The 7th ANIMAFILM Festival Announces Program and Ticket Sales!

The 7th ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival will take place from October 2-6, 2024, at the “Azerbaijan” Cinema in Baku. The festival has announced its extensive program and opened ticket sales on the Tripsome platform.

The festival is organized by the Azerbaijan Animation Association and PERI FILM LLC, with organizational support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Cinema Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and within the framework of the Baku Cinema Breeze (BCB) Festival.

This year, the 7th ANIMAFILM Festival has chosen “LOVE” as its main theme. Animation, with its ability to visually express emotions, is the perfect medium to convey the complexity of love. By focusing on love, the festival aims to promote empathy, understanding, and unity among its audience.

The 7th ANIMAFILM Festival includes three main programs:

1. Competition Program:

This year, 196 films from 37 countries were submitted to the festival across two international and two local categories. The selection committee reviewed all the films and selected 48 from 18 countries for the competition. Of these, 12 films will compete in local categories, while 36 will compete in international categories. The selected films will be evaluated by an international jury and the audience, with the winners announced during the closing ceremony of the festival.

Don’t miss the screenings of the Competition Program:

– Best Short Animated Film – GRAND PRIX (16+)

– Best Short Animated Film for Children (7+)

– Best Azerbaijani Short Animated Film (Local Competition) (8+)

– Best Azerbaijani Student Short Animated Film (Local Competition) (8+)

2. Out-of-Competition Program:

At the 7th ANIMAFILM Festival, you will have the chance to watch animated works from countries such as Portugal, Greece, Georgia, and the Czech Republic through the “With Love from the World” program. Additionally, you can enjoy a collection titled “ATA: Best of Turkic Animation”, presented in collaboration with the ATA Festival. Furthermore, the festival will feature the animated horror anthology series “Red Iron Road”, based on the works of famous European authors.

3. Professional Program:

This program will present local animated film projects and include industry meetings, masterclasses, and workshops with the international jury and special guests. Renowned Uzbek director Dante Rustav, Canadian animator Matthew Lyon (known for his work on Netflix and Apple TV), professional illustrator Leyla Ali, known for her colorful style, and UK-based stop-motion director Ayan Novruz will lead masterclasses. Additionally, tickets are now available for events such as “ANIMAFILM School: Co-Production Talk”, where you can engage in discussions with leading animation professionals, and “ANIMAFILM School: Making-of”, which will reveal how Azerbaijani animated films and shows, currently in production or already released, were created.

Baku Cinema Breeze 

This year, alongside the ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival, the first-ever Baku Cinema Breeze (BCB) International Film Festival will be held in Azerbaijan. BCB will take place from October 2 to 8 in Baku and is organized by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Cinema Agency of Azerbaijan. As part of the festival, a new film market for the Orient and Central Asia, the OMA Film Market, will showcase opportunities in the film industry. For more information about the festival, please visit www.bakucinemabreeze.az