For the first time, an animated film will open the Chesapeake Film Festival, taking place Oct. 10-12 in Easton, Maryland.
The opening film will be “Loving Vincent,” an Oscar-nominated animated film about the life of painter Vincent Van Gogh, co-directed by Polish filmmaker Dorota Kobiela and her husband, British filmmaker Hugh Welchman.
“Loving Vincent” is the world’s first fully painted feature film, which took six years to create. A team of 125 artists from around the world painted the 65,000 frames that comprise the film. Animators used the rotoscope technique in which they traced over frames of live-action footage.
“Part of our mission is to educate and engage audiences in the innovative techniques of modern filmmaking and storytelling, in addition to promoting stories of artistic and cultural impact,” said Cid Collins Walker, Executive and Artistic Director of Chesapeake Film Festival, in a statement. “Featuring Loving Vincent as the Festival’s Opening Film is an exciting opportunity to immerse our audience in the magic and artistry of rotoscope animation. This film is also significant beyond its magnificent visual impact and reflection of Van Gogh’s ground-breaking legacy as an artist. It tells a story of his great triumph and tragedy that has captivated the public’s imagination for more than a century.”
After the film, Collins Walker will lead a Q&A with a group of local and national art and cinema experts, including Gail Patterson, director of Spiralis Gallery, the Afro Caribbean contemporary art gallery in Easton; Anke Van Wagenberg, Senior Curator and Head of International Collaborations at the American Federation of the Arts in New York City; and Rebekah Louisa Smith, founder of the Film Festival Doctor consulting agency from Dallas, Texas.
Early bird tickets are on sale now for this year’s Chesapeake Film Festival, which will be held at multiple venues in Easton, including the Talbot County Free Library, Academy Art Museum, and Ebenezer Theater. For tickets and more information, visit chesapeakefilmfestival.com.
