Animac closes its best edition

27,000 attendees enjoyed the activities and screenings of the International Animated Film Festival of Catalonia

From February 25 to 28, Lleida Animac 2016 was held in Lleida, the International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia organized by the Lleida City Council, which this year celebrated its twentieth edition.

Over the weekend the Exhibition paid tribute to the late animator and director Pascual Pérez. The author worked as an animator at the Aardman Animations studios in Bristol and has left his legacy with works in which he participated as Wallace & Gromit – La maldición de las verduras or your own short film History of Este projected on the big Animac screen.

For four days, the city of Lleida has become the world capital of animation in an edition that highlights the figure of women in the art and animation industry.

In this edition the Exhibition has received 700 films of national and international origin from 66 different countries, a hundred more than in its previous edition. A total of 216 animated films have been screened, of which 5 feature films and 215 short films.

Four days where, in addition to screenings, conferences, workshops, concerts, networking and other activities could be enjoyed within the usual spaces of the Exhibition: the Llotja, the CaixaForum, the Café del Teatro and the Espacio Magical Media.

Animac is already a national and international benchmark and this year it has attracted an attendance of around 27,000 people, of which 11,000 in the room. The busiest days, such as Saturday, February 27, have had full-capacity sessions.

The 20th edition has received exceptional guests such as the host and Regina Pessoa (special guest), the director Anca Damian, the Belgian author An Vrombaut, the co-creator of the series Oyster Boy Fabien Limousin, and his line producer Violette Teysler and the costume designer of the award-winning feature film After that Flora Cuevas.

Networking & Pitch

Se consolida un año más Networking & Pitch con 300 profesionales acreditados. El espacio dedicado al sector profesional ha servido como punto de encuentro de la industria emergente y los grandes profesionales que este año ha acogido una jornada de Europa Creativa. Animac ha notado en este campo un alto nivel de participación con 26 proyectos Incubator y 20 Portfolios. Un hecho que lo ratifica como referente para los profesionales y el sector freelance.

Among the most notable professionals have participated Mercedes Marro, director of the production company Tomavistas, Xavier Romero responsible for Animation Co-productions, Morgann Favennec of the French distributor Superights (award for the best distribution company in animation Cartoon Media 2015), Yolanda Alonso (director of Cartoon Masters and Cartoon Connection) and Alex Navarro, coordinator of Creative Europe Desk-Media Catalonia.

The Little Animac, dedicated to family audiences, this year has brought together more sessions than ever with premiere premieres such as the feature film Tout en haut du monde (On the roof of the world), by Rémi Chayé and small gems like Alike by Daniel Martínez and Rafa Cano, recently awarded a Goya for Best Animated Short Film.

In its 20th edition, the Exhibition has increased its children's audience to both the Little Animac sessions and the school sessions, which have had a total of 9,000 students.

El espacio de talleres Animacrea ha tenido una muy buena acogida por parte del público y ha contado con diversos talleres para experimentar diferentes técnicas de ilustración y animación. La nueva sección Short & Sweet, proyectada en el Open Screen de este espacio, ha sido la sesión que más asistencia ha recibido de niños y niñas entre 0 y 3 años.

Created in 1996, during its 20 years the exhibition is considered one of the most important audiovisual events in the country and has earned international prestige for its rigor, dynamism and independent character. Animac is also a laboratory in which ideas are generated and relationships are established between different artistic disciplines.