Two award-winning animation shorts by Edmunds Jansons released on Vimeo

Atom Art studio in the end of April releases two more of their original animation films on Vimeo – “Choir Tour” and “International Father’s Day”. “Choir Tour” and “International Father’s Day” are both directed by Edmunds Jansons, Atom Art co-founder, award-winning animation director and designer, as well as recognized children’s book illustrator.

Both films share a whimsical outlook on the world and playful attitude towards the medium of animation and sound. “International Father’s Day” is an imaginative story about a small bird who works hard to gather food for his family. But, in the two-dimensional animation world, how do you distinguish black berries from black holes?

“Choir Tour” follows the adventures of a boy’s choir in a big city. In the hands of their conductor the boys are an obedient musical instrument. But left alone without supervision, they become mischievous children again. The film was created with the support of Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival’s animation production programme.

“We were granted creative freedom with the condition that the film has to be connected with Seoul in some way. As a counterbalance I decided to include something of Latvian culture in the film. Perhaps, the notion that Latvians are great singers is as popular as the idea that all Seoul lives in skyscrapers. So I made a film about a choir. About a choir in a skyscraper,” director Edmunds Jansons explains how the idea came about.

The soundtrack of the film was recorded by the renown Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir, which has performed around the world, including in the White House for President Barack Obama. The choir singers received the film with great enthusiasm, saying that it exactly depicts what happens on their tours!

In the past three years the films have circled the globe, traveling from festival to festival, including those in countries far away from their homeland Latvia – such as Chile, Japan and New Zealand. Together, the films have been screened in over 160 festivals and won awards at Hiroshima IAF, Interfilm Berlin, Animafest Zagreb, London IAF, Lisbon AFF MONSTRA, Lielais Kristaps NFF, KROK IAF (Russia), In The Palace IAFF, VARNA WAFF (Bulgaria) and others.

Watch Choir Tour here: https://vimeo.com/44336109
Watch International Father’s Day here: https://vimeo.com/39424372
Studio Atom Art on FB: facebook.com/atom.art.9
Short of the week about Choir Tour: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2015/04/28/choir-tour/