ANIMASYROS Release Full Programme of 2023 Festival: Tributes, Competitions, Social Events
Skwigly
The 16th edition of ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival will take place from 26 September to 1 October 2023 in Syros Island, Greece. ANIMASYROS is co-organised by the Municipality of Syros – Hermoupolis and the Region of South Aegean under the auspices and with the financial support of the Greek Ministry of Culture, with the National Centre of Audiovisual Media & Communication (EKOME) as a strategic partner and the Public Power Corporation (DEI) as presenting sponsor.
With a program richer than ever, the largest International Animation Festival in Greece and one of the top 20 of its kind in Europe presents more than 270 films from 53 countries including 8 competition sections (International, Student, K.ID.S, AnimaPride, National Competition, TV & Commissioned Films, Feature Films & #ThisisEU European Values award), special tributes and events, training sessions, international collaborations as well as the Agora, the industry event which offers various networking opportunities which focus on the countries of the East Mediterranean region.
All the events will take place in emblematic places of Syros, such as the Apollo Theatre, Pallas Open-air Cinema, Hermoupolis Cultural Center, Tsiropina Mansion in Posidonia, as well as in outdoor areas such as Miaouli Square, Finikas Square, the Capuchin Monastery in Ano Syros, while throughout the Festival parallel events will be held in central locations in Hermoupolis.
Tributes
Animation & Ancient Greece
The main focus of this year’s festival, entitled Anima Ancients, is dedicated to Animation and Ancient Greece and presents a program of 20 films through which children and adults will enjoy ancient myths on the big screen and will learn what life in Ancient Greece was like.
La Animaciόn Iberoamericana / Animação Iberoamericana
ANIMASYROS, recognizing the important position of the animation industry in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, presents a tribute to these countries, entitled La Animaciόn Iberoamericana / Animação Iberoamericana, which includes 5 feature films for children and adults while also hosting short film programs curated by the Animac Lleida (Spain) and Cinanima (Portugal) partner festivals. These short film programs were also presented at the Drama International Short Film Festival. The La Animaciόn Iberoamericana tribute is completed with a program of representative contemporary short films from Latin America, curated by ANIMASYROS.
Polish School of Animation: Male Eye, Female Heart
ANIMASYROS 2023 also presents a tribute to the Polish animation scene; we will have the opportunity to watch the 17 best student films of recent years, in collaboration with the Krakow Etiuda & Anima Festival.
Features & International Panorama
ANIMASYROS presents some of the best films of the last few years and the Greek premiere of Nayola by José Miguel Ribeiro, a co-production of four countries (Portugal, Belgium, France, Netherlands) awarded at some of the most important festivals worldwide is opening this year’s Festival. Three generations of women in the 25-year-long civil war of Angola. Politics and personal experience, past and present interlace. Nayola goes in search of her missing husband at the height of the war. Decades later, the country is finally at peace but Nayola has not returned.
We will also have the opportunity to watch the Alberto Vázquez‘s Goya award-winning Franco-Spanish film Unicorn Wars in a national premiere, Mironins, a film that brings to life artworks of the famous Spanish painter Joan Miró in the presence of the director Mikel Mas Bilbao, the surrealist La Otra Forma by Diego Felipe Guzman from Colombia and Perlimps, the new film by the Oscar-nominated Alê Abreu, in collaboration with the Olympia International Film Festival for children and young people and Chaniartoon Festival.
The journey into the magical world of animation continues with the award-winning Titina by Norwegian Kajsa Næss, which describes the adventures of the Italian airship engineer Umberto Nobile and his beloved dog in the North Pole, as well as The Inventor by the Oscar-winning Jim Capobianco, which described the life of the great inventor and artist Leonardo Da Vinci, with the voices of Marion Cotillard, Stephen Fry and Daisy Ridley.
ANIMASYROS 2023 also presents Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds, produced by the multi-awarded French founder of the legendary Sacré Bleu, Ron Dyens, in the presence of the producer himself, as well as the Oscar-nominated 2D-animated feature Four souls of Coyote, that won this year’s Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Original and ground-breaking works from around the world are included in the International Panorama through 24 films which mainly highlight social issues, such as women’s rights in Jordan and Azerbaijan and the climate crisis. Among them is the new film by Polish Paulina Ziółkowska, What’s Bugging You?, as well as Pour Generation from legendary MTV video director Patrick Smith.
