Cardiff Animation Nights is returning to the Welsh capital with a second dedicated animation strand during Cardiff Independent Film Festival, running May 5-7 at the Chapter arts hub and cinema space and additional venues.
This year’s lineup includes three animated short film programs in competition for the Best Animation Award, to be decided by an expert jury comprised of Alexi Wheeler (Senior Director of Animation, Nickelodeon International), Rebecca Manley (director, Table Manners, Breaking the Mould), Aaron Wood (co-Founder & Producer, Slurpy Studios), Jayne Pilling (Founder, British Animation Awards), and Darren Dubicki (Director & Designer, Aardman Animations).
The competition features animated shorts from across Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia, including Mikey Hill’s The Orchestra, Anete Melece’s Analysis Paralysis, Chis Shepherd’s Johnno’s Dead, Ross Hogg’s Life Cycles and Alois Di Leo’s Way of Giants.
An Animated Family Shorts program curated by Cardiff-based studio Cloth Cat Animation, networking events, and an Animation Quiz run by the team at Skwigly will round out the festivities.
“2017 is shaping up to be a big year for us, and running the animation strand at Cardiff Independent Film Festival is a huge highlight,” said Lauren Orme, Director of Cardiff Animation Nights. “We’ve expanded our animation competition program for our second year at CIFF and we’re really excited about the incredible selection of films we’re able to screen this year. We think it’s going to be a tough decision for the jury!”
Cardiff Animation Nights, established in 2014, runs bi-monthly screenings of award-winning independent animation from around the world at venues in Cardiff. CIFF is an annual event, now in its fourth year. The first collaboration between the two organizations in 2016 saw the Best Animation Award bestowed on Conor Whelan’s Snowfall, with a special mention for Simon Cartwright’s Manoman. Last year’s strand also features masterclasses from Aardman, The Amazing World of Gumball creator Ben Bocquelet, and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joanna Quinn.
The full Cardiff Animation Nighs program is available at cardiffanimation.com/programme2017. Tickets will go on sale soon.
