FAO 2023
FAO 2023
Leaning into 100% in-person programming this year, the festival felt back in full swing for 2023. Festival goers were able to see everything from international imaginations of ici ou (pas) lá by Label Brut, to their own homegrown heroes at the Dolly Wiggler. It has been an unforgettable year.
With over 120 artists, 40 hours of shows and 1500 tickets sold, our puppet and masks experts declared the festival a success.
International Feature
ici ou (pas) lá by Label Brut
A wordless performance exploring transformation and acceptance of the growing and changing human body.
Incubator Series
DOT from the OKO
The Stories We Write Right by Jen Bain
One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Juanita Dawn
Frankenstein by Andrew G. Cooper
Community Shows
The Kitty Cabaret feat. Peter and the Wolf + Mask Tales
The Dolly Wiggler Cabaret
SCPA Student Showcase
Screenings
Animovies curated by Loretta Simeon + Windchasers created by the Calgary Puppet Collective
Short + Sweet Pack and The NeverEnding Story at the Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre
Exhibits
Active Mythologies: Masks and Personal Narratives curated by Claudia Chagoya and Tia DeLauria
Retrospect photography exhibition by Sean Dennie
And more!
Blackfoot Language Learning Animations
Affirmation Puppet Building Workshop with WP Puppet Theatre
Wunderbriefs performances pre- and post-show
As Seen In
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As Seen In •
Avenue Magazine - Check Out This Festival Celebrating All Things Puppetry
Calgary Herald - Hobson's Choice: Community theatres tackle harsh reality and wild fantasy
CBC Calgary - Teacher's dream of Blackfoot language 'Sesame Street' inspires art exhibit
CBC Homestretch - Blackfoot Cartoons
CTV Calgary - Frankenstein is back, this time with puppets.
CTV Calgary - 'It is a medium' is the message: Animators, puppeteers celebrated at Festival of Animated Objects
Global TV - Calgary artists ‘enriching the cultural landscape’ with mask exhibit
Lethbridge News Now - Blackfoot language project to be screened at Calgary’s Festival of Animated Objects
Live Wire Calgary - Frankenstein production uses masks, puppetry to draw audience closer to original Gothic novel
"By making my own mask mask, it is a way of reconnecting with that culture, and keeping it alive here in Calgary."
— Daniela Szeoke on Global News
“That’d be nice to see them all speaking in Blackfoot. I know [animation] will attract the students. And then they’d know that’s who they are. That’s their identity, I really stress that.”
— Celestine Twigg on The Homestretch
“Puppetry, animation, mask arts, they seem to really resonate with children, but it is a medium. It is not a genre … You can create some really deep, heavy, thought-provoking work with puppets and masks.…”