10 Reasons to Visit the Manchester Animation Festival 2017
With just under one month until the third edition of the Manchester Animation Festival gets under way, we thought we would bring you the 10 best reasons why you should get yourself a pass and check out one of the leading animation festivals.
- The European Premiere of Don Hertzfeldts new film “World of Tomorrow Episode Two“ will be showing on the opening evening. The highly anticipated follow-up to “World of Tomorrow” finds Emily Prime swept inside the brain of an incomplete back-up clone of her future self, who’s on a mission to reboot her broken mind.
- Cartoon Saloon’s new film “The Breadwinner” will be screened alongside a Q&A masterclass by Technical Director Mark Mullery, who will give a behind the scenes look at the making of the film. “The Breadwinner tells the story of Parvana, an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.“
- Creating Worlds at Aardman will offer an insight into Aardman’s creative process, and looks at how the sets, puppets and performance help create some of the studio’s most iconic characters and shorts. Taking a break from Nick Park’s ‘Early Man’, animator and director Will Becher will be sharing all with the audience.
- There will be a special discussion on the all important issue Brexit and the future of British Animation. What does Brexit mean for the animation sector? The future of the animation sector will be investigated by industry experts including Helen Brunsdon, Agnieszka Moody and Marcus Kenyon.
- A Nexus Masterclass. Innovative animation studio Nexus reveal their inner working and uncover how they create engaging stories that go hand in hand with craft and ingenuity. Claire Cook, Senior Producer and Curator for film and interactive projects at Nexus will be with us to speak about interactive storytelling
- The Skwigly Quiz is back! Join our very own Steve Henderson and Ben Mitchell as they invite you to test your animation knowledge and pit your wits against fellow festival goers in a fiendishly fun Animation Quiz. There are fabulous prizes to be won!
- The world’s first fully painted feature film, Loving Vincent, which uses 65,000 hand painted oil paintings to tell the mysterious circumstances around Vincent Van Goghs death, will be screened alongside a Q&A masterclass with directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman.
- Get inspired by some amazing short, commissioned and student films. This year there are 108 films in competition, spread across a number of programmes. Each winning film will be presented with a coveted Mackinnon and Saunders crafted award during the Awards Ceremony, presented by Barry Purves.
- The Fellowship Award will this year be going to Josh Weinstein – who has spent his career putting words into the mouths of some of televisions most beloved characters, having worked on The Simpsons, Futurama, Gravity Falls, and the new Danger Mouse. He joins MAF for a look back at his incredible career.
- There will be a number of fantastic networking opportunities to mingle and meet you animation heros, chat about animation and share a beer with old and new friends. This year MAF will host North West-ivus – a twist on the popular animation gathering in London, festivus.
The festival takes place between 14th – 16th November, at Manchester’s HOME venue. You can buy full festival passes or single day passes here – but hurry up, as these are selling fast. If you are looking for places to stay during the festival, you can try the official hotel, Jurys Inn Manchester, or the Premier Inn (Deansgate Locks) – both of which are a stones throw from the festival venue.
The Skwigly team look forward to seeing you there!