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.
Dive into the world of AI in Animation at this free panel conversation + cocktail reception!
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 festival that highlights a carefully curated selection of the finest animated films from across the globe — this event promises to be an enlightening and engaging experience.
With real-time game engine technologies and AI, we can now create animation quicker than ever. This panel will discuss how these technologies are currently being used (and their limitations), how traditional 2D and CG pipelines are changing, and how to cultivate and protect the role of artists within our industry.
Moderated by accomplished Producer Rebecca Totman (Slumberkins, 2022, The Simpsons, 1989), and featuring the Animation Guild Local 839’s President Jeanette Moreno King; Senior Creative Executive Sarah Maizes; Immersive Content Creator and Consultant Andrew Cochrane; Director Chris Perry; and Music composer Sacha Chaban.
Born in 1980, Itazu started working in the anime industry at the age of 18. He worked as an animator for “KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops” series (2004), “Paprika” (2006), and “Wind Rises” (2013). He served as the character designer, animation director, and an animator for “MISS HOKUSAI” (2015), and he was the co-assistant animation director for “The Deer King” (2022). He made his TV series directorial debut with “Welcome to the Ballroom” (MBS/2017), and “The Concierge” is his anime film directorial debut.
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!
A young boy named Mahito
yearning for his mother
ventures 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 fantasy
about 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 Heron is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award®-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film “Spinning Globe” was written and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu
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!
Director, illustrator, and professor at ENSAD (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs), Sébastien Laudenbach has written a dozen award-winning short films selected by numerous international festivals, as well as credit packages and music videos.
With his feature film The Girl Without Hands, presented at Cannes, awarded at the Annecy International Animation Festival, and in competition for a César award, Sébastien Laudenbach has developed a lively, signature style full of movement, while remaining effective and to the point.
Sam Fell started his career as writer/director of the short film The Big Cheese for 3 Peach Animation/Channel4. He then joined Aardman Animations as a director and animator on commercials and short projects like Pop, Chump, Peter Lord’s’ Oscar-nominated short film Wat’s Pig, and the BBC series Rex the Runt.
During that time he also developed a children’s TV series called Rabbits! and several feature animation projects including Flushed Away.
When Flushed Away was greenlit to become Aardman’s first CG project he moved to Los Angeles to direct the movie (with David Bowers) at Dreamworks Animation studios. The film was nominated for a BAFTA in 2007.
From 2008 to 2009 he directed (with Rob Stevenhagen) The Tale of Despereaux for Universal Studios in London at Framestore.
From there Sam moved to Portland, Oregan to direct Laika’s second feature film ParaNorman (with writer/director Chris Butler) which was released in August 2012 and nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA in 2013.
Since then he has been directing commercials and developing long form projects.
Liu Jian (China, 1969) majored in Chinese Painting and graduated from the Nanjing Art Institute in 1993.
Since then, he has made various works that met with the criteria of modern art and that were presented in some of the most important exhibitions in China and abroad. He is one of the representative artists of Gaudy Art and Conceptual Photography. He began working on animations in 1995 and founded Le-joy Animation Studio in 2007.
His first feature animation, Piercing 1, screened in numerous film festivals, including Holland Animation FF, Annecy International Animation FF, and Hong Kong International FF. The film also won Best Animated Feature Film at the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Liu Jian also teaches animation filmmaking at the China Academy of Art. In 2017, his feature animation film Have A Nice Day premieres in competition at the Berlin Film Festival before being screened in more than 50 festivals worldwide including BFI London, Sitges, Thessaloniki and Annecy.
Jérémie Périn was born in 1978 in the north of France. He studied animation at the renowned Gobelins school, graduating in 2000. Since 2001, he has worked for various animation studios, acquiring solid experience in storyboarding, layout, compositing, and design. He moved on to directing in 2004 with TV series pilots and short films.
In 2007, he collaborated with the studio JE SUIS BIEN CONTENT as a producer and director on various series such as CO2, Nini Patalo and Socks. He also works at Autochenille Production, working on the development of The Rabbi’s Cat and Sardine in Outer Space. In 2009, he directed the opening credits of the film Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life and the music video Truckers Delight for the band Flairs.
