Get Animated!

Still from Belgian entry, Boomkuijper © Kaze

Still from Belgian entry, Boomkuijper © Kaze

The Anima International Animated Film Festival
12 – 20 Feb, Flagey

This festival has something for people of all ages.Anima is first and foremost an international competition for animated features made during the previous 18 months. Ten features, 5 for children and 5 for adults, have been selected and will be chosen by the public. There are two competitions for short films, one national the other international, along with the rest of the selection of sneak preview shorts offering 128 short films in all.

Screenings concentrating on a particular subject will give everyone the chance to discover or rediscover both dark and comic sides of animation, with programmes like Humour and Fresh Bones (guaranteed to cause a shiver), Acides Animés showing off the young generation with films from the innovating Autour de minuit production company, and all the films of Adam Elliot (Mary and Max). Another programme spotlights the work of French director Florence Miailhe, there’s a focus on Greek animation from the 40s to the present, and the Canadian documentary A Thorn in the Mind, where masters of animation like Pjotr Sapejin, Georges Schwizgebel or Raoul Servais talk about their art. Mr Servais will also be in attendance this year for the DVD release of his feature Taxandria, co-produced by Cinéart and Folioscope.

The afternoons are set aside for the kids at Anima with programmes of new shorts and features including Kurt Turns Evil, The Bear and the Magician and Panda Go Panda. There will be workshops too, in collaboration with the ABC association, and the Animatins will give a wide audience the opportunity to enjoy the Festival.There’s also a very Animated Night at Anima (from 10 pm to 4 in the morning), a special VJ party with the Meaksuma collective, the Open Screenings, for all out of competition Belgian filmmakers, conferences with international guests… In short, enough to give the eyes a real treat from ten in the morning till midnight, every single day!

As well as this rich programme, Anima is also offering free access to its exhibitions, its children’s workshops (an ABC production), numerous concerts and for the second year running a big Cosplay competition organized by the Belgian Cosplay Team.

More information: www.animatv.be

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