ANIMAC 2025 EXPANDS ANIMACREA WITH MORE FAMILY ACTIVITIES AND AN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY PROPOSAL

The side foyer of La Llotja will be open to new workshops and activities, in addition to the usual Animacrea activities.

Bookbinding, fanzine, watercolour, print and puppet workshops will fill the new space, offering creative proposals for all kinds of audiences.

Animac, the International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, organised by Lleida City Council from 20 to 23 February 2025, is expanding the Animacrea this year with more activities and workshops for family audiences on Sunday mornings. There will also be a new immersive space dedicated to digital creation in virtual reality.

Animacrea is the Animac square: a bustling, open-access space that hosts workshops, open-screen screenings and activities organised by the region’s main universities and animation schools. There will also be specialised shops, companies and organisations from the sector, as well as a reading area and a new immersive XR digital creation space.

As a great novelty, Animacrea is growing physically with the premiere of a new space in the side foyer of the Llotja, connected to the main space. This new area will host the Sunday family activities and the immersive Open Brush workshop, where accredited participants will be able to experience 3D digital painting with virtual reality glasses and the open source Open Brush software. The works produced in this workshop will be exhibited in an interactive virtual space accessible from the Animacrea.

Throughout the Sunday, companies and artists will offer various workshops: A mà i més will offer a workshop on handmade bookbinding with Japanese sewing, Polro estudi d’art will guide participants in the creation of watercolour illustrations, Bonavista Taller will allow participants to print reusable bags with the image of Animac 2025, and PATAC Fest will promote the creation of fanzines. El Genet Blau will give a workshop on the creation of the Marraco puppet.

The writer Glàfira Smith will also give a workshop on documentary comics at 6 p.m., before presenting her comic Trufa, published by Pagès Editors, at 5 p.m. Together with Stephanie Blake, creator of the children’s character Simon Superlapin, they will sign copies at 17.30.

In addition to these new family workshops on Sunday, the Animacrea space will continue to offer permanent activities throughout the exhibition. The participating art and animation schools will continue with their training proposals: creating 2D animations with your own drawings with ECIB, workshop and demonstration of animation work processes with the Escola JOSO, dubbing of animated films with ECCIT, interactive 3D animation workshop and video game design with Ilerna, creation of a flipbook with EAM, motion capture and application in 3D characters with IOC, character modelling with specialised software with UDIT, live exhibition of 2D and 3D character creation with CITM-UPC and introduction to animation with Ídem Barcelona.

The open screen, the virtual reality room with STAGELAB, the demonstrations with XPPen, the official photo call and the reading room in the Pardinyes library will also be maintained, as well as the local shops area, where Colleccionator and El Genet Blau will offer a special selection of products.

With this expansion, Animac 2025 reaffirms its commitment to collaborative and intergenerational creation, consolidating Animacrea as a space open to participation and artistic experimentation.

‘We, Animals’, edition 2025

This year’s Animac will explore the theme ‘We, Animals’ with a selection of films and activities that reflect on the relationship between humans and animals. Highlights will include screenings of recent short and feature films, conferences and workshops. In addition, the Pro section of the festival will offer activities such as the Incubator, Animac Campus and Animacrea, aimed at promoting emerging talent and encouraging collaboration between professionals in the sector. The full programme will be announced at a press conference in Lleida on 10 February and will be available on the official Animac website.

Animac, the International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, is a platform dedicated to auteur animation, celebrating the creativity, innovation and talent of artists from all over the world. With a 29-year history, Animac offers a curated selection of films, workshops, conferences and activities for professionals and enthusiasts of film and digital creation.