In 2016, he wrote and directed the Lastman series. Mars Express is his first feature.
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Nishimi is known for his unique sense of animation style. Nishimi was the supervising animation director of Tekkonkinkreet (2006). He directed Mutafukaz, (2017) an animated film co-produced with France. It was premiered at Annecy in June 2017, and was nominated for the 46th Annie Awards in the Best Animated Independent Feature. PHOENIX Reminiscence of Flower describes love, especially love for the earth and humanity and compassion for those humanʼs activities as seen from the Phoenix that lives in eternity. It is Nishimiʼs second feature length film.
Han Ji-won is a Seoul-based director, illustrator and cartoonist. Her debut film, Clearer Than You Think, made her the youngest South Korean to direct a theatrically released animation film. It earned praise from moviegoers as well as fellow directors such as Yeon Sang-ho, director of Train to Busan and Pseudo, who referred to her as a “new kind of director that’s hard to find in Korea.”
The main theme of director Han Ji-won’s work is the dreams of youth and it focuses on the moments and emotions of characters who have the shared experience of living in a pressure-filled Korean society. While attending the Korea National University of Arts, she released her first animated short, Kopi Luwak, which was awarded the Grand Prize at the Seoul Independent Animation Film Festival.
Since then, she has been working as a 2D animation director and independent producer. In addition to her feature film work, she produced a web animation series titled, Recipe to My Daughter based on writer Gong Ji-young’s essay of the same name. Her most recent short film, The Sea of the Day of the Return of Magic, won the grand prize at the 2022 Seoul Independent Animation Film Festival and competed in the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
Prior to directing Trolls Band Together, Dohrn made his directorial debut with DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour after serving as co-director on the first installment of the blockbuster franchise. As one of DreamWorks Animation’s most trusted story experts, Dohrn previously served as head of story on Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Shrek Forever After.
A multi- talented artist, Dohrn has on many occasions lent his voice to various characters in DreamWorks Animation films, most recently as “King Peppy” and “Cloud Guy” in the Trolls films. In the global blockbuster Shrek Forever After, he made his debut as a voice performer in a leading role, bringing to life the conniving and hilarious villain Rumpelstiltskin, earning him numerous accolades. Perfecting the character’s performance came naturally to Dohrn, as he additionally served as head of story for the film. In that capacity, Dohrn was responsible for supervising the development of the film’s plot, working in close collaboration with director Mike Mitchell and supervising a team of story artists.
Since joining DreamWorks Animation in 2002, Dohrn’s additional credits include Rise of the Guardians, Shrek the Third, Madagascar, Shark Tale, and Shrek 2. In addition, Dohrn wrote the lyrics for the songs “Final Showdown” (Shrek the Third) and “Fairy Godmother Song” (Shrek 2).
Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation, he worked as a storyboard artist, writer, and director on the critically acclaimed and audience favorites SpongeBob Squarepants and Dexter’s Laboratory. Dohrn is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and ASIFA-Hollywood.
Jarelle Dampier is a director and story artist at Sony Pictures Animation. Dampier started his entertainment career in television as a story artist on various Justice League animated shows, Skybound’s Invincible, Marvel’s What If… and Marvel’s Spider-Man before moving on to feature animation boards. After teaming up with Sony to direct for the LENS program, Dampier went on to serve as a story artist for the highly-anticipated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse and is currently working on an unannounced feature at Sony Animation.
Gina Shay has over 25 years of experience producing animated films, which
includes a full decade of films and specials for DreamWorks Animation. Most recently,
she produced Trolls Band Together, the third installment of the blockbuster franchise
starring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake. Shay has been instrumental in the
success of the property, having also served as a producer of the two previous film,
Trolls World Tour and Trolls. In addition, she produced the box-office hit Shrek Forever
After, the fourth installment of the wildly successful Shrek franchise. Her list of shorts
include Shrek the Halls, Shrek’s first-ever original animated holiday special, and aired to
an enthusiastic response in November of 2007 on ABC.