Competition Sections
170 films are included in the 8 competition sections of ANIMASYROS 2023 (International, Student, K. ID.S, AnimaPride, National Competition, TV & Commissioned Films, Feature Films & #ThisisEU European Values award).
The Festival’s International Competition Section includes 34 films this year, including the Oscar-nominated and multi-award-winning Portuguese film Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez and the also Oscar-nominated My year of dicks by Sara Gunnarsdóttir, I’m Hip short film by the legendary Disney director John Musker, the Goya-awarded best animated short film Roped by Carmen Córdoba González and we could not fail to mention Ready, the new film by the Greek director Irini Vianelli.
The Greek Competition Section supported by the Greek Film Centre consists of 16 films. Renowned animators from Greece, as well as rising stars, present at ANIMASYROS some of the year’s best animation offerings from the Greek scene.
AnimaPride through 22 films, from all over the world present important aspects of the LGBTQ+ movement and topics such as homophobia, transgender rights, online dating, polygamy will be addressed.
The children’s programme K.ID.S section consists of 25 films with themes that highlight messages concerning the environment, diversity, empathy, friendship and family relationships.
Finally, within the #thisIsEU – European Values section, 6 films will be screened, on the environment, migration, gender equality, child poverty and violence against women.
You can find the ANIMASYROS 2023 Official Selection here.
Juries
The Juries of ANIMASYROS 2023 consists of world renowned animation professionals, animators, directors, artistic directors and festival organisers, such as: Αlexandros Charkiolakes (GR), musicologist and conductor, Paulina Ziolkowska (PL), animator, illustrator and director, Iván Miñambres (ES), producer and CEO of UniKo, Katerina Athanasopoulou (GR), director, Carolina López Caballero (ES), artistic director of Animac Lleida, Ifigeneia Vlachogianni (GR), member of the Board of Directors of the Greek Film Centre – GFC and the Europa Cinemas Network, Pantelis Panteloglou (GR), president of the ECFA – European Children’s Film Association Deputy artistic director of Olympia International Film Festival – OIFF, Jitendra Mishra (IN), acclaimed filmmaker, promoter, curator, director of SIFFCY Festival and goodwill ambassador of CIFEJ, Mikel Mas Bilbao (ES), director and producer, Alexandra Tagali (GR), animator, illustrator and game designer, Yael Nudelman (IL), director and producer and Harry Saxon (GR), comic colourist & illustrator.
Agora
The ANIMASYROS Agora continues its development as one of the most vibrant parts of the Festival by building international collaborations within the framework of the Pitching Forum while presentations, roundtables, panel-discussions, workshops, masterclasses, networking meetings and the Animation Speed dating sessions and the Greek Animation Talks organised for the very first time this year offer the opportunity to professionals as well as animation lovers from all over the world to promote their work, expand their network, meet with established professionals, get in touch with the international community and discover what’s on in the field.
ANIMASYROS is honoured and pleased to host the legendary Disney directors John Musker & Ron Clements, creators of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Hercules (1997) who will present a unique masterclass based on the second and will share their trips to Greece that preceded its making of the film with the participants. The masterclass is moderated by journalist Poly Lykourgou.
This year, two new activities dedicated exclusively to Greek animators are making their appearance at the Agora for the first time: the Animation Speed Dating sessions, with the support of Enterprise Greece and the Greek Animation Talks powered by Greek Film Centre. In the Speed Dating Sessions, 15 Greek creators participate in short 15-minute meetings with internationally renowned producers and artists from Europe and the United States of America, to pitch their ideas and/or share with them their artistic and professional pursuits, in order to find co-productions or other professional opportunities at an international level. In the Greek Animation Talks, directors and producers of the films participating in the Greek Competition section talk with the famous British writer/directors Joanna Quinn and Les Mills about their work, their films and the challenges of their creative path in the Greek animation industry.
