Celebrating the Art, Craft and Business of Animation https://www.awn.com/ en-US 15 Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:58:57 -0800 Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:59:32 -0800 https://www.awn.com/news/rsiff-annecy-festival-partner-boost-saudi-animation-industry Deal calls for Saudi animators to participate in MIFA; annual ‘Best of Annecy’ festival to be held at Culture Square; animated Saudi shorts and features to be showcased at Annecy. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/rsiff-annecy-festival-partner-boost-saudi-animation-industry Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:58:57 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/news/exclusive-2026-animation-first-festival-announces-full-program The biggest animation festival in the U.S. sets its upcoming slate; Cannes Award winner ‘Dandelion’s Odyssey’ by Momoko Seto to screen opening night; talk with Oscar-winning sound designer Nicolas Becker also revealed; event runs this coming February 3-8 with a focus on Belgian films. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/exclusive-2026-animation-first-festival-announces-full-program Fri, 12 Dec 2025 8:43:30 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/breaking-rig-bat-fam-and-blood-and-bamboo For director Mike Roth and animation director Garrett Ray, getting the most from your 2D animation means you can’t limit yourself to what the rigs are capable of – you have to force them to get the result you’re after. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/breaking-rig-bat-fam-and-blood-and-bamboo Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:05:46 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/news/young-animators-year-awards-2025-winners-announced From a field of 44 nominees across the UK, 7 emerging artists were celebrated for their outstanding original short films across 2D, 3D, and stop-motion categories. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/young-animators-year-awards-2025-winners-announced Wed, 19 Nov 2025 9:35:21 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/news/modern-uprising-studios-screenvision-media-announce-frame-forward-animated-ai-festival Submissions are now open for the first international festival for AI-enabled, director-driven animation, which celebrates the future of storytelling. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/modern-uprising-studios-screenvision-media-announce-frame-forward-animated-ai-festival Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:58:09 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/don-bluth-talks-somewhere-out-there-documentary-and-future-production-dreams The famed director, filmmakers Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker, and Lavalle Lee discuss the new film, which recently premiered at SAVFF 2025, that takes an unvarnished look at the career highlights and lowlights of the man who bravely left Disney to make films like ‘The Secret of NIMH.’ Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/don-bluth-talks-somewhere-out-there-documentary-and-future-production-dreams Thu, 13 Nov 2025 12:53:11 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/news/glas-animation-festival-2025-announces-official-selections Taking place in person in Los Angeles from December 6-7, the event will feature competition screenings, panels, Q&As, parties, and other offerings; trailer and poster also shared. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/glas-animation-festival-2025-announces-official-selections Thu, 13 Nov 2025 10:52:35 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/7-pixels-pencils-panel-directors-talk-big-swings-and-big-dreams Alex Woo, Domee Shi, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, Ugo Bienvenu, Kent Seki and Maïlys Vallade took to the SCAD Savannah Film Festival stage to share their anxiety over standing firm on big creative risks when others voiced considerable doubt, in what was only half-jokingly called a ‘directors therapy session.’ Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/7-pixels-pencils-panel-directors-talk-big-swings-and-big-dreams Fri, 07 Nov 2025 15:39:06 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/news/murmuration-takes-best-animation-award-2025-scad-savannah-film-festival ‘Snow Bear,’ ‘Dragfox,’ ‘Playing God,’ and ‘Inside, The Valley Sings’ also take home wins; Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ named the Audience Award Winner at event, which ran October 24-31. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/murmuration-takes-best-animation-award-2025-scad-savannah-film-festival Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:25:32 PST Festival https://www.awn.com/news/jane-goodall-narrated-animated-short-anyone-lived-pretty-how-town-debut-scad-fest Daniel Kreizberg’s new film, inspired by E.E. Cummings’ poetry and paintings, and with a soundtrack by the late maestro Yakov Kreizberg, will premiere at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 31. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/jane-goodall-narrated-animated-short-anyone-lived-pretty-how-town-debut-scad-fest Tue, 28 Oct 2025 10:46:29 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/how-i-made-new-specimen-unreal-engine-5 Dimitri Vallein, a real-time 3D director and technologist, shares with AWN a comprehensive breakdown of his short film project and how it was created, animated, simulated, and rendered using UE5. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/animationworld/how-i-made-new-specimen-unreal-engine-5 Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:48:31 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/news/quirino-awards-issues-9th-edition-call-entries The awards ceremony, set for April 17, 2026, will recognize the best Ibero-American animation works in 10 categories; the call is open to animated projects released between June 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/quirino-awards-issues-9th-edition-call-entries Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:03:05 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/news/night-boots-takes-grand-prix-fredrikstad-animation-festival Pierre-Luc Granjon’s short about a child’s magical inner world takes the top prize; ‘Kafka in Love’ wins for Best Nordic-Baltic Short, while ‘Papillon’ wins for Best Global Short. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/night-boots-takes-grand-prix-fredrikstad-animation-festival Mon, 27 Oct 2025 10:11:44 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/paul-hollingsworth-talks-weirdos-and-one-final-day-stop-motion-shorts The Digital Wizards Studios founder originally chose sculpting because he couldn’t draw; 2 decades later, the veteran of LEGO stopmo projects for ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Happy Potter,’ ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Star Wars’ has 2 completely different but equally rewarding films on the festival circuit. