Region’s first animation festival looking for submissions

Animation will be in the frame in April at Animate Dubai, the region’s first animation festival. Silvia Rázgová / The National

Animate Dubai, the latest addition to Dubai Culture’s Dubai Art Season and the GCC’s first animation festival, will debut on the April 22.

The organisers of the four-day festival have called for submissions of Arab and International feature-length and short films.

“Animate Dubai is a UAE based force with the sole purpose of stimulating quality animation,” says its founder, Lina Younes. “I founded The Animation Chamber in 2012, a grassroots Dubai-based organisation that started out as the UAE’s first stop-motion collective and educational initiative.

“Through our work at The Animation Chamber, we realised that the UAE is home to an animation sector that shows considerable talent and creative potential. Animate Dubai strives to encourage the UAE-based animation makers and fans alike to provide them with an international showcase. It is the first in the region to create the infrastructure catering to the industry’s bloom.

“Animate Dubai acts as a platform for UAE universities, animation schools and institutes to showcase their talent and provide them with an opportunity to grow their skills. Special projects will be exhibited at the event from the American University of Sharjah, the American University of Dubai and Zayed University.”

The event has received an overwhelming response from animators from all around the region and the world.

“We are also very proud to announce our strategic partnerships with Dubai Studio City as well as some of the world’s best Animation Festivals, like Annecy (France), Ta7rik (Tunisia), and ASIFA China to name a few,” says Younes.

The four-day festival will feature an opening ceremony; daily Arab and International film screenings; daily educational workshops catering to different age groups and expertise levels; engaging panel sessions and talks by some of the leading lights of the industry; an animation film market connecting the talent to funding bodies; creative animation installations; daily live performances including theatre, concerts & visuals; a corner DVD and bookstore; and a closing awards ceremony.

Animate Dubai is inviting animation artists to be part of this exciting new journey by submitting their films, features and shorts, by February 8, 2015, to: www.animatedubai.com/submissions-2015.