The 12th Summit, Conferences and International Film Festival Animayo will be held on the paradisiacal island of Gran Canaria from May 2 to 6 this year, and has announced a program entirely dedicated to women working in animation, visual effects and video games. The week’s activities will pay tribute to great talents of these industries, focus on work by women, and foster the growth of opportunities for and representation of women in these fields.
While events across the world are increasingly spotlighting women’s contributions and challenges with special programming, Animayo has decided to go full-bore to demonstrate that work by women in the audiovisual sector is important and remarkable enough to fill an entire festival program.
The 12th edition will even see festival director Damian Perea, who has spent the last two years working on putting this special edition together, step back from the role he has held for the past 11 events to make way for female leadership. “Women in the world of animation has always been very important and deserves to claim the right to its space and the relevance of their work,” Perea said in the announcement.
Every element of Animayo 2017 will put women at the forefront, from the official poster design to programming highlights which will include female-lead presentations, master classes and workshops, as well as screenings of Animayo award-winning works, film competitions, premieres, concerts, outdoor activities, and Animayo’s second professional forum. The program will highlight the role of women and their contributions to the industry, their points of view and artistic approaches, and the obstacles women still face in the business today.
Event organizers expect to begin announcing special guests in April. The roster will include professionals who have worked with top international producers, including Ilion Animation, Disney, Warner Bros., Animal Logic, Scanline, Double Negative, Weta Digital, MPC and more, and creatives with feature film and television credits ranging from Guardians of the Galaxy to The Simpsons.
Last year’s Animayo festival saw a 20% increase in attendees over the 2015 edition, setting a new record with over 15,000 participants. The festival has also been made a partner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain in qualifying works for the Best Animated Short Film nominations at the 31st Goya Awards. Further, Perea has been nominated as an ambassador of the European Animation Awards, or “Emile Awards.”
In addition to the Gran Canaria event, Animayo presents traveling festivals across Spain (Lanzarote, Madrid, Huesca, Zaragoza) and worldwide in Los Angeles, India, Uruguay, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal, to name a few. Visit www.animayo.com for more information.