Before joining DreamWorks Animation, Shay spent another decade producing for
Paramount Pictures serving as executive producer of The Spongebob Squarepants
Movie. She was also the co-producer on Paramount Pictures’ and Nickelodeons Movies’
first CG Oscar®-nominated animated feature film, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Prior to
that she was the line producer on the highly acclaimed, award-winning, CG animated
feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, where her responsibilities included
putting together a digital animation studio in just two months’ time in order to
accommodate the feature’s demanding production schedule.
Shay began her professional career in filmmaking as a production manager on
Ralph Bakshis’ and Paramount Pictures’ feature film Cool World. She then moved on to
Disney to serve as associate producer on two films, Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin and Pocahontas: Journey to a New World. She also worked on the virtual attraction
The Spiderman Ride for Universal Studios Theme Park. Shay attended Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn, New York, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Tim Heitz has played a key role in numerous DreamWorks Animation’s most celebrated and iconic films over his fifteen-year tenure with the company. Most recently, he served as co-director on Trolls Band Together, the third installment of the blockbuster franchise starring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake. Over the years, Heitz has played a key role in the success of the property, having served as head of story on Trolls World Tour and as a story artist on Trolls.
Additional credits include work as a story artist on How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Penguins of Madagascar, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Megamind, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa.
Heitz made his directorial debut at DreamWorks Animation on the 2021 holiday Sspecial Trolls Holiday in Harmony, which he also wrote. He studied at San Jose State University and St. Louis Community College.
Follow Tim Heitz on Instagram @theitz.
Joe Darko was a senior animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks, most recently completing work on the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Darko joined Imageworks in 2017 and his credits include the Academy Award®-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Academy Award-nominated The Sea Beast, for which he served as animation lead, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Smallfoot, The Angry Birds Movie 2, and Vivo. Darko’s earlier credits include Thor: Ragnarok, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, and The Son of Bigfoot. Darko attended Bournemouth University in the south of England and graduated with a degree in Computer Animation.
Khaila Amazan is a writer at Sony Pictures Animation. Prior to starting in the LENS program, Amazan began her entertainment career as a story trainee in the creative development department at Columbia Pictures, followed by executive assistant positions at the development departments of Walt Disney Studios and Netflix’s Original Independent Films group. Amazan’s TV writing credits include Netflix’s “Freeridge and Blumhouse” x Amazon Studios’ upcoming series The Horror of Dolores Roach. On the film side, Amazan wrote ACE Entertainment’s A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea & Tomorrow and co-wrote Stampede Ventures’ K-POPS! with Anderson .Paak.
Clara Chan is a visual effects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks with over two decades of industry experience. In 2001, Chan joined Imageworks as a technical director in the lighting department. Her credits include the upcoming animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the Academy Award®-nominated Over the Moon, first three Hotel Transylvania films, Storks, The Emoji Movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Oz The Great and Powerful, The Amazing Spider-Man, Cats & Dogs 2, G-Force, Beowulf, the Academy Award-nominated Monster House, The Polar Express, and Stuart Little 2. Earlier in her career, Clara worked as a software engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Clara earned a B.S. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in visualization sciences from Texas A&M University. In her spare time, Clara is also directing and producing an animated short film, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Chiara Malta has directed several short films including a trilogy on childhood that have been selected for and awarded at numerous international festivals.
After her feature-length documentary Armando e la politica for la Lucarne (Arte/ZDF), she became an artist-in-residence at the Villa Medici (Rome).
Her first feature film, Simple Women, featuring Jasmine Trinca and Elina Löwensohn, was the opening film for the Discovery category of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019.
She regularly directs episodes for French TV series Chronicles of the Sun and is currently in Italy shooting the first season of a series produced by Grøenlandia and Fidelio.
Chicken for Linda! is her first feature animation.
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 screenwriter (Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Bears), performer, VR and TV writer, comic book writer (MY BOYFRIEND IS A BEAR, SLAM!), best-selling novelist, and filmmaker. She co-hosts the podcast Listen To Sassy, a weekly deep-dive through every issue of Sassy Magazine.
Pamela was a flagship contributor to Television Without Pity, and is known as a pioneer in the blogging world with pamie.com, where she launched such viral essays as “How I Might Have Just Become the Newest Urban Legend” and “Barbie Fucks it Up Again,” the latter of which led to #FeministHackerBarbie, a revamp of Mattel’s products and marketing for Barbie, and the creation of Game Developer Barbie as “Career of the Year.” Pamela’s stage work has been showcased at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival.
