Official Short Film Selection & Jury Announced for 2023 Anima Brussels
Skwigly
Anima, the Brussels International Animation Film Festival, is proud to announce the official selection of short films for its 42nd edition, which will take place from 17 to 26 February 2023 at Flagey in Brussels. More titles, including feature films, will be announced later to complete a rich programme of more than 200 films.
After viewing more than 1,700 previously unreleased films, the selection committee chose a total of 154 short films. The international competition will feature 99 titles, while the national competition will include 23 Belgian new releases. There will also be 32 out-of-competition films in the animated documentary programme, the Queer Stories programme, and the new Women’s Perspective programme.
The official selection of short films is now available on www.animafestival.be
TECHNICALLY IMPRESSIVE AND COMMITTED FILMS
Many committed films bear witness to the desire to use animation, regardless of the format, to get a message across. Besides documentary films, inclusive films also stand out and are making their presence felt: the Queer Stories programme, which celebrates LGBTQIA+ love, is returning while the new Women’s Perspective programme is appearing in the selection for the first time. Women’s Perspective will showcase a range of short films on another of this year’s key themes, women’s voices, and will speak frankly about love, intimacy, the body, motherhood and more.
Ice Merchants © AGENCIA Portuguese Short Film Agency
Coming from 25 different countries (including 16 European ones), the films in the international competition demonstrate the richness of contemporary animation. Some of the films selected have already won awards at many festivals around the world: Bird in the Peninsula by Japan’s Atsushi Wada (winner of the Grand Prize for best short film at the Ottawa Festival), Ice Merchants by Portugal’s Joao Gonzalez (which won a prize during the Critics’ Week of the Cannes Festival) and Persona by Korea’s Sujin Moon (winner of the Cristal for a Graduation Film at the prestigious Annecy Festival). There is also an excellent and unexpected representation of Hungarian student films, with five films selected.
BELGIAN ANIMATION STRONGER THAN EVER
Belgian animation continues to prove itself, with 32 films selected out of 108 submissions, 23 of which are in national competition. Among these Belgian talents, Noémie Marsily, director of Autour du Lac, returns with Ce qui bouge est vivant, a subtle tale about motherhood, while Eternal heralds the return of Gerlando Infuso, winner of the Magritte for best animated short film in 2019 for La Bague au doigt.
Ce qui bougea est vivant © Zorobabel
In addition to the national competition, the Belgian panorama also offers a good overview of the latest Belgian films, in particular co-productions, with Canard by Elie Chapuis and Le Chant du Cachalot, co-produced by the studios Beast Animation and Zorobabel respectively. It also announces the return of Raoul Servais, the Belgian animation pioneer and maestro, with Der Lange Kerl, a partially animated short film co-directed by Rudy Pinceel.
The official selection of short films is now available on www.animafestival.be
MEET THE ANIMA 2023 JURIES
The jury for the international short film competition will be made up of Gaëlle Grisard (illustrator and teacher illustration), Pablo Pico (composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in animated films) and Yiorgos Tsangaris (director and head of the Animafest festival in Cyprus).
Gaëlle Grisard, Pablo Pico, and Yiorgos Tsangaris
The national competition jury will be made up of Laura Almantaite (producer and director of the BLON Animation and Games Festival in Lithuania), Jean-François Bigot (producer at JPL Films) and Pascale Hecquet, illustrator and director of a dozen short films for children that have been selected in festivals around the world.
Laura Almantaite, Jean-François Bigot, and Pascale Hecquet
The other three official juries (young audience, feature films and virtual reality) will be revealed later, as other important selection announcements are made.
The complete programme of Anima will be announced on 24 January 2023, while the festival will take place from 17 to 26 February 2023 – more details at www.animafestival.be