Festival program - check it out!

Poznań becomes the global capital of animation for the 13th time.

The 13th edition of ANIMATOR, Oscar® qualifying International Animated Film Festival, begins on 3 October. This year, Poland’s most important animation event will take place both onsite and online. The festival’s lineup of special guests includes Mike Hollingsworth, one of the creators of BoJack Horseman!

It is the first time that ANIMATOR is organized in a hybrid onsite/online formula. Hosted by Poznań’s Muza Cinema, the onsite events will include first and foremost competition screenings of short and full-length films, as well as special shows screened as part of thematic sections. The online agenda will additionally include meetings, master classes and special event broadcasts.

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME IS AVALIABLE HERE - CLICK

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS

As in the previous years, the International Competition is the core of the festival. We will present 47 shorts and 5 full-length features, selected from over a thousand entries submitted from such countries as Singapore, Turks and Caicos Islands, Malaysia, Latvia or Bangladesh. Interestingly, one of the entries was submitted by NASA. 

In the shorts competition, films will be presented in six thematic areas, including Towards Childhood; Life as a Fatal Disease; Film Is a Dream; Crouching Evil, Hidden Good. Prizes on offer include the GRAND PRIX, the Golden Pegasus and PLN 45,000.00 in cash! Most importantly, the winner will be on a fast track to a coveted Oscar nomination.

Five films have been selected for the full-length competition. The main prize (PLN 35,000.00 in cash) will go to one of the following: “The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks” by Andrei Khrzhanovsky (winner of the Jury Award at this year’s Annecy), “Circumstantial Pleasures” by Lewis Klahr, “Unseen” by Behzad Nalbandi (also available online with audiodescription), “Away” by Gints Zilbalodis from Latvia and “Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus” by Dalibor Baric.

The winning films will be selected by international juries:

Shorts competition:

Elizabeth Hobbs – London-based animated film maker; 

Mike Hollingsworth – the first animation artist to be employed by Netflix (2014); main director and executive co-producer of “BoJack Horseman” 

Jarosław Siwiński – music composer and pianist, author of soundtracks for films by Marcin Giżycki, Jan Lenica, and others.

Full-length competition:

Michael Frei – creator of “Not About Us”, “Plug and Play” “Kids” and many more; 

Grzegorz Wacławek – film producer, director and scriptwriter; owner of Animoon Studio; 

Ana Nedeljković – independent Serbian animator and visual artist. 

POLISH COMPETITION 

ANIMATOR.PL, the Polish animation competition, organized for the 3rd time already, will be yet another highlight of this year’s festival. It will be a fantastic opportunity to take a closer look at Polish animations. Films will be screened in four thematic areas: Everyday Chronicles; Women’s Voices; Private Microworlds; Reality Is Somewhere Else. From among 33 candidates, the jury will select the winner who will receive the Crystal Animusz, the GRAND PRIX and PLN 20,000.00 in cash. In addition, the jury will select the best debut and the best auteur film. 

Films in the Polish competition will be judged by: 

Augusto Bicalho Rque – creator of Fuga Animada; 

Monika Kuczyniecka – creator of animated music videos for Renata Przemyk, VooVoo, Czesław Mozil; 

Jacek Adamczak – film director, graphic designer, animator and scriptwriter. 

13th ANIMATOR: BEYOND MY WORLD 

BEYOND MY WORLD, the motto of this year’s festival, is an inspiration to change our point of view and the leitmotif of three thematic sections: 

HOW ANIMATIONS RESPOND TO CONFLICTS – films dealing with social tensions caused by ideological differences. 

THREE LOGICAL EXITS – a selection of animations addressing the main themes and motifs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

ANIMATING THE CLIMATE – a project on the climate disaster prepared by students from the University of the Arts in Poznań.

ANIMATION-INTERACTION. VIDEO GAMES

Dedicated to animations based on computer game engines and graphics, this program is a brand new addition to the festival’s agenda. Apart from screenings of animations, it features two master classes exploring the convergence of animated films and computer games:

Master Class with Michael Frei – outstanding creator of animations and the founder of Playables. 