A former Austinite with a BFA in Drama from the University of Texas, Pamela has been entered into the Oxford English Dictionary under “muffin top.” That is not a joke. @pamelaribon | she/her
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.
As animation producer Mintz worked on several projects including; a short animated film about war torn Syria with UNICEF/ASIFA-Hollywood, “Airship Dracula” with voice talent Paul Sorvino, and Alan Tudyk, and music by The Sadies, and “Nothing to Say” a short animated film (which he also wrote/directed/animated) narrated by Danny Aiello which received official selections at 41 festivals and won awards at Australia Independent Film Festival, Arctic Film Festival (a United Nations SDG Initiative), Palm Springs International Animation Festival, Anchorage Film Festival and a finalist at Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Children’s Cinema Awards, and Oakland Short Film Festival. Aubry is also currently developing his short film Nothing to Say into a children’s book.
Co-author for the book “Ideas for the Animated Short” 2nd Edition, and writer for Animation Magazine, AnimationScoop.com and IndieWire.com, Mintz presented at several companies and conferences including; Disney Feature Animation, Blue Sky Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation, San Diego Comic Con, SIGGRAPH and CTNX . Aubry was also guest host on TV’s Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for a 4-hour program consulting on the animated short films from the National Film Board of Canada.
As an educator Aubry developed college animation programs as chair of animation at Laguna College of Art and Design, Director of Animation and VFX at Chapman University, and is currently a Professor of Animation at CSULB where he also served as Director of the School of Art. Mintz is also on the board of Directors at ASIFA-Hollywood.
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 marks the first feature of her newly created production company Frogbot Films, formed with her partner, veteran animator and director Clay Kaytis.
Born in Hollywood and raised in Los Angeles, Monica Lago-Kaytis joined Walt Disney Animation Studios for the film Pocahontas in 1994 and went on to work in various production roles on traditional, CG and stereoscopic animated films including Hercules, Meet the Robinsons and The Princess and the Frog. She served as Associate Producer on Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia. Frogbot Films is actively developing existing and original properties for live-action and animation production.
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 Art of The Mitchells vs. the Machines, The Art of Vivo, The Art of Love, Death + Robots, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse The Art of the Movie, and The Art of Klaus.
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 guiding the development processes on a number of series including Emmy nominated Puffin Rock and Dorg Van Dango. She was Head of Story on Academy Award® nominated Song of the Sea and Producer on Wolfwalkers. She directed The Breadwinner, which was also nominated for an Academy Award® & Golden Globe, and won several international awards including multiple Annies and the Audience & Jury Awards at Annecy. My Father’s Dragon is Nora’s third feature and second solo-directed film. She lives in Kilkenny with her husband, children, two cats and one fish.
Oscar-winning director of THE LOST THING
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.
Known for building studios and animation pipelines, Dean was responsible for the design or re-design of several studios including Columbia-TriStar TV, Warner Brothers Animation, Mattel’s Playground Production, Omation (Steve Oedekerk), Technicolor Animation and Wildbrain Entertainment. Prior to joining Skybound, Dean was the Head of Crunchyroll Studios —the largest anime streaming platform in the world— where she supervised production and development of Crunchyroll Original series premiering in 2020.
In 2014, a group of women led by Dean took over the non-profit advocacy group, Women in Animation (WIA), revitalizing it. Membership grew from 120 people to over 4500 in five years as well as a reach of over 18,000 animation professionals and students. Primarily powered by volunteers, WIA has grown to a world-class advocacy organization impacting the lives of creative women, transgender and non-binary people around the world.
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 get a chicken.
A simple task takes Paulette and Linda on a screwball adventure from henhouse to watermelon truck, meeting incompetent police to allergic truck drivers and eventually the whole neighborhood is invested in the escapade. Their journey proves that life throws you something unexpected, toss it in the pot and it’s bound to make the recipe more interesting and ultimately more delicious.
