North of Blue
“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
“An utterly absorbing abstract feature inspired by the mysterious far north Canadian winter landscapes.” -Melbourne International Animation Festival
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Joanna PriestleyDirector“The queen of independent animation!" -Justin Johnson, British Film Institute
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Joanna PriestleyProducer
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Jamie HaggertySound Designer
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Jamie HaggertyMusic Composer
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Brian KinkleyPaint effects and title design
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Chris BarberAdditional Sound Effects
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Neisje Morrell and Don FloresAssistant Animators
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Rachel Bradley, Jesse Bray, Gabe Mangold and Dui OrayAnimation Assistants
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Project Type:Animation, Experimental, Feature
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Genres:Trance
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Runtime:1 hour 7 seconds
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Completion Date:June 1, 2018
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Production Budget:19,400 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Annecy International Animation FestivalAnnecy
France
June 11, 2018
World Premiere
Official Selection -
Melbourne Internatonal Animation FestivalMelbourne
Australia
June 17, 2018
Australian Premiere
Official Competition -
Palm Springs International Animation FestivalPalm Springs, CA
United States
August 25, 2018
North American Premiere
Official Competition -
International Animated Film Festival ANIMATORPoznan
Poland
July 9, 2018
Polish Premiere
Official Selection -
Insomnia International Animation Film FestivalMoscow
Russian Federation
June 15, 2018
Russian Premiere
Official Selection -
Australian International Animation FestivalBrisbane
Australia
August 4, 2018
Official Competition -
Ottawa International Animation FestivalOttawa
Canada
September 28, 2018
Canadian Premiere
Official Competition -
Pixelatl FestivalCuernavaca
Mexico
September 6, 2018
Mexican Premiere
Official Selection -
Buenos Aires International Independent Film FestivalBuenos Aires
Argentina
April 15, 2019
South American Premiere
Official Competition -
Local Sightings Film FestivalSeattle, WA
United States
September 22, 2018
Washington Premiere
Best Sound Design Award and Best Composer Award -
Anim’Est International Animation FestivalBucharest
Romania
September 30, 2018
Romanian Premiere
Official Competition -
AnimaSyros International Animation Festival + AgoraAthens
Greece
September 28, 2018
Greek Premiere
Official Competition -
ANIMAGE International Animation FestivalPernambuco
Brazil
October 16, 2018
Brazilian Premiere
Official Competition -
SPARK Animation 2018Vancouver
Canada
October 18, 2018
Official Competition -
Australian International Animation FestivalCairns, Queensland
Australia
August 16, 2018
Official Competition -
Northwest Filmmakers’ FestivalPortland, Oregon
United States
November 3, 2018
Oregon Premiere
Official Competition -
Los Angeles CineFestLos Angeles, CA
United States
January 19, 2019
Semi-finalist -
ReAnimania Int. Animation Film & Comics Art FestivalYerevan
Armenia
October 31, 2018
Armenian Premiere
Official Competition -
Los Angeles Animation FestivalLos Angeles
United States
December 1, 2018
Best Feature Film -
Moscow Animation Marathon, Solyanka State GalleryMoscow
Russian Federation
November 8, 2018
Russian Premiere
Official Selection -
Yosemite International Film FestivalYosemite, CA
United States
November 2, 2018
Best Animated Film Award -
Animae Caribe Animation and Digital Arts FestivalPort of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago
November 22, 2018
Carribbean Premiere
Official Competition -
VOID International Animation Film FestivalCopenhagen
Denmark
January 30, 2019
Denmark Premiere
Official Competition -
Mostra Internacional Films des Donas de BarcelonaBarcelona
Spain
December 10, 2018
Official Competition -
Athens International Film and Video FestivalAthens, Ohio
United States
April 3, 2019
Ohio Premiere
Official Competition -
Xcèntric FestivalBarcelona
Spain
April 4, 2019
Official Selection -
Buenos Aires International Independent Film FestivalBuenos Aires
Argentina
April 12, 2019
Argentina Premiere
Official Competition -
Stockholm Experimental Animation Film FestivalStockholm
Sweden
April 29, 2019
Sweden Premiere
Official Competition -
CHILEMONOS International Animation FestivalSantiago
Chile
May 8, 2019
Chile Premiere
Official Selection -
Fantoche International Animation FestivalBaden
Switzerland
September 3, 2019
Switzerland Premiere
Official Competition -
IndieCork Film FestivalCork
Ireland
October 13, 2019
Ireland Premiere
Official Competition -
Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival (Baltimore, MD, USA) 10-19-19Baltimore, MD
United States
October 19, 2019
Maryland Premiere
Official Selection
Distribution Information
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Priestley Motion PicturesCountry: WorldwideRights: All Rights
Joanna Priestley has directed, animated and produced an abstract animated feature, North of Blue, 27 award winning short films and an iOS app. Her work maintains a high level of porosity between serious exploration of boundaries and intuitive whimsy and she is dedicated to experimentation in technique, theme and content. Priestley has had retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw, Poland), American Cinematheque (Los Angeles, CA), Hiroshima Animation Festival (Japan), Jenju International Film Festival (Korea) and Stuttgart Animation Festival (Germany) and she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Film Institute, the MacDowell Colony, Fundación Valparaíso and Creative Capital. Priestley was founding president of ASIFA Northwest and has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1992, where she annually juries the Student Academy Awards and the Nicholl Screenplay Fellowships. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, director/production designer Paul Harrod, and two cats.
"She's the queen of independent animation." -Bill Plympton
North of Blue began when I was invited to be filmmaker-in-residence for a winter month at the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, near the Arctic Circle. I photographed the environment and began animating snow, ice, braided rivers, spindly trees and crows. I layered images and experimented with using photographic backgrounds under the hand drawn animation. As the project developed into a feature, I pared down the animation to abstract lines and shapes, and, to develop the structure, created groups of scenes with with touchstone elements like simple blue balls and totemic sculptural aggregations. The palette was influenced by the grid paintings of Piet Mondrian: blue, red, white and black with yellow and green accents. North of Blue is anchored with evocative music and sound design by Jamie Haggerty and elegant compositing and paint effects by Brian Kinkley.