The 5 projects selected for the Agora Pitching Forum are: Dr. Pap – the life of G.N. Papanikolaou, a pioneering doctor by Petros Christoulias (GR), Awakening by Julien Kobersy and Tania Iskandar (LB), White Noise by Eran Luzon and Michael Negari (IL), Inspiration Wave by Alexandros Mathioudakis (GR) and The Fall by Stefanos Pletsis (GR).
The international committee of the Pitching Forum consists of Viviane Vanfletėren (BE), Bruno Caetano (PT), Agnė Adomėnė (LT), Nancy Denney Phelps (BE) and Marineta MAK Kritikou (GR). The winner of the Pitching Forum will be announced on October 1 at the Festival’s closing ceremony. The Pitching Forum is supported by Sky Express, the Festival’s air transport sponsor, and the Athens International Airport.
Of course, ANIMASYROS 2023 Agora could not miss this year’s main theme Anima Ancients, it will focus amongst others on female creativity in animated documentary films, masterclasses and talks by internationally acclaimed Spanish producers will also take place, while strategic partners of the Festival, such as the National Center of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME), the Greek Film Centre, Enterprise Greece, Creative Europe and the University of the Aegean will be present.
All Agora presentations take place at the Hermoupolis Cultural Centre of and will be available online at the end of each day on the Festival’s YouTube channel. You can find more information about the Agora here.
Educational workshops
The educational workshops, one of the main pillars of ANIMASYROS, this year draw inspiration from Ancient Greece, while they are enriched with new techniques, such as sand animation.
Together with recognized artists and professionals, such as Nicolas Fattouh (Lebanon), Remco Polman and Jantiene de Kroon (Netherlands), Margarita Simopoulou, Elena Pavlaki and Agisilaos Robolas, children, adults, adolescents, people with disabilities and elderly bring Cycladic figurines to life, become archaeologists for a while to discover rare finds, deconstruct ancient myths, play around with them, cut them up and re-tell them. Ceramic workshops by Manos Mastorakis where the participants create their own Cycladic figurine will also take place.
You can find more information about the educational workshops here.
Parallel events
Friday, September 29 @ 19.00 | Apollo Theatre
The vision of Democracy – Α panel discussion with Members of the European Parliament
The public will have the opportunity to participate in an open discussion on the major issue of Democracy both as a principle and as a constitution, as a prerequisite for collective – and personal – advancement, but also as a value under threat. The panel will be composed by the Members of the European Parliament Kostas Arvanitis (journalist) and Nikos Papandreou (writer, businessperson) as well as the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation of the University of the Aegean, Associate Professor Petros Kavassalis. The panel will be moderated by the journalist and writer Christina Poulidou. The discussion is supported by the European Parliament Liaison Office in Greece.
Social events
Friday, September 29 @ 15.00 | Hermoupolis Cultural Centre
Meet the Directors: Lobbying Event Israel, Greece and the entire Med Spotlight
This year, the much anticipated networking meeting of directors, producers, professionals and all the participants of ANIMASYROS 2023 is dedicated to cooperation between Israel, Greece and the whole Med area. The event is supported by the Embassy of Israel in Greece and the Ministry of Regional Cooperation of Israel.
Saturday, September 30 @ 23.00 | Hermoupolis Cultural Centre
ANIMASYROS 2023 Party
Each year, ANIMASYROS party becomes the “talk of the town” and for one night the Hermoupolis Cultural Center turns into the ultimate hot spot.
Useful Information
- The full ANIMASYROS 2023 is available online at www.animasyros.gr.
- Free Entrance.
- Online booking via the Eventbrite website is required for screenings at the Apollon Theatre. Online bookings are open here.
- Agora’s Presentations are available on the ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival YouTube Channel at the end of each Festival day. The link is available at www.animasyros.gr.
- The Festival Shop is located at Apollon Theatre.
- The Café Hermoupolitan is located at the Courtyard of Apollon Theatre. Daily from 11.00-15.00 & 16.00-23.00.
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- Access to Persons with Disabilities is ensured in all Festival Venues.
The visual identity and the official trailer of ANIMASYROS 2023 are signed by the award-winning Odd Bleat – animation and motion design studio, founded in 2015 by Yannis Zoumakis and Manos Gerogiannis.