Year: 2023

Animate! with Aardman Workshop (Free Event)

Animate! With Aardman

Learn the unique art of animation at this fun, interactive workshop. An in-person guide will present a series of digital step by step tutorials, produced by our friends at Aardman! Make your own film! An amazing activity for the whole family. Workshop runs approximately one hour to 90 minutes. Space is limited.

AI & Animation panel

Dive into the world of AI in Animation at this free panel conversation + cocktail reception! RSVP HERE French In Motion is excited to invite you to its upcoming panel discussion at the Japan House Los Angeles, on Saturday, October 21 at 12:00 PM. As part of Animation Is Film Festival — the celebrated annual AI & Animation panel

Animate! with Aardman Workshop (Free Event)

Animate! With Aardman

Learn the unique art of animation at this fun, interactive workshop. An in-person guide will present a series of digital step by step tutorials, produced by our friends at Aardman! Make your own film! An amazing activity for the whole family. Workshop runs approximately one hour to 90 minutes. This event is now fully booked!

The Boy and the Heron (Standard)

A young boy named Mahitoyearning for his motherventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.There, death comes to an end,and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasyabout life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship,from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and The Boy and the Heron (Standard)

The Wrong Trousers – 30th Anniversary! (Free Event)

In this Oscar and BAFTA-winning classic, Wallace takes in a mysterious lodger, but Gromit’s suspicions are aroused when the new arrival shows interest in his master’s techno-trousers. Animation Is Film proudly presents this special 30th anniversary celebration of one of the most beloved animated shorts of all time! This screening is free!

Pamela Ribon

Pamela Ribon is the Academy Award®-nominated creator and writer of MY YEAR OF DICKS, an adaptation of her critically-acclaimed comedic memoir NOTES TO BOYS (AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULDN’T SHARE IN PUBLIC), which was nominated for Best Animated Short Film for the 95th Academy Awards. Her recent work includes the animated adaptation Nimona.Pamela is a Pamela Ribon

Aubry Mintz

Aubry Mintz has worked as a feature animator (ILM, Square USA) and directed projects for Smirnoff, McDonalds, MuchMusic and General Mills and the Canadian rock band Rush.

Monica Lago-Kaytis

Monica Lago-Kaytis is a Latin-American producer, who made her live-action debut with Netflix’s feature The Christmas Chronicles with Chris Columbus and starring Kurt Russell

Ramin Zahed

Ramin Zahed (Editor-in-Chief for Animation Magazine) Ramin Zahed is an LA-based author and journalist who specializes in animation, visual effects, pop culture and indie films. He is the Editor in Chief of Animation Magazine and has written for Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, Sight and Sound and others. Among his recent books are The Ramin Zahed

Nora Twomey

Nora Twomey is an Academy Award®, BAFTA & Golden Globe nominated Director. She is also Partner & Creative Director at Cartoon Saloon, Ireland. In a career spanning over two decades, Nora has worked in a number of capacities on Cartoon Saloon’s creative output. She was co-director to Tomm Moore’s Academy Award® nominated The Secret of Kells while also Nora Twomey

Marge Dean

Marge Dean is an Emmy®-winning producer/executive and as Head of Animation Studio at Skybound Entertainment, she is responsible for the development and production of original animated content and is establishing a new production facility for the production of Skybound properties including Invincible for Amazon Prime.

The Summer

Life in the countryside is quiet and mundane for bookish Yi-gyeong until an errant ball sends star athlete Su-yi crashing into her life. The connection between the two girls is instantaneous, and simmers until their mutual attraction bubbles up into love. But just as their feelings for each other start to make sense, Yi-gyeong’s ambitions The Summer

Chicken for Linda!

After a misunderstanding Paulette is racked with familiar parental guilt and vows to make it up to her daughter Linda. The only problem is Linda’s one request, to make the chicken and peppers dish her late father always made, is difficult not just because Paulette can’t cook, but an ongoing strike means she can’t even Chicken for Linda!

Shorts 3: Student Showcase

Animation Is Film is once again proud to shine a light on some of the year’s most extraordinary animated short films in three separate Short Film presentations. For Shorts 3: Student Showcase, Animation Is Film proudly presents a showcase of films from the next generation of artists, courtesy of our Educational Partners – CalArts, USC, Shorts 3: Student Showcase

Shorts 1: Award-Winning Animated Shorts

IN-PERSON Q&A with Andrew Ruhemann (director, THE DAY I BECAME A BIRD), Mitra Shahidi (STARLING), and Ethan Barrett (ROSEMARY A.D.) Animation Is Film is once again proud to shine a light on some of the year’s most extraordinary animated short films in three separate Short Film presentations. For Shorts 1: Award-winning Animated Shorts, a collection Shorts 1: Award-Winning Animated Shorts

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story

Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend, and student while acting as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story

Trolls Band Together

IN-PERSON intro and Q&A with director Walt Dohrn, co-director Tim Heitz and producer Gina Shay! Animation Is Film is pleased to present this Special Presentation of Dreamworks Animation’s latest feature – Trolls Band Together. This holiday season, get ready for an action-packed, all-star, rainbow-colored family reunion like no other as Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake Trolls Band Together

Warner Bros 100: Looney Tunes Cartoons

IN-PERSON Q&A with Alex Kirwan, Aaron Spurgeon, Dan Haskett, Max Winston, and Eric Bauza. Moderated by Jerry Beck! Over the span of 6 seasons, “Looney Tunes Cartoons” delivered over 250 new animated shorts starring the beloved Looney Tunes characters. Echoing the high production value and process of the original Looney Tunes theatrical shorts, with a Warner Bros 100: Looney Tunes Cartoons

Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds

What happens when you get literally lost inside your favorite book? Adventure seeking Juliette and her sister Carmen are faced with these very questions when they are dropped off at their neighbor’s house and quite literally drop into Juliette’s favorite fantasy book, featuring the mysterious Sirocco and The Kingdom of the Winds. The sisters are Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds

Robot Dreams

Q+A with Director Pablo Berger! Set in the 1980s East Village, this uniquely New York tale introduces us to Dog, a glum bipedal pooch whose nightly routine consists cable TV and prepackaged frozen dinners for one. A respite from the solitude comes via a late night informercial advertising a Robot Companion. Before you can say Robot Dreams

Phoenix: Reminiscence of Flower

Following a tragedy on the desolate planet Eden17, Romi is placed in a state of cryopreservation. When she wakes over a thousand years in the future, alone but embraced as royalty on the now civilized planet, she embarks on a journey to fulfill a promise she made to her young son: to return to Earth.Adapting Phoenix: Reminiscence of Flower

Mars Express

Aline Ruby is a private detective who tries to outrun her own demons by chasing other people’s troubles. She’s aided by her loyal partner, Carlos Rivera, or, more specifically, the android replica of him. Their current mission is to track down the disappearance of Jun Chow, a young cybernetics student. When the two detectives realize Mars Express

The Concierge

Step into the enchanting Hokkyoku Department Store where the shoppers are animals “of all shapes and sizes.” Big-hearted newcomer Akino aims to emulate her colleague, Mori, as the perfect concierge. Tested by the demands of her unique clientele, Akino must learn how to flourish in her dream role all while under the watchful (and intense!) The Concierge

Art College 1994

Liu Jian’s loosely autobiographical portrait of art students in the mid 90s will feel loosely autobiographical to anyone who’s ever spent any time at college (or high school) and awkwardly smoked a cigarette while aimlessly pontificating on the meaning of it all – art, sex, love. While both the place and time – a Chinese Art College 1994

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

IN-PERSON Q&A with Director Sam Fell and Executive Producer Peter Lord (director of the original CHICKEN RUN)! From the multi-Academy and BAFTA award-winning Aardman (Creature Comforts, Wallace & Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep), and Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated director Sam Fell (ParaNorman and Flushed Away, respectively), comes Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the eagerly Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

The Boy and the Heron (IMAX)

IMAX A young boy named Mahitoyearning for his motherventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.There, death comes to an end,and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasyabout life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship,from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years, The Boy The Boy and the Heron (IMAX)

The Boy and the Heron

A young boy named Mahitoyearning for his motherventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.There, death comes to an end,and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasyabout life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship,from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and The Boy and the Heron

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

From the multi-Academy and BAFTA award-winning Aardman (Creature Comforts, Wallace & Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep), and Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated director Sam Fell (ParaNorman and Flushed Away, respectively), comes Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the eagerly anticipated sequel to the beloved and highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, Chicken Run. Having pulled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Art College 1994

Liu Jian’s loosely autobiographical portrait of art students in the mid 90s will feel loosely autobiographical to anyone who’s ever spent any time at college (or high school) and awkwardly smoked a cigarette while aimlessly pontificating on the meaning of it all – art, sex, love. While both the place and time – a Chinese Art College 1994

The Concierge

Step into the enchanting Hokkyoku Department Store where the shoppers are animals “of all shapes and sizes.” Big-hearted newcomer Akino aims to emulate her colleague, Mori, as the perfect concierge. Tested by the demands of her unique clientele, Akino must learn how to flourish in her dream role all while under the watchful (and intense!) The Concierge

Mars Express

Aline Ruby is a private detective who tries to outrun her own demons by chasing other people’s troubles. She’s aided by her loyal partner, Carlos Rivera, or, more specifically, the android replica of him. Their current mission is to track down the disappearance of Jun Chow, a young cybernetics student. When the two detectives realize Mars Express

Robot Dreams

In-person Q&A with Director Pablo Berger! Set in the 1980s East Village, this uniquely New York tale introduces us to Dog, a glum bipedal pooch whose nightly routine consists cable TV and prepackaged frozen dinners for one. A respite from the solitude comes via a late night informercial advertising a Robot Companion. Before you can Robot Dreams

The Summer

Life in the countryside is quiet and mundane for bookish Yi-gyeong until an errant ball sends star athlete Su-yi crashing into her life. The connection between the two girls is instantaneous, and simmers until their mutual attraction bubbles up into love. But just as their feelings for each other start to make sense, Yi-gyeong’s ambitions The Summer

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Batman battles a dangerous new foe who is trying to frame the Dark Knight for the murder of a Gotham City crime boss. Featuring the voices of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Dana Delaney, Batman: MOTP underperformed financially in its initial theatrical run, but found great success on home video. Today it is frequently cited Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Chicken for Linda!

After a misunderstanding Paulette is racked with familiar parental guilt and vows to make it up to her daughter Linda. The only problem is Linda’s one request, to make the chicken and peppers dish her late father always made, is difficult not just because Paulette can’t cook, but an ongoing strike means she can’t even Chicken for Linda!

Bill Desowitz

Bill Desowitz, the Crafts & Animation Editor at IndieWire, specializes in below-the-line and animation coverage, with an emphasis on Oscar and Emmy Awards season reporting/analysis.

Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge is Variety’s Chief International Film Critic.

Charles Solomon

An internationally respected critic and historian of animation.