Animators from around the world are converging on the nation’s capital this month for the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Celebrating its 22nd year, the Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 event is gearing up to be the biggest yet.

The addition of an extra day makes time for a glitzier opener – the DreamWorks skg /Pacific Data Images feature Antz, which will unspool in the 2,000-seat Opera of the National Arts Centre. The festival has inked a deal with the World Exchange Plaza, Cineplex Odeon Theatres for two screens and increased the number of retrospectives to around 20.

Festival organizers are expecting 30,000 people this year and about 40 companies will be represented.

The 1998 selection committee received 1,200 entries for competition (putting the fest on par with Annecy), which have been whittled down to between 80 and 90 titles.

Among the films in competition is Jan Pinkava’s Oscar-nominated Geri’s Game from the u.s. as well as works from Russia, Japan, Finland, Poland and Germany.

Twenty companies are taking part in the Animarket including the usual North American suspects such as Pixar, Walt Disney Television Animation, DreamWorks, pdi, Nelvana and Cinar. And participating for the first time are eos out of the u.k., Crater Software from Spain and animation book publishing company John Libbey Publishing of Australia.

There is an increase in participation from smaller Canadian companies, says oiaf executive director Chris Robinson, including Toronto’s Cuppa Coffee Animation, Bardel Animation of Vancouver and Ottawa’s Dynomight Cartoons.

A key theme for this year’s workshop series is a three-parter on The State of Canadian Animation.

‘People say this is a booming time for Canadian animation, and it is if you are Nelvana or Cinar, but if you are independent, it’s not’ says Robinson. ‘There is a concern as to where the independent animators will come from in the future.’

Robinson says that since schools are primarily training animators for jobs with the big players such as Pixar and Disney, animation is slowly losing its cultural voice. His concern is that animation will no longer be expressive or an art form.

To address these issues, the Canada-sensitive workshop brings together the bigger players in independent animation from across Canada. Part 1: Whose Golden Age will discuss commercial animation, from the new studio operations of Disney in Vancouver, to the opportunities at Teletoon and cuts to the National Film Board.

Workshop guests include Nelvana ceo Michael Hirsh discussing the ins and outs of coproductions, while Dave Masters from Warner Bros. lends his expertise on prepping a portfolio. Other guests include Marv Newland of Vancouver’s International Rocketship and Pierre Hebert and David Verrall from the National Film Board.

The Alberta Quickdraw Animation Society will present a panel discussion on The Little Known West while The Mysterious East will spotlight the Atlantic Filmmakers Coop and its independent animation efforts.

New to this year’s lineup is the Canadian Animation Panorama, a non-competitive program designed to give festival-goers a taste of what’s up on the Canadian front. The program features a wide range of works from student filmmakers and commercial animation such as Nelvana’s adult series Bob and Margaret.

Taking a new shape this year is the official competition, which has been broken up into two streams. The Independent Short Works Competition has two categories, one for independent short works and another for first and student works. The second stream is the commissioned films competition. There will be two grand prize winners.

As for retrospectives, Robinson is particularly looking forward to Before and After Independence: 40 Years of Estonian Animation, the largest retrospective ever undertaken on the subject, and his excitement is easily validated as Robinson has spent the last two years traveling, researching and conducting interviews in preparation for the event. A handful of Estonian animators will be in attendance.

‘In my mind they produce the best animation in the world. It’s unique and it brings together rationalism (and) surrealism and produces something totally unique,’ Robinson says.

When it comes to choosing the retrospectives, Robinson says he prefers animation which rarely gets seen yet deserves to be shown.

Other retrospectives at this year’s festival include the works of Polish animator Stefan Schabenbecj that Robinson came across at the Holland Animation Film Festival, and a Swiss program which has been touring around the world. Warner Bros. legend Frank Tashlin will also be the subject of a retrospective, as will Canadian-born designer of Bugs Bunny, Charles Thorson.