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/paul-hollingsworth-talks-weirdos-and-one-final-day-stop-motion-shorts Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:26:08 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/sea-slug-animation-festival-2026 Seattle’s newest animation festival returns for its second edition February 27-28, 2026. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/sea-slug-animation-festival-2026 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 11:50:32 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/animateka-international-animated-film-festival-runs-december-1-7 Slovenia’s weeklong animation festival promises to deliver the best and latest productions from the Eastern and Central European film scene AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/animateka-international-animated-film-festival-runs-december-1-7 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 11:38:37 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/move-summit-2026 Scotland’s premiere animation gathering takes place February 18-21; submissions are now open for the 2026 short film competition. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/move-summit-2026 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 11:24:38 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/kidscreen-summit-2026 The annual global media conference, dedicated exclusively to the kids’ entertainment sector, takes place February 22-25, 2026 in San Diego. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/kidscreen-summit-2026 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 10:58:35 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/glas-animation-festival-2025 The festival, running December 6-7 in Los Angeles, cultivates and promotes the art and science of animation by bringing together both local and international artists and filmmakers from across the animation spectrum. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/glas-animation-festival-2025 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 10:42:37 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/london-international-animation-festival-8 London’s longest running animation festival returns November 28-December 7 featuring a spectrum of contemporary and international animation. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/london-international-animation-festival-8 Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:20:37 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/t-short-animated-film-festival-2025 The animated short film festival promises the best in international auteur animation; the event returns to Karlsruhe November 28-29. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/t-short-animated-film-festival-2025 Wed, 22 Oct 2025 9:48:58 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/news/little-am-lie-or-character-rain-takes-animation-film-grand-prize Running October 17-19 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, the festival’s 8th annual edition continued its mission to champion animation as a cinematic art form, curating critically acclaimed international features and shorts that carry both recognition and impact. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/little-am-lie-or-character-rain-takes-animation-film-grand-prize Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:09:20 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/chris-appelhans-reflects-kpop-demon-hunters-and-scad-impact-award The writer/director of the smash Netflix animated musical, honored at last month’s SCAD AnimationFest, talks about the film’s exploration of identity, acceptance and found family and how that resonated with him as one of the film’s creators. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/chris-appelhans-reflects-kpop-demon-hunters-and-scad-impact-award Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:11:38 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/rex-animation-film-festival-2025 The 11th edition promises to bring an outstanding line up of international animation to  Stockholm, November 17 to 22. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/rex-animation-film-festival-2025 Mon, 06 Oct 2025 11:05:37 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/pixelvienna-conference-0 The immersive computer graphics and animation conference brings together professionals, enthusiasts, and students to explore trends in digital art, animation, visual effects, and game development; November 13-15 in Vienna, Austria. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/pixelvienna-conference-0 Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:48:47 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/manchester-animation-festival-2025 MAF 2025 returns November 9-13 to HOME, celebrating all things animation with exclusive panel sessions, guest lectures, and student-led programming. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/manchester-animation-festival-2025 Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:32:55 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/lugano-animation-days-0 Organized by GSIFA, the fifth edition of the international animation film festival runs November 11-16 in Lugano, Switzerland. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/lugano-animation-days-0 Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:16:46 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/event/giraf-2025-returns-november-13-16 The Quickdraw Animation Society’s annual event is back for its 21st year with the best independent and experimental animation from around the world. AWN Staff Editor https://www.awn.com/event/giraf-2025-returns-november-13-16 Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:07:15 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/news/view-2025-reveals-expansive-full-conference-lineup It’s just 2 weeks away… more than 150 award-winning speakers from the world of animation, VFX, games and AI will take part in a packed schedule of keynotes, talks, panels, workshops and masterclasses; event runs October 12-17 in Turin, Italy. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/view-2025-reveals-expansive-full-conference-lineup Thu, 02 Oct 2025 9:53:50 PDT Festival https://www.awn.com/animationworld/crunchyroll-gives-crash-course-adapting-western-webcomics-anime Creators Leeanne M. Krecic, Brandon Lee and producer Heather Horn break down the challenges of collaboration with Japanese studios, from character proportions and redesigns to culture-specific romance cues and etiquette. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/crunchyroll-gives-crash-course-adapting-western-webcomics-anime Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:55:12 PDT Festival