Game Developers Conference organizers are delighted to announce the films selected to be part of the 2019 GDC Film Festival, one of the only narrative film fests focused on the art and culture of video games!
The 2nd Annual GDC Film Festival will take place at the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts' Screening Room - directly adjacent to the Moscone Center - from Monday, March 18th to Wednesday, March 20th during GDC 2019.
Sponsored by Steam for the second year running, all screenings will be open to all GDC 2019 pass holders on a first-come, first-served basis. Across the three days a wide range of documentaries and other filmed material based around the video game medium will be screened, some for the very first time!
The Festival will include onstage Q&As with film-makers, and game producer/designer and journalist Mathew Kumar (Sound Shapes, Indivisible) will be MC-ing the festival and co-programming the featured films.
Without further ado, here's a look at the selected films! Please note that all showtimes are Pacific Standard.
Monday, March 18th
2:10 PM
Title: We are alright
Directed by: Borys Nieśpielak
After quitting their corporate jobs, Bartek and Rafal decided to create their first video game (Lichtspeer). The movie follows them throughout the last few months of working on the project. You’ll be able to witness their struggle to publish the game on PlayStation, the emotions of people associated with the game’s launch, and finally, Rafal’s and Bartek’s attempts to break into the consciousness of YouTube stars and the industry press.
4:40 PM
Title: Ebb and Flow
Directed by: Archipel
Game creators Katsura Hashino (Persona 5), Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez: Infinite), Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza 6), Koshi Nakanishi (Resident Evil 7), Yuya Tokuda (Monster Hunter: World), Keiichiro Toyama (Gravity Rush 2), Fumihiko Yasuda (Nioh), Yoko Taro (NieR: Automata), in addition to 8-4's John Ricciardi share their views on the quick succession of critically acclaimed Japanese games that started in 2016 and on the state of the Japanese game industry.
Title: toco toco - Akira “Akiman” Yasuda, Illustrator
Directed by: Archipel
Known as the father of Chun-Li or Guile, Akira 'Akiman' Yasuda is an illustrator and character designer, who stands on a 30-year long career in the game and animation industry, then as a freelance illustrator. We dive into his career at Capcom, from the Street Fighter series, Final Fight or Darkstalkers, among other classics, up until the first days of the Red Dead franchise.
This short documentary was made as part of the toco toco series, named after the sound of footsteps in Japanese, following Japanese artists to the places that inspire them.
7:30 PM
Title: Playing Hard
Directed by: Jean-Simon Chartier
Inside the world’s biggest video game studio Ubisoft, a constantly growing team works on the creation of For Honor, a game that stages an epic war between Vikings, knights and samurai. Like the game’s characters, the main creators will face adversity that will highly impact their personal lives, up to the breaking point. With access like never before, Playing Hard shows why the fastest growing entertainment industry is more than just a game.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
2:10 PM
Title: Hours Played (World premiere!)
Directed by: Duncan Robson
This is your chance to see, for the first time anywhere, an hour-long preview of a planned 24-hour supercut of video game timepieces. Shown in sync with the actual time. Inspired by Christian Marclay's The Clock.
4:40 PM
Title: Unforeseen Consequences: Uncovering the Legacy of Half-Life
Directed by: Noclip
What happens when one of the most revolutionary series in video games suddenly goes dark? To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Noclip hits the road to investigate the legacy of Half-Life and the incredible community working to keep the dream alive.
7:30 PM
Title: Gamechangers: Dreams of Blizzcon
Directed by: John Keating
Gamechangers: Dreams of Blizzcon enters the unexplored realm of professional esports as told through the eyes of two of the world’s best StarCraft II players. Together with striking visuals and a mesmerizing original score, go behind the scenes and experience the high pressure, high stakes lifestyle of professional esports.
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
2:00 PM
Title: The Name of the Game
Directed by: Paul J. Vogel & Jarno Elonen
The Name of the Game follows the team up between the legendary arcade game designer, Eugene Jarvis, and the Finnish game developer, Housemarque on their three-year struggle to create a spiritual successor to Eugene's smash hit from the '80s, Robotron.
4:40 PM
Title: The Artists: The Untold Stories of the Pioneers Behind the Pixels
Directed by: Peter Mishara
"The Artists"is a deep-dive documentary into the first three decades of video game history through the lens of the designers, developers and programmers that lay the groundwork to redefine pop culture as we know it. The doc approaches specific games from this era as one would explore a seminal film.
For a massive audience, video games are films of the 21st century, their primary source for storytelling. How did that happen? An energetic, entertaining account of this stunning artistic and business success story, "The Artists" is the saga of how the games from these pixel pioneers became such an influential cultural force.
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