Master Class with Łukasz Szałankiewicz – talented sound artist who will talk about the growing popularity of the demoscene. 

POLISH FRAME

To shed more light on the works of composer Jarosław Siwiński, we have prepared a selection of animations illustrated with his music. Particularly worthy of attention is Czas zatrzymany, a collection of works by Tamara Sorbian, a Poznań-based artist who passed away earlier this year. 

ANIMATED SERIES

This year we will present two series created by the brilliant animator Genndy Tartakovsky (creator of such hits as “Hotel Transylvania” or “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”):

Primal – the latest Adult Swim production; and Samurai Jack – a cult series broadcast on Adult Swim. 

All fans of animated series are also invited to two master classes.

The first one will be presented by Mike Hollingsworth, the co-creator and main animator of “BoJack Horseman” (and the first-ever animator employed by Netlix).

The other master class is with Hisko Hulsing – the creator of “Junkyard” and the director / producer of “Undone”, the first original animated series from Amazon Prime Video. Hisko will talk about the making of “Undone”, about combining classical painting techniques with contemporary approaches to animation and about the relationship between animation and music.

IT IS TIME FOR WOMEN

Special screenings of films by female animators from all over the world have already become a permanent item on the festival’s agenda. Among other things, this year’s program includes I’M OK – a collection of films by Lizzy Hobbs, a distinguished British animator.

BEST OF ANNECY 2020 FESTIVAL

One of the things you probably just cannot wait for is are the animations recognized at this year’s Annecy, the world’s largest animation festival. The program will include “The Physics of Sorrow” by Theodore Ushev (winner of the Cristal Award for the best short film) and “Genius Loci” by Adrien Merigeau.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The intertwining of animation and music is a signature motif of ANIMATOR. This year is no exception: we have prepared a number of special events. The festival will open with NAPIÓRKOWSKI / BOWIE / ZIÓŁKOWSKA, an original audiovisual project. 

Other must-sees include kakofoNIKT WITH LIVE ANIMATIONS BY TOMEK SIWIŃSKI and ANIMATED NIGHT SHOW: SOLO ACT – a casual entertainment show featuring four remarkable artists: Michael Frei (Switzerland), Renata Gąsiorowska (Poland), Mike Hollingsworth (USA) and Chintis Lundgren (Estonia). 

Be careful not to confuse that show with ANIMATED NIGHT SHOW: STUDENT ACT,  a slightly  more local, but equally interesting event organized in cooperation with students from the Animation Faculty at the University of the Arts in Poznań. 

The festival will close with the GRAND FINALE: TRIBUTE TO JAMES BOND. We will present the outcome of ANIMATOR IN PRACTICE – an online workshop exploring the anniversary episode of the royal agent. 

ANIMATOR PRO

A perfect opportunity to meet, be inspired by and share experience with animation industry professionals. Animator Pro is a series of meetings with directors, animators, producers, distributors and representatives of the most important film industry institutions in Poland.

ANIMATOR FOR KIDS

Co-created with the Children’s Art Centre in Poznań, the program features “The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily”, a brilliant story by Lorenzo Mattotti. We will also present films made by children participating in ANIMATOR OF TOMORROW workshops in the previous years.

This year’s filmmaking workshop for kids will be online. Piotr Nawrocki, stage designer and decorator, will teach a group of children how to make their own animation puppets. Another group, guided by Bartosz Zarzycki, a young artist collaborating with Poznań Television Animation Film Studio, will make animations inspired by the secrets of an old wardrobe.

This year’s ANIMATOR festival will take place both online and onsite, in Poznań’s Muza Cinema. Every day after the screenings you will have a chance to attend online meetings with the creators – a rare opportunity you cannot afford to miss!

3-9.10.2020 – save the dates!
See you soon and hear you soon!