Events Round-Up: Anilogue, London International Animation Festival, Animateka

A round-up of upcoming animation festivals and events across the world.

Anilogue

Where and when? Budapest, Hungary, November 27 – December 1.

What? Like Animateka (see below), which is held across the border in Slovenia, Anilogue has a strong focus on European animation. Shorts from the continent pack out three competition programs, and this year sees retrospectives of Italian animation (including Osvaldo Cavandoli’s classic series La Linea) and a panorama of new Hungarian works.

Guests include Estonian filmmaker Chintis Lundgren and France’s Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, who co-directed The Swallows of Kabul. That film will screen at the festival, alongside a dozen-odd other features from around the world. There is also a spotlight on animated documentaries (or “animadocs,” to use the term employed by the festival), and Anilogue’s trademark six-hour, late-night, booze-fueled film marathon.

More information: The festival has a bilingual program booklet here.

London International Animation Festival (LIAF)

Where and when? London, U.K., November 29 – December 8.

What? A sprawling ten-day affair in the heart of the British capital, LIAF is the country’s best animation festival for the general public. This year, the competition is made up of 85 films, grouped into the themed categories (abstract films, animated documentaries, long shorts, etc). This edition sees the return of LIAF’s exceptional experimental sidebar, curated by blog and programming platform Edge of Frame.

The program also boasts two acclaimed features from this year’s festival circuit, Away and On-Gaku: Our Sound, and a screening of the zany pan-European anthology film Happiness Machine (which actually plays at all three festivals listed on this page). Guests include Swedish stop-motion veteran Niki Lindroth von Bahr and Hungarian director Flora Anna Buda. Finally, to tie in with the festival, the University of East London will host a one-day series of talks and screenings focusing on the U.K.’s animation industry.

More information: http://www.liaf.org.uk/

Animateka

Where and when? Ljubljana, Slovenia, December 2–8.

What? The Balkan capital’s annual get-together is one of the best places to discover rising talents from Central and Eastern Europe. One of the competition strands is devoted to those regions, while another covers Europe as a whole. This year, the competitions are complemented by a mammoth eight-part spotlight on the Baltic countries, which will give a historical overview of animation from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The five jury members — Waltraud Grausgruber, Edmunds Jansons, Ana Nedeljković, Jonas Odell, and Marie Paccou — all get a special screening, either devoted to their work or curated by them. The line-up is rounded out by nine features and eight special programs, as well as AnimatekaPro, a five-day series of industry discussions and presentations.

More information: http://www.animateka.si/2019/en/

(Image at top: “Hot and Tasty” by Laura Jayne Hodkin, which will play at LIAF. The film was previously a Cartoon Brew Short Pick of the Day.)