Filmmakers Sebastian Laudenbach and Chiara Malta find the beauty, humor and absurdity in everyday life and through clever visuals give us a new perspective on what may appear familiar. Winner of the Cristal Prize for Best Feature Film at the 2023 Annecy Film Festival, Chicken for Linda is both a film unlike any others as well as a undisputable crowd pleaser, a perfect recipe for a film.
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, California State University Long Beach, and California State University Fullerton.
PARROTS (CalArts, Jennifer Nie)
A COLLECTOR OF BIG AND SMALL THINGS (CalArts, Pavit Panag)
CORNER CRUSH (CalArts, Isis Mejia-Duarte)
A PLASTIC BAG (CalArts, Huayi Yu)
APOCALYPSE YASS: TWO GIRLS. ONE RAPTURE. (CalArts, Amy Hewett)
KILIG (USC, Kacey Layson)
RESTLESS IS THE NIGHT (USC, Xiaoxue Meng)
THE NECTAR INSTEAD (USC, Yoo Lee)
PERFECT CITY: THE BRAVEST KID (USC, Shengwei Zhou)
SOLAR ECLIPSE (CSULB, Zsofia Katona)
DIS-COMFORT ZONE (CSULB, Lulu Castaneda Acero)
TENT CITY (CSULB, Camille Romero)
PEACE OFFERING (CSULB, Helen Lesmana)
NIDO DE MI VIDA (CSULB, Ivy Gonzalez)
OCCUPIED (CSUF, Liam Fink)
ROSIE’S MONSTER (CSUF, R.M. Salners)
IMAX
A young boy named Mahito
yearning for his mother
ventures 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 fantasy
about 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 Heron is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award®-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film “Spinning Globe” was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu
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 anticipated sequel to the beloved and highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, Chicken Run.
Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in! A Netflix Release.
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 school in 1994 – are specific enough to warrant inclusion in the film’s title, the universality of the film’s central theme – young people on the precipice of adulthood, using art as a shield against an impending and uncertain future – is an emotional touchstone. Rendered in a gorgeous and painterly 2D animation, some films provide a glimpse into an alien world, while others serve to remind us of just how alike we all are. A Dekanalog release.
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!) eye of her manager, Mr. Todo.
Based on the critically-acclaimed manga, the film is told in a series of lovely and loosely connected vignettes animated by the legendary Production I.G. Yoshimi Itazu has worked as a key animator for such luminaries as Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki (including on this year’s AIF Opener, The Boy and the Heron), but makes his feature debut with this magical celebration of being at the service to others – and to yourself. An Aniplex release.
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 they’re not the only ones trying to find Jun Chow they begin to question not only their own mission but how Jun’s disappearance could be a critical factor in the fight between humans and robots. Their hunt becomes a race against time as they traverse the bustling metropolitan life and seedy underbelly of Mars’ capital city.
Mars Express provides the nostalgic escape of classic crime thrillers through the unique visual depiction of a future that only animation can provide. The pulse-racing chases and gritty action are set against a genuine and empathic portrayal of what being a true partner means.
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 Osamu Tezuka’s legendary manga series, director Shojiro Nishimi and STUDIO4℃’s film is a visual and spiritual feast.
This Animation Is Film presentation is the North American Premiere of the theatrical version of the film, which features an alternate ending, previously unseen by audiences anywhere.
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 “Some assembly required,” new BFFs Dog and Robot are riding the subway and roller skating through Central Park. When a Labor Day weekend trip to the beach goes awry, Dog (and Robot) finds themselves questioning Tennyson’s famous line about whether it’s really “better to have loved and lost…”
Pablo Berger’s (Blancanieves) first foray into feature animation, based on Sara Varon’s graphic novel and peppered with cinematic allusions to The Wizard of Oz, The Big Lebowski, and Esther Williams musicals, among others, is unlike any film you’ve ever seen: a moving, thoughtful treatise on the nature of friendship, and the power of dreams and learning to let go. A NEON release.
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 quickly separated in this new fantastical land which features flying divas, technicolor dragons, and other mind-melting creations. While they have to figure out how to reunite and escape back into the real world, they find it harder than they imagined to leave their new magical world and curious friends.
