ANIMAC 2023 STARTS, WHICH PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATIN AMERICAN CREATIVITY THIS YEAR
At the opening this afternoon, the Romanian Anca Damian received the Honorary Award and the Animation Master Award goes to the Argentine director, animator and illustrator Juan Pablo Zaramella
From February 23 to 26, Lleida will host an extensive program of screenings, conferences, workshops and parallel activities, and online from March 3 to 12, through the Filmin platform. 7 feature films, 4 medium-length films and 277 short films will be screened
The 27th edition of Animac, the International Animated Film Festival of Catalonia organized by the Lleida City Council with the collaboration of the Institute of ‘Ilerdense Studies of the Lleida Provincial Council , the ICEC – Department of Culture of the Generalitat, Catalonia Film Festivals and the Ministry of Culture and Sports through the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) and CaixaForum Lleida, among other collaborators, has started today with force with the opening day at the Teatro de la Lonja in Lleida, where the award for the Honorary Award 2023 was awarded to the prestigious Romanian creator Anca Damian, (Romania, 1962) , one of the most outstanding directors on the world animation scene to show in her prolific work the challenges of the contemporary world with imagination and innovative aesthetic proposals on the threshold of the animated documentary. At the event, her work The Island was projected.
Anca Damian has thanked the award and has assured that she is “very happy to be able to see my films here” and to receive “global recognition for my work” .
The Animation Master 2023 Award went to the Argentine director, animator and illustrator Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina, 1972), for being one of the most outstanding contemporary stop-motion animators internationally. In fact, he is on the world animation podium and holds the Guinness Record for the most awarded animated short with 324 awards: Luminaris (Argentina, 2011). The Animation Master Award is accompanied by a retrospective of his work and the traveling exhibition Zaramella frame by frame curated by Angie Zambrella, in which Animac is the first European venue and which opened this afternoon. It can be visited in the foyer of La Llotja until February 26.
Zaramella has declared that “it is a great honor for me to receive this distinction”, and has added that “since the beginning of my career, my shorts have participated at Animac and I was finally able to come”.
The event was chaired by the Minister of Culture, Natalia Garriga; the mayor of Lleida, Miquel Pueyo; the vice-president of the Provincial Council, Estefanía Rufach; the subdelegate of the Government in Lleida, José Crespín, and the director of Animac, Carolina López.
The Minister stressed that “in Catalonia we have a very strong tradition in the audiovisual sector, as we see with Animac“. And she added that “ it is admirable how the animation sector leaves its mark all over the world “. She also underlined “ ANIMAC’s ability to weave complicities, offer a very creative and artistic look and shorten distances ”
In his speech, Pueyo highlighted that “Animac is one of the symbols of Lleida’s contribution to the country’s cultural industry” and added that “We are lucky that it is celebrated in Lleida, which should make us feel proud and contribute to the reinforcement of our self-esteem so that the most relevant talent of a powerful and constantly evolving industry that sees Lleida as its point of contact is brought together in the city. annual meeting”.
For the vice-president of the Diputación, Estefania Rufach, “the event goes far beyond the cultural parameters that are inherent to it, because we must also understand the Show as an element of prestige, as window of opportunities and as an economic engine”.
For his part, José Crespín has highlighted that “the merit of the Exhibition has been worked out over many years with the efforts of many people who have been committed to its projection and its expansion. Animac was born in Lleida and has made Lleida grow”
Carolina López, director of Animac, thanked “all the authors who have come to Lleida” for their presence. In reference to the Mostra, he has highlighted the quality and quantity of short films, made up of what is bet, but he has also made a special mention of the feature films, such as the one shown during the opening, Island by Anca Damian. She has also highlighted the Zaramella exhibition, because “you can see her entire journey with her drawings from when she was 5 years old until now”
The opening of Animac featured two screenings: The Island (Romania, 2021), by the Romanian creator Anca Damian, Honorary Award of this year, a musical fable about the myth of Robinson Crusoe upside down and with Pasajero(Argentina, 2022), by Juan Pablo Zaramella, Animation Master Award winner, a fun story within a wagon. During the event, the musical group Yadira Ferrer Trio performed, the great Cuban voice and pianist accompanied by musicians Santiago Acevedo and Justin Miranda.
The first day of ANIMAC started in the morning with the professional meeting Catalunya Media City. In the afternoon, the conference This is how we made two little birds by Alfredo Soderguit and Alejo Schetini, creators of the award-winning series based on the homonymous book by colombian author Diego Francisco Sánchez, Dipacho. This production has won, among others, two prestigious awards: the Jury Award at the Annecy Festival, in France, and the International Youth Award in Germany.
Animac has also hosted the Quirino Awards conference today. Future in feminine, with Beatriz Bartolomé. The Quirino Awards are awards that were born in 2017 from the need to recognize talent in the Ibero-American animation industry and generate links and cooperation between all the countries that comprise it. Animac has screened a selection of short films by young authors from Latin America: Matisse Gonzalez, María Cristina Pérez, Florentina González, Nerina Landi and Camila Kater.
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Animac 2023 Hand Program
https://animac.paeria.cat/media/2023/02/ANIMAC23-Programa-de-ma_eng_dig.pdf
Animac 2023 press kit:
https://drive.google.com/drive /folders/1wCBqDxJu0zV3rFfPPh1RENjq5GD8KnLu?usp=share_link
Animac 2023 Artwork:
https://drive.google. com/drive/folders/1gmgcyRAMeX5W6YM7qfIzE7hnjyVKgsdE?usp=share_link
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