Anima: Review of the Totally Online Festival 2021
Skwigly
Anima, the Brussels International Animation Festival, offered its festival goers a totally online edition on the Anima Online platform from Friday 12 to 21 February. With a content of some 276 videos available, Anima attracted nearly 6,000 users and exceeded 130,000 streams. The entire Festival team is happy to share these excellent figures for the Anima Online platform.
This totally online fortieth edition was able to promote animation even more widely by reaching new audiences. This can be seen through the increase in the Flemish public (especially in Ghent and Antwerp), people in rural areas, families with small children and all those unable to make the trip to Brussels or other decentralized sites.
The Festival public was able to bypass the barriers of social distancing and go further in discovering the programme on the online platform, with affordable package deals giving viewers the opportunity to venture into the diverse content on offer. However, even though festival goers have clearly shown they would like to keep a platform for all the reasons mentioned above, the Anima public is still very eager to come back into the theatres and find the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the Festival.
Results are also positive as far as the Anima team is concerned, with a successful transition to 100% digital and many lessons learned along the way. This compulsory move has enabled the organizers to take a technological leap forward and no longer fear any challenges that may present themselves in the future.
We are so looking forward to presenting our programme in theatres, promoting meetings and sharing ‘in person’. We are already thinking about organizing special screenings once theatres are open!
Festival directors, Dominique Seutin and Karin Vandenrydt
The Anima team would like to thank all its partners once again for all their support and encouragement, along with its incredible public.
The next Anima Festival is set to take place from 25 February to 6 March 2022.