duo.\u201d<\/p>\nA graduate of Sheridan College<\/strong>\u2018s Media Arts program, Hacking is known for recontextualizing found footage and photography through compositing and stop-motion animation. He\u2019s directed music videos for\u00a0Flying Lotus<\/strong>,\u00a0Andy Shauf<\/strong>, and\u00a0Run The Jewels<\/strong>, showcasing his work at festivals and local and international microcinemas.<\/p>\nLavis\u2019s first film, Madame Tutli-Putli<\/i>\u00a0(2007),<\/i>\u00a0created with artistic partner\u00a0Maciek Szczerbowski<\/strong>, was recognized with an\u00a0Academy Award<\/strong>\u00a0nomination for Best Animated Short Film in 2008. The duo\u2019s collaboration under the banner of\u00a0Clyde Henry<\/strong>\u00a0has spanned decades and includes\u00a0Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life<\/i>\u00a0(2010) and\u00a0Gymnasia<\/i>\u00a0(2019). Their latest work with the\u00a0National Film Board of Canada<\/strong>,\u00a0The Girl Who Cried Pearls<\/i>\u00a0(2025), was chosen as the opening film of the 2025\u00a0Annecy International Animation Festival<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u201cAs long as we\u2019ve been organizing this festival, our goal has always been to achieve both cultural and gender balance and to assemble jury members with experience across commercial and independent animation. This approach helps us maintain objectivity and ensures that our jury members can appreciate the full spectrum of animation artistry,\u201d says Robinson. \u201cI\u2019m especially thrilled to welcome Magdalena Zira to our jury lineup. While she brings valuable animation insight from her work with Animafest Cyprus, she is foremost recognized as an academic, theatre director, and writer; her distinct perspective will enrich our deliberations at OIAF.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the Short Film Jury, Hacking\u2019s expertise will complement the knowledge of Kamentsky and Mulloy. An animator, kinetic sculptor and sound artist, Kamentsky has progressed through numerous forms of work over her three-decade career, including painting, drawing and collaging on film, rotoscope, musique concr\u00e8te, sound collage, stop-motion and pixilation. After finding success working in live\u2011action films, Mulloy turned his attention to animation, developing a recognizable minimalist style that is at once grotesque and darkly comic. Best known for his trilogy\u00a0Intolerance 1, 2, 3\u00a0<\/i>(2000-2004), series\u00a0Cowboys<\/i>\u00a0(1991) and\u00a0The Ten Commandments<\/i>\u00a0(1994-1996), Mulloy\u2019s\u00a0Christies<\/i> (2006, 2010, 2011) series broke new ground by winning an unprecedented three Grand Prizes for Best Animated Feature at OIAF.<\/p>\n
Zira and Yano will join Lavis on the Feature Film Jury. An artistic collaborator of Animafest Cyprus<\/strong>\u00a0since 2012, Zira is a theatre director and classics scholar, having written plays, the scripts for short films and has adapted texts for the stage. She co-founded the award-winning feminist theatre company\u00a0Project Season Women<\/strong>, and in 2019 was awarded the Artist of the Year award by the\u00a0State Theatre of Cyprus<\/strong>. During an exchange program at the\u00a0Rhode Island School of Design<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/strong>Yano discovered independent animation. She later attended the Graduate School of Film and New Media at\u00a0Tokyo University<\/strong>\u00a0of the Arts, studying under\u00a0Koji Yamamura<\/strong>. Her first post-graduate film,\u00a0A Bite of Bone<\/i>\u00a0(2021), received the Grand Prize for Short Animation at the 45th OIAF.<\/p>\nThe OIAF is accepting entries until 11:59 pm ET on May 31, 2025. There is no fee to submit a film to the Festival. If selected as a part of the Official Competition, animated works will be screened during the Festival before the juries and are eligible for awards.<\/p>\n
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