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Current Project

Current Project

2025, 2D computer animation

In March 2020, Joanna was very lucky to be selected as an artist in residence at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology (Otis, Oregon, USA), where she started working on a new animated film. During the three years of pandemic, there was a lot of wild and sometimes muddled experimentation. The film changed course dramatically multiple times and some of that work will not make it to the screen. Joanna finally hit her stride in autumn 2023 and now it looks like a film will actually get made. Huzzah! Please check back here for updates on her progress.

Jung & Restless

Jung & Restless

2022, 06'06", 2D computer animation, DCP, digital file, 16:9, Dolby Digital

Jung & Restless dives into the mythopoetic realm with mandalas and dream inspired images that grasp at enigma. It invokes the oddity and magic of dreaming. Jung & Restless began while I was working with a senior Jungian analyst and stopped dreaming. I started animating short free form experiments, working intuitively without reflection, scrutiny or planning. A decade later I created a film from this material, incorporating mandalas of dream images and classic Jungian symbols. “The soul knows bigger stories.” -C.G. Jung

Credits: Directed, produced and animated by Joanna Priestley. Music composed and produced by Seth Norman. Sound design and sound effects by Chris Barber. Compositing and effects by Brian Kinkley. Thanks: Martha Blake and Paul Harrod. Supported by the Playa Foundation, Ford Family Foundation and Clatter and Din.

Awards
Los Angeles Animation Festival: Silver Award for Experimental (CA, USA)
Reykjavik Independent Film Festival: Best Sound Design (Iceland)
Click for Festivals: Short of the Year Finalist (Madrid, Spain)
Fresh Stream Experimental Film Festival: Audience Award (Los Angeles, CA)
Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival: Nominated for Best Short - Animation (Spain)
Maracay International Film and Video Festival: Nominee for Best Animation (Venezuela)
ANIMAFILM Intl. Animation Festival: Nominee for Best Short Experimental Film (Baku, Azerbaijan)
McMinnville Short Film Festival: Nominee for Will Vinton Award for Best Animation (OR, USA)
Eastern Oregon Film Festival: Nominee for Best Short (LaGrande, OR, USA)
International World Photography Awards: Nominee for Best Animation (Slovakia)
Arizona Short Film Festival: Nominee for Award (Tempe, Arizona, USA)
USA Film Festival: Finalist (Dallas, TX, USA)
Lisbon Film Rendezvous: Finalist (Portugal)
Accordi @ Disaccordi International Short Film Festival: Finalist (Naples, Italy)
Deep Focus Film Festival: Honorable Mention (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
American Film Institute Festival: Semi-Finalist (Los Angeles. CA, USA)
Australia International Film Festival: Semi-Finalist (Brisbane, Australia)