Many years in the making, Sirocco is a singular vision. Director Benoît Chieux has created a world that references the psychedelic wonder of films like Yellow Submarine and The Fantastic Plane but with a unique point of view that makes you, like the young protagonists, want to get truly lost in the airy majesty of this strange kingdom.
IN-PERSON intro and Q&A with Academy Award® winner Chris Buck (Frozen) and Fawn Veerasunthorn to present WISH presentation!
IN-PERSON intro and Q&A with directors Dan Abraham and Trent Correy to present ONCE UPON A STUDIO!
On the occasion of Disney Animation’s 100th anniversary, Animation Is Film is enormously proud to celebrate its past, present, and future. Be among the first audiences – outside of the studio itself! – to view brand new footage from Wish, the company’s 62nd feature film, presented by its directors and creative team! Afterwards, stick around for a screening and panel featuring the makers of the company’s newest short film, Once Upon a Studio.
Wish is set in the kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it’s answered by a cosmic force—a ball of boundless energy called Star. Asha and Star confront the formidable King Magnifico to prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
An all-star ensemble of beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios come together in Once Upon a Studio for a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion as they assemble for a spectacular group photo to mark Disney’s 100th anniversary. Featuring 543 Disney characters from more than 85 feature-length and short films, Once Upon a Studio welcomes heroes and villains, princes and princesses, sidekicks and sorcerers—in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation—to celebrate 10 decades of storytelling, artistry and technological achievements.
Directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy and produced by Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen.
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 cartoonist-driven approach to storytelling, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and other marquee Looney Tunes characters were featured in their classic pairings in simple, gag-driven and visually vibrant stories.
Join series creatives for a special Q&A and screening featuring never-before-seen “Looney Tunes Cartoons” shorts, some of their favorites from the series, and a special presentation of “Daffy in Wackyland” – the first stop-motion Looney Tunes animated short ever made. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, “Looney Tunes Cartoons” is currently streaming on Max.
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 return for the new chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s blockbuster musical franchise: Trolls Band Together.
After two films of true friendship and relentless flirting, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) are now officially, finally, a couple (#broppy)! As they grow closer, Poppy discovers that Branch has a secret past. He was once part of her favorite boyband phenomenon, BroZone, with his four brothers: Floyd (Golden Globe nominated electropop sensation Troye Sivan), John Dory (Eric André; Sing 2), Spruce (Grammy winner Daveed Diggs; Hamilton) and Clay (Grammy winner Kid Cudi; Don’t Look Up). BroZone disbanded when Branch was still a baby, as did the family, and Branch hasn’t seen his brothers since. But when Branch’s bro Floyd is kidnapped for his musical talents by a pair of nefarious pop-star villains—Velvet (Emmy winner Amy Schumer; Trainwreck) and Veneer (Grammy winner and Tony nominee Andrew Rannells; The Book of Mormon)—Branch and Poppy embark on a harrowing and emotional journey to reunite the other brothers and rescue Floyd from a fate even worse than pop-culture obscurity.
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 brave an act as protecting his city from evil.
The Spider Within is the inaugural short of Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks’s new LENS (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers) program. The program connects up-and-coming filmmakers from underrepresented groups with creative and executive leadership to produce a short film utilizing an existing pipeline from an upcoming feature film. This program will feature the North American Premiere of the film, followed by a panel with Jarelle Dampier (Director), Khaila Amazan (Writer), Clara Chan (VFX supervisor), and Joe Darko (animation supervisor), moderated by Michelle Raimo-Kouyate and David Schulenburg (Producers/LENS Program Creators).
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 by fans and critics as being among the greatest Batman and superhero films of all time – “the finest Batman on record,” according to Wired Magazine.
In honor of its 30th anniversary, Animation Is Film is proud to present this special big-screen presentation of this beloved Batman story and special tribute to the iconic voice work of Kevin Conroy, who sadly left us last November.
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 of Oscar-qualifying titles from around the world, including:
THE DAY I BECAME A BIRD (UK/ Andrew Ruhemann) – A boy falls in love with a girl who only has eyes for birds. To get her attention, he comes up with a rather unusual plan.
STARLING (USA/ Mitra Shahidi) – A little girl shoots down from the heavens to spend her birthday with her family.
