With 37 animated documentaries and 94 animated films plus live action films and a special Simpson’s event the Dok Leipzig Festival was so full of content it was impossible to see everything.

My only previous encounter with Belarus was when I was thrown off the train in Minsk and sent back to Poland because I didn’t have a Belarus travel visa on my trip from Belgium to Moscow.  This all changed when I was invited to be a juror at the Animaevka Animation Festival.

23rd Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film invites you to submit your animated films produced after October 1st 2014 for the competition categories International Competition, Young Animation, Tricks for Kids and AniMovie. Submission deadline is December 1st, 2015

     When ANIFILM International Festival of Films comes to town for one week each year the historic spa town of Trebon becomes the animation capitol of the Czech Republic. The festival combines the best of the new animation with screenings of historic Czech films.  The festival is a puppet animator’s dream, with screenings of films by such masters of the art as Jiri Trnka and Vlasta Pospisilova.  There were even live puppet shows in the park which surrounds the castle in the center of town.

The KROK International Animated Film Festival will take place from 27^th of September to 3^rd of October 2015, and are looking for film submissions!

The 38th International Animated Film Festival Cinanima, 10 through 16 November, 2014 in Espinho, Portugal is one of the oldest and most respected animation festivals in the world. It has the reputation for screening not only the best of current animation, but is also a major showcase for Portuguese animation. The Grand Prix winning film at the festival qualifies for submission to the Academy Awards and the Cartoon D’ Or. Portugal has a rich literary history and a centuries old connection to the sea, and that is often reflected in their animation. When coupled with the country’s long years of isolation from the rest of Europe, I feel it often makes Portuguese animation difficult for other cultures to appreciate. With the exception of a few well-known Portuguese animators such as Regina Pessoa, Abe Feijo, Jose Miguel Ribeiro, and Joanna Toste, comparatively little animation from this country has been seen at other festivals in the past. There are numerous excellent animators such as Zepe (Jose Pedro Cavalheiro) whose films are well-known in his own country but seldom seen in the rest of the world.

http://cinanima.pt/

KROK SAILS SMOOTHLY THROUGH TROUBLED WATERS - the KROK International Animated Film Festival took place 29 September to 5 October 2014 along the Volga River, Russia

ITFS - Extended submission deadline for the animated feature length film competition AniMovie until January 19, 2015.

and

Animated Com Award - awarding outstanding work in the areas of advertising, spatial communication and technology, and the special award of the Daimler AG. Films can be submitted until January 15, 2015.

Anibar Animation Festival is truly unique.  No one involved with the running of the festival is over 26 years old, they have a strong ecological bent, and the festival is primarily organized for the 60,000 residents of Peja rather than for foreign guests.  The quality of the programing is good and included something to please everyone. I always find their Balkan Competition to be interesting, with many films that I don’t get to see at other festivals.