Festivals
Annecy International Animation Festival (World Premiere, France)
Stuttgart International Animation Festival (Germany)
Fantoche International Animation Festival (Switzerland)
Melbourne International Animation Festival (Masters of Animation Program, Australia)
Insomnia International Animation Film Festival (Moscow, Russia)
ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner (France)
London International Animation Festival (UK)
Wiesbaden International Animation Festival (Best of International Animation, Germany)
Walla Walla Movie Crush (WA, USA)
Trujillo International Film Festival (Trujillo, Peru)
Tamil Nadu Film Festival (Chennai, India)
Tibilsi International Animation Festival (Tibilsi, Georgia)
Indie for You Film Festival (Phoenix, AZ, USA)
Santa Cruz International Film Festival (Río Gallegos, Argentina)
T-Short Animated Film Festival (Experimental/Abstract Competition, Germany)
Festival Internacional FESCILMAR (Katowice, Poland)
Eastern Oregon Film Festival (LaGrande, OR, USA)
ANIMARIO Madrid International Festival of Contemporary Animation (Spain)
Fredrikstad Animation Festival (Norway)
Big Cartoon Festival (Moscow, Russia)
FESCILMAR Festival in Spain (Madrid)
Veracruz Short Film Festival (Guanajuato, Mexico)
The Unprecedented Cinema International Festival of Short Film (Tallinn, Estonia)
GIRAF Festival of Independent Animation (Calgary, AL, Canada)
Goa Short Film Festival (India)
Bahia Independent Cinema Festival (Salvador, Brazil)
Coven Film Festival (San Francisco, CA, USA)
McMinnville Short Film Festival (OR, USA)
Kalpanirjhar International Short Fiction Film Festival (Kolkata, India)
Animaevka International Festival Animated Films (Mogilev, Belarus)
Spokane Film Festival (WA, USA)
NAFF International Animated Film Festival (Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Castle Film Festival (Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic)
Oxford Film Festival (MS, USA)
Kerala Short Film Festival (Thiruvananthapuram, India)
MONSTRA - Lisboa Animation Festival (Lisbon, Portugal)
Yellowstone International Film Festival (Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Dawson City International Short Film Festival (Yukon, Canada)
World Independent Cinema Awards (New York City, NY, USA)
Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Žilina, Slovakia)
White Nights Film Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia)
We Like ‘Em Short (Baker City, OR, USA)
BUEIFF ProChannel International Competition (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
KINAM International Festival of Different Cinema (Mexico)
International World Photography Awards (New York, NY, USA)
Charlotte Film Festival (NC, USA)
SPARK Animation 2022: “Mothers of an Artform” (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Encuentro Para Cinéfagos Festival de Cine-Arte en la Frontera (San Cristobal, Venezuela)
West Bengal Short Film Festival (West Bengal, India)
Himachal Short Film Festival (Himachal Pradesh, India)
Festival de Cine de Bogota (Colombia)
Aguilar Film Festival (Aguilar de Campo, Spain)
PequeFilmes International Children Film Festival of Galicia (Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
Alibag Short FIlm Festival (Alibag, India)
Cascadia International Women's Film Festival (Bellingham, WA, USA)
Barcelona Indie Awards (Spain)
Buenos Aires Indie Shorts Award (Argentina)
Pune Short Film Festival (Pune, India)
Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation and Technology (OR, USA)
Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival (Baltimore, MD, USA)
Festival Cartón (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Screenings
The Art of Burning Man, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Portland, OR USA) 11–23-23
The Art of Burning Man, OMSI (Portland, OR USA) 4-20-24
Portland Festival of Film, Animation & Technology, OMSI (Portland, OR USA) 8-23-18
Ashland Independent Film Festival (Ashland, OR, USA) 10-6-24

North of Blue

North of Blue

2018, 60:07, 2D computer animation, DCP, digital file, 16:9, Dolby Digital

“Inspired by the chilling and mysterious winter landscapes of the Yukon, North of Blue is a mesmerizing non-narrative exploration giving form to the formless and offering shifting focal points and patterns that explore tensions between the recognizable and the strange. Bursting with lively colours and dynamic shapes, North of Blue is abstract art come to life. Conventional silhouettes are deconstructed, stripping away meanings and associations to free the mind for a wildly subjective visit to the north. A dreamlike façade, North of Blue is a stunning symphony which speaks to the explorer in us all.” -Chris Robinson, Ottawa International Animation Festival

Credits: Directed, produced, animated and designed by Joanna Priestley. Sound designed and music composed by Jamie Haggerty. Compositing and paint effects by Brian Kinkley. Additional sound effects by Chris Barber. Edited by Greg Snider and Joanna Priestley. Assistant Animators: Neisje Morrell and Don Flores. Animation Assistants: Rachel Bradley, Jesse Bray, Gabe Mangold and Dui Oray. Supported by the Klondike Institute for Art and Culture, Caldera Foundation and Willapa Bay A.I.R.

