We understand ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY as a relation between technology and intimacy. We can globally observe the blurring of boundaries between the living, self-aware beings and artificial (digital) entitites. We are all familiar with Chatbots, we copy androids' behavior and relations between us are shaped by Online Dating. This causes our perception to visibly change. We are beginning to loose capability to differentiate the truth from the false, a human from a bot. We become more and more suspicious, judgmental and overwhelmed by the direction and the speed of changes we are facing. We are incapable of recognizing and evaluating the processes happening all around us. As well as predicting consequences of AI having an equal voice in the social discussion.

Is there still a place for paradox and for questions without answers in the dialogue between humans and technology? Is ambivalence and emotional discrepancy still possible in communication guided by AI? How could a digital pattern capable of  influencing our feelings look like?

In this year’s Open Call we are interested in the impact that AI driven tools have on creativity and the changing definition of human invention.

The Open Call is addressed not only to creators of traditional animations, it is open to hybrid works that test the boundaries of this medium.

Works that will be presented as a part of the ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY screening section of the 17th IAFF Animator will be selected by:

Ola Szmida - illustrator and animated films director, award-winning, she cooperated with, among others Southbank Center, Boiler Room, Art & Fashion Forum, Disney Polska, BBC, publishing houses: Czarne and Centrala.

Filip Kozłowski - head of Programme and Competitions of the IAFF Animator, initiator of audiovisual projects and program curator at film festivals, e.g. MONSTRA - Lisbon Animation Festival, Thessaloniki Animation Film Festival and StopTrik International Film Festival, has been associated with the Festival in Poznań since its inception (2008).

Adriana Prodeus - artistic director of the IAFF Animator, specializes in avant-garde and animated cinema, a curator of film programmes at Anthology Film Archive in New York, Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, the New Horizons Festival and others.

ANIMATOR 2024 OPEN CALL REGULATIONS:

1. The tagline of the upcoming edition - ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY - is part of the programme of the International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR 2024, which will take place between June 25th and 6th July 2024 in Poznan, Poland (25-30.06.2024 in cinema venue and 01-06.07.2024 online).
2. To the ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY programme section you may submit audiovisual works (experiments, video-collages, generative art, fragments of installations, larger works or entire works) using the medium of animation and animation techniques, created over the last 20 years and not exceeding 30 minutes.
3. All submissions are free of charge. The creators and/or producers/distributors of the audiovisual works submitted to the ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY programme section grant ANIMATOR Festival a non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to public screenings of said audiovisual works as part of the ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY programme section in cinemas and/or online (online screenings will be held on a special, secure, remote festival streaming platform equipped with geoblocking and appropriate DRM protection).
4. Please submit the audiovisual works in the .MP4 or .MOV (codec H.264) video file format, in Full HD 1920x1080 (or higher) resolution to the following drive (login: office@animator-festival.com ; pass: AnImAtOrFeStIvAL1): https://mega.nz/fm/Ei5kDLjY
   Alongside a short summary and 2 stills from the film sent to the following e-mail address: office@animator-festival.com
5. The selection of the submitted audiovisual works to the ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY programme section at the ANIMATOR Festival 2024 will be decided upon by the Open Call Team  selected by Festival's Programme Team.
6. Submission deadline for the ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY programme section is January 15th, 2024.
7. The Open Call Organizer reserves the right to introduce changes to the Regulations.