Animac revamps its engines to celebrate the version of diversity – La Manyana

Animac, the Catalonia International Animation Film Festival, presented yesterday in Llotja its 28th edition, which will be held from February 15 to 18 in Lleida, under the slogan “Diversity”, which will have “a carefully selected selection of recently created short films”. Films, feature films, studies, retrospectives, conferences and workshops that will bring the audience closer to the best of animated cinema, this year with special attention to diversity in all its aspects.”

This year ANIMAC received 562 films in an open call, of which 141 were selected, and a total of 179 films will be screened: 167 short films, 8 feature films, and 4 medium films. Animac's director, Carolina López, pointed to the excellent moment that animation cinema is experiencing in both Catalonia and Spain, using as an example two of the guests of this edition: Donostia director Isabel Herguera, honorary award recipient of an exhibition to which a retrospective exhibition will be dedicated, and José Luis Ágreda, Artistic director of “Robot Dreams,” this year’s Oscar-nominated film. In addition, British creator Barry JC Purves, who will also be seen in the retrospective, will receive the Animation Master award and give a masterclass, while illustrator Roser Capdevila will receive the Trajectoria award at the end of the Animac and sign books. MIANIMA program coordinator Jurina Rivero, animation director Nuria G. Blanco, Catalan director Toni García, producer Edmond Roche, screenwriter Yaiza Berrocal, and directors María Traynor and Marta Gil will be other names that will share their knowledge with the audience in this edition.

To attract an audience aged 12 to 18 years, Animac Teen was created this year, sessions designed for young people in which adaptations of two successful manga “The Concierge” and “Sand Land” are shown; Fifteen short films will also be screened at school sessions. In line with this year's theme, Diversity Study 1 2 and 3 will be prepared, which will include films on different themes: LGTBIQ+, cultural identity, migration and climate crisis, and there will also be workshops and conferences.