"North of Blue" is pure creativity. It shows that the ingenuity of the imagination has no limits.” -Rodolfo Montserrat, Xcèntric Barcelona

“An utterly absorbing abstract feature inspired by the mysterious far north Canadian winter landscapes.” -Melbourne International Animation Festival

Awards
Indie Film Awards: Best Experimental Film (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 3-1-20
Los Angeles Animation Festival: Best Feature Film (CA, USA) 12-1-18
Yosemite International Film Festival: Best Animated Film (CA, USA) 11-2-18
Local Sightings Film Festival: Best Sound Design Award and Best Feature Original Score Award, NW Film Forum (Seattle, WA, USA) 9-23-18
European International Film Festival: Finalist (Saint Petersburg, Russia) 5-15-19
Los Angeles CineFest: Semi-finalist (CA, USA) 1-19
Online Monthly: Semi-Finalist

Festivals
Annecy International Animation Festival (World Premiere, France) 6-11+12 +14-18
Melbourne International Animation Festival (Australia) 6-17-18
International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR (Poznan, Poland) 7-6 to 20-18
Palm Springs International Animation Festival (USA) 8-25-18
Insomnia Animation Festival (Russia) 7-19-8
Australian International Animation Festival (Brisbane) 8-4-18
Pixelatl Festival (Cuernavaca, Mexico) 9-4 to 9-18
Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada) 9-27+29-18
Anim’Est International Animation Festival (Bucharest, Romania) 9-28 to 10-7-18
Australian International Animation Festival (Cairns, Queensland) 8-16-18
AnimaSyros International Animation Festival + Agora (Athens, Greece) 9-28-18
ANIMAGE International Animation Festival (Pernambuco, Brasil) 10-12 to 21-18
SPARK Animation 2018 (Vancouver, Canada) 10-18-18
Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival (Portland, OR, USA) 10-31 to 11-5-18
Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (Argentina) 4-3 to 14-19
Moscow Animation Marathon Solyanka State Gallery (Moscow, Russia) 11-1 to 5-18
Mostra Internacional Films des Donas de Barcelona (Spain) 12-10-18
VOID International Animation Film Festival (Copenhagen, Denmark) 1-30-19
Xcèntric Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (Spain) 4-4-19
Athens International Film and Video Festival (OH, USA) 4-3-19
Stockholm Experimental Animation Film Festival (Sweden) 4-29-19
Square One Conference, Universidad Iberoamericana (Puebla, Mexico) 4-11-19
Chilemonos International Animation Festival (Santiago, Chile) 5-10-19
FILMNORTH Northern BC Film Festival (Houston, BC, Canada) 7-27-19
We Like 'Em Short Film Festival (Baker City, OR, USA) 8-18-19
Fantoche International Animation Festival (Baden, Switzerland) 9-19-19
Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival (Baltimore, MD) 10-4-19
IndieCork Film Festival (Cork, Ireland) 10-13-19
Taichung International Animation Festival (Taichung City, Taiwan) 10-15-19
Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival (Spain) 12-13-19
Santa Cruz International Film Festival (Argentina) 4-18-20
Jaipur Film World (India) 4-25-20
Comotion Festival, Stadtgalerie und Heimatmuseum Brunsbüttel (Germany) 11-21
Mallu Film Market (India) 3-22

Screenings
Stuttgart International Animation Festival (work-in-progress, Germany) 5-3-17
Hollywood Theatre (Portland, OR, USA) 9-21-17
Frame by Frame Conference, DePaul University (Chicago, IL, USA) 5-25-18
Cinémathèque québécoise (Montréal, Canada) 10-2-18
Cineteca nacional (Mexico City, Mexico) 4-16-19
Universidad Santo Tomás (Santiago, Chile) 5-9-19
Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, MD, USA) 10-3-19
Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City, Mexico)
Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, MD)
Ashland Independent Film Festival (Ashland, OR, USA) 10-5-24 and 10-6-24
Ashland Independent Film Festival (Ashland, OR, USA) 10-2-24 and 10-6-24

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