ROSEMARY A.D. (AFTER DAD) (USA/ Ethan Barrett) – Would my daughter be better off without me? The question swims around a father’s mind as he cradles his newborn, in this darkly funny and poignant tale.
LETTER TO A PIG (Israel-France/ Tal Kantor) – A Holocaust survivor reads a letter he wrote to the pig who saved his life. A young schoolgirl hears his testimony in class and sinks into a twisted dream where she confronts questions of identity, collective trauma, and the extremes of human nature.
WILD SUMMON (France-UK/ Saul Freed & Karni Arieli) – A natural history fantasy film, following the dramatic lifecycle of the wild salmon in human form.
ARMAT (Switzerland/ Elodie Dermange) – Élodie tries to find out more about her family’s Armenian origins. She interviews her father, her uncle, her great aunt, and discovers a harsh history where violence and the inability to express love are passed down from generation to generation.
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 2: Best of Annecy, in partnership with Women In Animation, AIF brings back its most celebrated shorts anthology for its fifth iteration. A collection of short films from the Annecy International Animation Film Festival selected by our partners at Women In Animation. The titles:
OUR UNIFORM (Iran/ Yegane Moghaddam) – An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. She admits that she’s nothing but a “female” and explores the roots of this idea in her school years.
LE GRANDE ARCHE (France/ Camille Authouart) – With nearly 70 monumental works of art scattered throughout the district, La Défense in Paris is Europe’s largest open-air museum. Sitting between the legs of the gigantic Red Spider, I wonder how I hadn’t noticed them before?
THE MIRACLE (Belgium-The Netherlands-France/ Nienke Deutz) – The Miracle, a place where the sun always shines, there’s endless opportunities to relax and food is in abundance.
27 (France-Hungary/ Flora Anna Buda) – Alice is 27 years old today. Although she feels oppressed because she still lives with her parents, she spends her time daydreaming to escape her dreary everyday life.
LA PERRA (Colombia-France/ Carla Melo Gampert) – In Bogota, a bird-girl leaves behind the family home, her domineering mother and faithful dog to go and explore her sexuality.
NUN OR NEVER (Finland/ Heta Jaalinoja) – A nun digs a man out of the ground and loses her grip on everyday life. Can secrets and harmony coexist?
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 for her future carry the couple into uncharted territory. Rising star director Han Ji-won sensitively captures the rapturous highs of falling in love for the first time with the complicated lows of navigating relationships in the queer, coming-of-age romantic drama. The creative force behind The Summer, including Han and animation studio Red Dog Culture House, represents a thrilling new chapter in Korean filmmaking that cannot be missed.
Screening with THE SEA ON THE DAY WHEN THE MAGIC RETURNS, Han Ji-won’s short film which World Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
A young boy named Mahito
yearning for his mother
ventures 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 fantasy
about 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 Heron is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award®-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film “Spinning Globe” was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
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 off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in! A Netflix Release.
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 school in 1994 – are specific enough to warrant inclusion in the film’s title, the universality of the film’s central theme – young people on the precipice of adulthood, using art as a shield against an impending and uncertain future – is an emotional touchstone. Rendered in a gorgeous and painterly 2D animation, some films provide a glimpse into an alien world, while others serve to remind us of just how alike we all are. A Dekanalog release.
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!) eye of her manager, Mr. Todo. Based on the critically-acclaimed manga, the film is told in a series of lovely and loosely connected vignettes animated by the legendary Production I.G. Yoshimi Itazu has worked as a key animator for such luminaries as Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki (including on this year’s AIF Opener, The Boy and the Heron), but makes his feature debut with this magical celebration of being at the service to others – and to yourself. An Aniplex release.
