Aug 22nd (Sat) 16:50～ @JMS ASTER PLAZA Grand Hall
Prior to HAS2026, the festival conducted a survey titled 120 Years of Short Animation (1906–2026), inviting animation filmmakers and professionals working across the Pan-Pacific and Asia to select their twelve favorite short animated films from the history of animation. Among the filmmakers most frequently cited in the survey, Priit Pärn stood out as one of the most influential voices. This program focuses on his recent works co-directed with Olga Pärn and presents the films that were selected by the survey participants. (Curator: Nobuaki Doi)
A dramatic story about love, locked doors, an unsightly thief, a wounded stork, a lost laptop, and the virtual prostitutes the O’Key sisters... Gabriella Ferri is not in the film, but it almost has a happy ending.
This is a story about an everyday diver and a night dentist. Their kisses are always good-bye kisses. He is a diver and he has to dive. She is tired and has to sleep. But there are no silent places in her dreams. And a big ship is slowly sinking in the rain. Nobody knows when it is time for the last cigarette.
Olga Pärn
Olga Pärn was born on January 1, 1976 in Minsk (Belarus). She graduated from the Minsk Art High School in 1994 and from the Graphic Arts Department (specializing in intaglio) of the Belarusian Academy of Art in 2000. She worked as an art director and animator (specializing in sand animation) at the Belarusfilm Studio animation department from 1996 to 2003. She then trained at La Poudrière animation school in France from 2003 to 2005, before working for six months in Paris as a scriptwriter.
She has lived and worked in Estonia since 2006. She has made seven animated films with Priit Pärn at the Eesti Joonisfilm studio. She is co-director and co-artistic director on their two latest films, Divers in the Rain (2009) and Pilots on the Way Home (2014).
Priit Pärn
Born on August 26, 1946 in Tallinn. Graduated from the Department of Biology at the University of Tartu in 1970.
Worked at the Botanical Garden of Tallinn as a plant ecologist from 1970 to 1976. Worked as animated film director in Tallinnfilm Studio since 1976 and at Eesti Joonisfilm Studio since 1994.
Has been active as a caricaturist and illustrator since the end of the 1960's and received a lot of prestigious international awards for his caricatures. From the early 1980's he have been working more and more as freelance graphic artist. Pärn has had over 50 solo graphic exhibitions allover the World. Pärn has made 18 animated films as director, scriptwriter and art director. He received more than 80 awards from world top festivals, including 22 Grand Prix. With his films and graphic style he influenced a lot of filmmakers, working in independent and commercial fields of animation around the world. As teacher he has taught at film schools in Finland, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Holland, Bulgaria, Japan, Croatia, China, Turkey, France, Canada, Australia, USA and England.
In 1994 Pärn established animation studies in Turku(Finland) and served as the artistic director of the animation department of the Turku Academy of Arts until 2007. This department won the prize for the World Best animation school at Ottawa Animation film festival in 2003.
Pärn was also the founder of the animation department of the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2006 and professor until 2019. Students tutored by him won over 140 prizes in international animation film festivals.
Pärn has received nine Lifetime Achievement awards: from the ASIFA, IFF Etiuda&Anima (Poland), Fredrikstad AF(Norway), IAFF Zagreb Animafest (Croatia), Luna de Valencia Award from Valencia IFF Cinema Jove (Spain), The Dragon of Dragons Award from Krakow IFF (Poland), State Lifetime Achievement Award of Estonia and others.
From 2006 Priit is working together with his wife Olga as co artists and co directors.