“Pilots on the way Home”, an animation by Priit and Olga Pärn, took home a grand prix prize from the Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2014, held in Norway.
The film, made in collaboration between the National Film Board of Canada and Eesti Joonisfilm (Estonian Animation), depicts the journey of three pilots, who, having suffered the loss of their plane, inexplicably find themselves stranded in the middle of a desert. While following the perilous and unpredictable course that will ultimately lead them home, they fall prey to visions and must confront the siren call of their own strange fantasies.
The Fredrikstad Animation Festival is the oldest and largest animation festival in the Nordic region. The festival is also one of the nine animation film festivals which nominate films for the prestigious European animation award Cartoon d’Or.
Priit Pärn, a former plant ecologist, is the most prominent Estonian cartoonist and animation director whose films have enjoyed success among critics as well as the public at various film festivals around the world. He started his career in 1974.
Pärn’s style is characterised by dark humour, playful surrealism and a unique graphic style. Numerous Estonian animation makers have followed his footsteps and taken inspiration from his style.
