Cardiff Animation Weekender Reveals May Programming

The Cardiff Animation Weekender, presented by Cardiff Animation Festival, will showcase a vibrant, hybrid program of animated nostalgia, cult classics and brand-new gems. Across screenings, talks, workshops and socials, audiences can enjoy films together, get involved in discussions, take time to reconnect, meet new friends, create and have fun.

“Cardiff Animation Weekender is an invitation to reconnect with your younger self. With a program full of stories about growing up, alongside some of the cartoons that raised us, it’s a space to watch films together, laugh, cry and have great chats about them afterwards — with drinks in the dark, in the online chat box, or over a big shared lunch,” said Cardiff Animation Festival Director Lauren Orme. “We’ve designed the Weekender to be a welcoming, inclusive space for everyone — all about fun, community and connection. A chance to tap into your childlike joy by learning something new, getting swept up in stories, and letting yourself be silly. We can’t wait to see you there.”

The program will include:

Feature Film Screenings:

• Beloved Don Bluth dino classic The Land Before Time.
• A Feather’s McGraw double bill, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers followed by their newest outing Vengeance Most Fowl.
• Dreamy, surreal coming-of-age story Boys Go To Jupiter.
• Brand new rotoscope anime feature Ghost Cat Anzu.
• Cult classic Welsh fantasy Y Dywysoges a’r Bwgan (The Princess and the Goblin) with a rare showing on the big screen – yn Gymraeg!

Short Films:

• Festival Favorites, hand-picked highlights from over a decade of Cardiff Animation events.
• Oska Bright’s best of the fest, a bold showcase of unique voices, styles and themes.
• Cardiff Quick Draw Shorts sees teams across the globe take on the impossible goal of making an animated film in a single weekend.

Talks:

• Academy Award-nominated animation legend John R. Dilworth comes to Cardiff all the way from New York City to celebrate 25 years of Cartoon Network cult classic Courage the Cowardly Dog, from the unbelievable first pitch to its legacy with today’s generation of animation fans.
• Chris Shepherd shares his nostalgic debut graphic novel Anfield Road in conversation with Hannah Lau Walker.

Other events:

• Interactive Workshops, including a hands-on stop-motion animation workshop with animator Helen Piercy, using locally sourced fossils and the magic of traditional animation techniques to make a mini dinosaur film, plus make your own Gromit and Feathers McGraw with expert guidance from Aardman.
• A brand new event Sketch Showdown! will bring artists head-to-head in an epic on-stage cartoon memory battle.
• Local art and film group Sinema Colomendy will be hosting a fun and relaxed session of Dog Life Drawing at Corporation Yard.
• An exhibition of Welsh animators’ work alongside their inspirational treasures.
• One Bum Cinema Club, possibly the smallest cinema in the world, returns to Chapter.
• And Cardiff Animation Nights kicks off the Weekender with a launch party at The Underdog bar in Cardiff City Centre.

Every event at the festival will be captioned and BSL interpreted and all online screenings and events will be captioned.

“Nostalgia often blinds us, distorting the past — politicians use it to sell a past that never truly existed. Even if we could go back, we’d see it was never as perfect as they claim. But when it comes to animation, nostalgia offers a rare gift: the ability to see the past as it truly was,” commented Manchester Animation Festival Director and Skwigly Editor/Co-Owner Dr. Steve Henderson. “I have a three-year old, and while watching the shows that will one day be nostalgic for them, I also get to revisit my own childhood favorites. The moment an old episode plays, I’m transported back — sitting in front of a much smaller but bulkier TV, in a home with garish wallpaper and frilly cushions, where the single glazing barely muffles the traffic noise outside. Time moves forward; I’ve grown older, and TVs have grown thinner. But animation remains timeless. It welcomes you back as if no time has passed, allowing you to pick up where you left off and share that magic with a new generation. In this way, animated nostalgia doesn’t distort the past — it brings it to life in full color.”

Day Passes, Weekend Passes and tickets are now on sale on CAF’s website: www.cardiffanimation.com

Cardiff Animation Weekender is funded by Arts Council of Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales, has received funding and support from Welsh Government via Creative Wales, is supported by investment from Arts & Business Cymru, and is sponsored by University of South Wales, Cloth Cat, Twt Productions, Beryl Productions, Picl Animation and ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund with contributions from UK animation productions.