VFX category narrowed down to 10 films, animated shorts to 15; voting for nominations runs next month, January 12-16, with nomination announcements set for January 22, 2026.
The 3D animated film, produced at Mexico’s Escena Animation Studio, tells the story of shipwrecked family whose father’s efforts to secure their rescue blinds him to his neglect and the mistrust he fostered in his eldest daughter, who forces him to choose between his dreams and his children.
‘The Duel: Payback,’ ‘The Lost Ones,’ and ‘The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope’ deftly expand upon characters and storylines established in Volume 1, carefully animated in mixed 2D and 3D by anime studios Kamikaze Douga and ANIMA, Production I.G, and Kinema citrus Co.
Submissions are now open for the first international festival for AI-enabled, director-driven animation, which celebrates the future of storytelling.
Directors Chris and Justin Copeland, and producer Shabrayia Cleaver, discuss their collaboration on the new DreamWorks animated short about a teenage boy who visits his Gramps at a seemingly boring assisted living facility, only to find they had more than he thought in common.
John Goodman voices the young girl’s doodle come to life in the latest holiday film from the Oscar winner, who also directed last year’s ‘The Boy & The Octopus;’ Untold Studios handles the VFX.
The ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ director, who has supported the project for the last 2 years, joins the production, from visionary filmmaker Vani Balgam, about a South Indian teenage tennis prodigy whose game changes when her father falls into a coma; the Kickstarter campaign is now live.
In the upcoming set of animated shorts from Brooklyn-based comedy group Simple Town, 5 archaeologists must tolerate each other’s eccentricities while digging in the desert; first episode hits November 7.
The leading platform for showcasing top animated properties has made its latest selection of award-winning shorts and awards season contenders available for free to industry professionals.
Running through November 6, the film’s Seed&Spark campaign offers supporters a tiered set of incentives; the film, which addresses anti-Asian hate, is slated for submission to festivals in 2026.
6 2-minute episodes of the 2D series, which follows a stranded human waitress with mad-scientist tendencies, will debut online this fall.
A special livestream premiere of the latest installment from creator Sarah Schmidt is set for October 31; will include a compilation of previously released shorts and a live chat with the animation director alongside other voiceover cast members.
The 3-episode set follows a go-getting woman named Chip with a range of eclectic goals and a penchant for extreme violence; first episode now available.
The project, from animator and director Bankole Lasekan, follows a schoolboy and baby rhino who are forced into an alliance for survival in the African savannah.
12 short films, including 3 animations, from 3,127 entries, are awarded at 52nd ceremony, held in New York City; all winning films now eligible for 98th Oscars.
FAF 2025 returns to Fredrikstad, Norway with a full program celebrating the dynamic storytelling of global animation October 23-26.
The animated anthology returns in a longer format, with 9 new anime shorts from david production, Kamikaze Douga, Kinema citrus Co, Polygon Pictures, Production I.G, Project Studio Q, TRIGGER, and WIT Studio; hits Disney+ October 29.
Jesu Medina’s short film, selected for the Canadian Student Animation program, is an abstract narrative thriller that follows a desperate mother who falls victim to a series of cruel encounters with the Muse, the Angel, and the Demon; fest runs September 24-28.
Directed by Steve Small and crafted by the AKA 3D team, the 30-second short ‘Lost and Hound’ shows how Admiral and her trusty four-legged sidekick, Alfie, first met.
‘We’re Kinda Different,’ ‘What We Leave Behind,’ ‘Gauze,’ and ’18 Months’ also notch wins; Willie Ito receives the Lifetime Achievement Award; awards ceremony set for September 21 - screenings begin September 18, while conference runs September 20-21.
Spark CG returns to Vancouver with its animation festival and conference featuring an expansive program of talks, presentations, screenings, and network opportunities; the events run September 18-21.
The festival returns to Ottawa September 24-28 featuring interactive artist talks, workshops and meetings with schools and recruiters; TAC takes place during the festival and offers industry professionals networking opportunities.
Festival screenings begin September 18 with Kid Koala’s ‘Space Cadet;’ conference, which runs September 20-21, will open with a Brad Bird talk; presentations on the making of ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ Pixar Animation’s ‘Elio,’ the adaptation of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Twits,’ and ‘In Your Dreams’ are scheduled.
‘Juliet & the King’ received the festival’s Streamtacular Award; ‘Flow’ was honored with the Best Film Award; the short ‘Sweeter Is the Night’ earned three honors, including Best Director and Best Short Film.
The 2-time Oscar nominee’s ‘Good Luck to You All’ world premiere tops the Board’s slate of animation in competition at the festival, which runs September 18–28.
