(WSYR-TV) — It’s been celebrated for apples, barbed wire and the gyroscope. The city of Cortland will gain some new acclaim this weekend. The world famous Ake Gallery will play host to the Duck and Red Octopus Short Funny Stop-Action and Animated Film Festival. Festival organizers Paul Kozlowski and Andy Haskins are spreading the word.
A total of 42 finalists into the festival were selected out of 2000 entrants from around the world. The finalists are competing for 13 awards which include: Best Stop Action Short and Best Animated Short, Best Local Short, Best Local Youth Short and the coveted Totally Unfair Insider And Nepotism Award.
This Friday, Sept. 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. there will be the opening reception for the festival along with the opening of “Room Full of Weirdos,” an art exhibit by Peter Hannan, creator of the Nickelodeon show “CatDog.”
At 7 p.m. the Ake Gallery and the Duck and Red Octopus Film Festival present Bobcat Goldthwait in concert.
From noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday September 23, the festival will be showing the finalist’s films.
From 3 to 4 p.m. the festival will present a Q and A panel with animation industry creators including “CatDog” creator Peter Hannan, Martin Olson from “Adventure Time” and “Phineas and Ferb,” Gene Grillo writer for “Jimmy Neutron,” “Johnny Bravo” and “Kung Fu Panda.” Tom Kenny the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants and Jonathan Katz will also be there via Zoom.
The animation award ceremony will take place between 4 and 5 p.m.
Admission to the festival is $5. Admission to the Bobcat Goldthwait show is $20.
Learn more about the festival at DuckAndRedOctopus.com. Learn more about Ake Gallery at AkeGallery.com.
