Directing these festival titles during the first lockdown when we were all just getting used to this new reality meant director Erwin van den IJssel had to think outside the box. Van den IJssel found that, although we were all practicising social isolation, there was also a spirit of collaboration and solidarity in the air, and he wanted to reflect this in the titles.
After designing the animation, each frame printed and sliced into individual parts, before being packaged and sent to members of The Panics. Directing at a distance worked a charm, and with just three weeks, 962 pages, 3848 edges cut, 22 participants, 8 ink cartridges, and 3 paper cuts, the titles were delivered.
Playgrounds, the festival for cutting edge visual artists, moved online after it became clear social distancing restrictions would make a physical event impossible. Their first online event was held on April 16th 2020.