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 they’re not the only ones trying to find Jun Chow they begin to question not only their own mission but how Jun’s disappearance could be a critical factor in the fight between humans and robots. Their hunt becomes a race against time as they traverse the bustling metropolitan life and seedy underbelly of Mars’ capital city. Mars Express provides the nostalgic escape of classic crime thrillers through the unique visual depiction of a future that only animation can provide. The pulse-racing chases and gritty action are set against a genuine and empathic portrayal of what being a true partner means
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 say “Some assembly required,” new BFFs Dog and Robot are riding the subway and roller skating through Central Park. When a Labor Day weekend trip to the beach goes awry, Dog (and Robot) finds themselves questioning Tennyson’s famous line about whether it’s really “better to have loved and lost…” Pablo Berger’s (Blancanieves) first foray into feature animation, based on Sara Varon’s graphic novel and peppered with cinematic allusions to The Wizard of Oz, The Big Lebowski, and Esther Williams musicals, among others, is unlike any film you’ve ever seen: a moving, thoughtful treatise on the nature of friendship, and the power of dreams and learning to let go. A NEON release.
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 for her future carry the couple into uncharted territory. Rising star director Han Ji-won sensitively captures the rapturous highs of falling in love for the first time with the complicated lows of navigating relationships in the queer, coming-of-age romantic drama. The creative force behind The Summer, including Han and animation studio Red Dog Culture House, represents a thrilling new chapter in Korean filmmaking that cannot be missed.
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 by fans and critics as being among the greatest Batman and superhero films of all time – “the finest Batman on record,” according to Wired Magazine.
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 get a chicken. A simple task takes Paulette and Linda on a screwball adventure from henhouse to watermelon truck, meeting incompetent police to allergic truck drivers and eventually the whole neighborhood is invested in the escapade. Their journey proves that life throws you something unexpected, toss it in the pot and it’s bound to make the recipe more interesting and ultimately more delicious. Filmmakers Sebastian Laudenbach and Chiara find the beauty, humor and absurdity in everyday life and through clever visuals give us a new perspective on what may appear familiar. Winner of the Cristal Prize for Best Feature Film at the 2023 Annecy Film Festival, Chicken for Linda is both a film unlike any others as well as a undisputable crowd pleaser, a perfect recipe for a film.
Bill Desowitz, the Awards Editor, Craft & Animation at IndieWire, specializes in below-the-line, tech, and animation coverage, with a special emphasis on Oscar and Emmy Awards season predictions and analysis. Aside from in-depth making of features and influential state of the race perspectives, have additionally contributed to the site’s “Influencers” and “25th anniversary” series. These include profiles of “Wolfwalkers” co-directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, and VFX guru Rob Legato on the future of the industry. Additionally oversaw the launch of the site’s “Sketch to Screen” behind-the-scenes animation series with “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” . Honors include sharing third-place prize with IndieWire colleagues for the Influencers TV series Multimedia Package, awarded by the Los Angeles Press Club at the 63rd annual Southern California Journalism Awards in 2021.Prior to joining IndieWire, the Los Angeles native was founder of the “Immersed in Movies” blog devoted to crafts and animation coverage. Career highlights include serving as editor of Animation World Network (www.AWN.com) and sister site VFXWorld (www.VFXWorld.com), assignment editor at Below the Line (www.btlnews.com), and staff reporter for The Hollywood Reporter. Have contributed film features to The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Popular Mechanics, and Premiere Magazine. Author of “James Bond Unmasked” (Spies LLC), chronicling the 50-year evolution of the franchise’s superspy, and featuring exclusive interviews with all six Bond actors: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. Have moderated numerous craft and tech-oriented Q&A discussions, including the ADG Previs Summit and several at the RealTime and FMX Stuttgart conferences. Received a BA in Journalism from California State University, Northridge, and an MA in Film and TV Studies from UCLA.Can be found on Twitter (@BillDesowitz) and Facebook.
Variety’s Chief International Film Critic, Peter is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s film studies program. Prior to Variety, he spent four years working as an editor for AOL Moviefone. In addition to hundreds of reviews for the Austin Chronicle, Miami Herald and Premiere, his writing on film has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Life, Creative Screenwriting, Backstory and IndieWire. Peter also contributed to the book Variety’s The Movie That Changed My Life.
An internationally respected critic and historian of animation, Charles Solomon has written on the subject for the New York Times, Newsweek (Japan), Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, Variety, the Manchester Guardian, and National Public Radio. His books include “The Art of Frozen,” “The Art of the Disney Golden Books,” “The Toy Story Films: An Animated Journey,” “Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Disney’s Animated Classic Beauty and the Beast,” “The Art of Toy Story 3,” “Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation”.