7 Festival Must-See Events at the 7th Edition of ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival, Azerbaijan
In Baku, Azerbaijan, next week, from the 2nd to 6th October, all eyes will be on the 7th edition of ANIMAFILM – the annual International animation festival – which this year presents an extensive programme and a top billing of international guests.
At the centre of the programme will be the ever present competition strand, which will showcase 48 films from 18 countries over four different categories: International Shorts, Shorts for Children, Azerbaijani Shorts, and Azerbaijani Student Shorts. The Jury that will be presiding over the winners is a truely international mix this year, including Matthew Lyon (Canada), Martin Vandas (Czech Rep), Leyla Ali (NL/Azerbaijan), Dante Rustav (Uzbekistan), Vassilis C. Karamitsanis (Greece), Aneta Ororek (NL/Poland), Susana Miguel Antonio (Portugal), and Aaron Wood (United Kingdom).
Outside of the competition screenings, there are several programmes that celebrate animation from other countries. As this year’s festival theme is ‘LOVE’, the aptly named ”With Love from the World” programme perfectly sums up what the audience can expect from countries including Portugal, Greece, Georgia, and the Czech Republic.
The third strand of the festival – the Professional Program – contains various industry-focused masterclasses and workshops hosted by an array of special guests. We undertook the challenging task of narrowing down our top 7 must-see events…
1. Red Iron Road (horror anthology series)
Red Iron Road is an animated horror anthology series, based on the works of famous European authors. Each of the episodes are between 10-20 minutes, produced with different creative partners in unique visual styles to suit each story. ANIMAFILM will be screening 6 of the episodes, including “No.8 Reporting” by jury member Matthew Lyon (and Aljosha Klimov).
Click here for more information & tickets.
2. Paprika – Feature Film
Festival audiences will get to view this 2006 Japanese adult animated psychological thriller on the big screen – a film that pushes the boundaries of the animation world and is one of the most significant works by director Satoshi Kon. This unique and impactful film follows a battle between a “dream terrorist” who causes nightmares by stealing a device that allows others to share their dreams, and a research psychologist who enters the dream world and changes into a dream detective named Paprika to investigate the cases.
Click here for more information & tickets.
3. Co-production Talk
This panel event will bring together a number of the international jury to give valuable insights into the co-production opportunities that their countries offer. The guests include: Aneta Ozorek, Director of Kaboom Animation Festival (The Netherlands / Poland); Vassilis C. Karamitsanis, CEO and President of PLATFORMA, Urban Culture Co., and ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival (Greece); Susana António, Producer (Portugal); Matthew Lyon, Creative Director at Lakeside Animation Studios (Canada); Martin Vandas, CEO and Producer at MAUR Film (Czech Republic); and Skwigly’s Aaron Wood, CEO and Producer at Slurpy Studios (United Kingdom).
Click here for more information & tickets.
4. Create Your Own Stop Motion Animation Film with Ayan Novruz
Stop-motion filmmaker Ayan Novruz – who picked up two awards at last year’s ANIMAFILM Festival with ‘Empty Spaces’ – will be leading this masterclass, designed for students and newcomers interested in the technique. Her workshop will be structured in three parts: 1) An introduction and examples of stop-motion; 2) How to create stop-motion and what apps to use; 3) The chance for participants to create their own short stop-motion film.
Click here for more information & tickets.
5. Create Your Own Animation Character with Leyla Ali
Professional illustrator and ANIMAFILM jury member, Leyla Ali, will be taking this masterclass on how to develop your own personal style and create a unique character. The event will give participants the chance to discover Leyla’s work and techniques, known for their distinctive lines and vibrancy.
Click here for more information & tickets.
6. Explore the World of Professional Animation with Matthew Lyon
Matthew Lyon – the an award-winning filmmaker whose credits include Netflix and Apple TV – will be sharing his experiences of the industry and his career journey with the audience. Matthew will provide valuable advice on how to develop your creativity, cover essential topics such as becoming an artist, gaining a better understanding of the industry, and advancing your career.
Click here for more information & tickets.
7. LOVE: Georgia. MIFASI Studio
It was a difficult choice to select only one of the ”With Love from the World” programmes – there are some wonderful films being screened from Portugal, Greece, and the Czech Republic. But as a nation that does not get a spotlight on it’s talent very often, we are excited to see a showcase of modern Georgian animation on the big screen! The programme will show original works by young Georgian artists of the MIFASI Animation Studio, and will be presented by the studio’s director (and of TOFUZI International Animated Film Festival), Zurab Diasamidze.
Click here for more information & tickets.
Of course, we had to exclude many great events from our list, but you can view the entire programme and buy tickets at tripsome.az/en/operator/animafilm.