Anima 2023 – From COVID to the World of Tomorrow
After two years of tumultuous editions, Anima finally greeted back its faithful audience in a fully fledged edition. But the aficionados of Anima were not alone in the screenings rooms, not anymore.
© Gilles Moins / Anima Festival
And maybe that’s one of the most impressive feats accomplished by the team. For a festival that’s been happening since 1984, it’s quite a challenge to renew your audience, yet a necessary one. Of course, professionals from all around Belgium come back every year, and students flood the halls of the old Flagey building, the legendary heart of the festival. But the Covid crisis changed the way families and children consume animation, as well as international travellers. Some are coming back, some aren’t. And there’s not much to do about it, except go on with the show, and the pancakes. Because who doesn’t love a good pancake at Anima?
Anima location, Flagey © Gilles Moins / Anima Festival
Despite this rather gloomy statement, the halls of Anima were crowded, from Day one to Day ten of this major Belgian event. Under the management of Dominique Seutin and Karin Vandenrydt, the two festival Directors for whom it’s the first regular edition, the team is striving towards new goals of diversity and ecology. And we have witnessed their success this year, without any doubt.
The two directors – Dominique Seutin and Karin Vandenrydt – with host Stephanie Coerten. © Gilles Moins / Anima Festival
As part of this effort to bring more diversity in the animation world, Futuranima hosted the second in-depth roundtable about inclusivity in storytelling, putting forward writers such as Brooklyn-based Latvian director Signe Baumane (My Love Affair with Marriage), Norwegian director Mats Grorud (The Tower) and Belgian director Ada Güvenir (As if it Could). To tell a story is indeed one thing. To truly understand the dynamics, challenges and reality of the people you are portraying is a totally different thing, and this not-so-thin line is what makes a project worth your while.
Tell your own story could also have been a great tagline for the Queer stories program, a night that became one of the major events this year at Anima. Hundreds gathered for the second year in a row to enjoy the amazing drag show provided by none other than Cabaret Mademoiselle, one of the oldest Drag Queen Cabaret in town. Along with a tastefully curated selection of LGBTQIA+ films, from horny snails to troublesome plummery, including the Sundance nominated Christopher at Sea by Tom CJ Brown. And as animation evolves slowly but surely towards more diversity, Anima’s team curated yet another special program around women directors under the banner of Oscar-nominated My Year of Dicks. A sold-out screening, one of the 44 of this crowded edition. More than just a trendy topic, those screenings brought new crowds to the festival, creating a safe space for discovery and sharing. Many of the faces seen in the audience had not been at Anima before, but they’ll certainly come back next year, bringing along new animation-lovers, from every corner of Brussels, Belgium and beyond. These new experiences, along with the now-traditional VR selection, and Temple Caché’s gorgeous AR exhibition, suggest one thing: Animation still is both a crowd-gatherer medium and a powerful innovation lab, opening to more and more genres and topics, with infinite possibilities.
Queer night at Anima 2023. © Gilles Moins / Anima Festival
Wandering the halls of Flagey, you could already witness this future happening. A bright and diverse future made of children running around before their screening, of new animation-lovers, and of students gathering to meet great talents such as Joanna Quinn or Jim Capobianco. Two magnificent artists, both in their own way but equally humble, who shared their knowledge in two impressive master classes. Animation at Anima has that kind of energy that manages not only to drive people forward, but also while preserving their past, with deeply emotional moments such as Alain Ughetto’s stop motion wonder No Dogs or Italians Allowed (Interdit aux Chiens et aux Italiens). A tale for the ages, told by the simple and yet wonderful voice of Alain Ughetto’s grandmother Cesira, as she would have lived it. A beautiful token of appreciation to all those who ever felt out of place, suffered racism but kept on going, echoing the main themes of this delightful edition of Anima. This year’s edition was a truly delightful experience, surely both for the guests, the team and the public.
Puppets from Alain Ughetto’s “interdit aux chiens et aux italiens”. © Gilles Moins / Anima Festival
And as always, smiles seem to have been the fuel that powers everything here. Smiles, pancakes, incredible discoveries, and of course the occasional Belgian beer in the evening. Who wouldn’t want that kind of future? On my part, I’ll see you there next year, that’s for sure!