3 The Waterloo Festival is thrilled to announce the lineup of the 2009 edition of the only film festival in the world dedicated to feature animation. The lineup includes a number of thrilling discoveries and major motion pictures from around the world making their first appearance in North America, in glorious 35mm and HD on the silver screen. **Art film lovers** will be thrilled by a selection of hidden gems in the World Cinema programme, beginning with the 2009 Annecy _Cristal_ Grand Prix-winning _Mary and Max_, about two unlikely penpal friends from two different continents, one blossoming into adulthood as the other crosses into the winter days of his life. Art film lovers will also enjoy the 2009 Retrospectives programme, where our journey through the history of animation takes us to the storied past of the U.S.S.R., with very rare screenings of films from as early as 1941 by Russian animation masters working behind the Iron Curtain: _Laughter and Grief by the White Sea_, _The Little Tiger on the Sunflower_, _The Lost Letter_, _The Stolen Sun_, _The Elephant and the Pug_, and _The Cat Who Walked by Herself_. **For kids young and old**, we have several extraordinary films, including the Irish adventure _Brendan and the Secret of Kells_, a stunning adventure about a young boy who must join forces with an unlikely ally to help a group of monks complete the Book of Kells and save their abbey from invading Vikings; the Russian children's sci-fi _Alisa's Birthday_, about a young girl whose destiny lies in the past; and _Fedot the Hunter_, whom is ordered by his Czar to accomplish increasingly unbelievable tasks so that the Czar might steal Fedot's beautiful new bride. **Fans of films after dark**... real dark... will be thrilled by _Boogie, el aceitoso_ from Argentina, adapted from the long-running popular comic by Fontanarrosa, about a mysogynistic, sadistic assassin who follows only his own rules in a dark immoral world; _Panique au Village_, an adult stop-motion animated Toy Story on LSD; and _L.A. Dolce Vita_, a film about the pursuit of the American Dream, by the Emmy Award-winning creator of _The Simpsons_. Last but definitely not least, **anime fans** will be treated to the spectacle of several films making their premiere screenings at the Waterloo Festival: _First Squad: the Moment of Truth_, a Canadian-Japanese-Russian coproduction by Studio 4C, the auteur studio responsible for incredible films such as _Genius Party_ and _Mind Game_ featured at previous Waterloo Festivals; _Musashi: the Dream of the Last Samurai_, a biopic from the master Mamoru Oshii _(Ghost In The Shell)_ that explores the life of the legendary Japanese swordsman who was never defeated in combat, and who penned the masterpiece on military strategy named _The Book of Five Rings_; and _Evangelion 2.0: You Shall (Not) Advance_, the continuation of the epic saga that began at the Waterloo Festival in 2008. The complete "festival schedule and film guide":http://www.wfac.ca/films (the Films tab on this page) is online, where you can find trailers, images and film details on each individual film, and to purchase tickets at our online box office. We hope to see you November 19-22 for four days of incredible cinema at the Gig Theatre! 2009-10-22T19:05:30-04:00 8 2009 Festival lineup announced! 2009-11-01T18:24:36-05:00