ANIMAC 2025: MORE THAN 200 FILMS TO EXPLORE THE HUMAN-ANIMAL CONNECTION THROUGH ANIMATION

The cartoonist Javier Mariscal will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his singular mark on the world of animation and his magnificent international projection.

Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, Honorary Award winners; Gianluigi Toccafondo, Animation Master Award winner; the artist Isaac King, and Jordi Solanes, animator of the ‘Arcane’ series, among many other creators, will also visit the Festival.

The Incubator, which welcomes projects in an embryonic state so that a panel of experts can help them grow, has received 52 national and international proposals.

There will be 5 world premieres, 67 in Spain, 50 in Catalonia and 3 international premieres.

 

The complete programme of Animac, the International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, organised by Lleida City Council from 20 to 23 February 2025, was presented today in Lleida. The 29th edition proposes to explore our connection with the animal kingdom through more than 200 films with the slogan ‘We, Animals’, a reflection on how we humans approach animals in different areas and how animated films help to understand and represent this relationship, which is increasingly more conscious and respectful of nature.

The Councillor for Culture, Pilar Bosch, recalled ‘the boost to the industry’ that Animac provides by accompanying future talent, as well as the fact that ‘animated film is not just for children, it is also for adults’. ‘It helps us to explain things with an almost infinite language, with a very wide imaginative and creative variety’, she added.

Estefania Rufach, vice-president of the Institut d’Estudis Ilerdencs (IEI), for her part, pointed out how Animac ‘has become bigger and bigger, taking into account the needs of the public, the different ages that pass through or the people who need special attention’. Rufach also said that ‘Animac makes us grow culturally and is one of the pillars of culture’.

The director of Animac, Carolina López, explained that this year’s theme is presented in two ways: ‘on the one hand, there is this more ecological motif and, on the other, the more cultural and artistic motif, which is the representation of animals’. As for the Lifetime Achievement Award, López announced that it will go to the cartoonist Javier Mariscal and highlighted his films, which will be shown at Animac. Within the Animac sections, López made special mention of the success of Incubator, ‘which has grown exponentially in recent years’.

Of the 226 films to be screened at this year’s edition, 179 titles have been selected from the open call for entries. Thus, 7 feature films (3 are part of retrospectives), 5 medium-length films and 214 short films will be screened. There will be 5 world premieres, 67 premieres in Spain, 50 in Catalonia and 3 international premieres. Three Oscar-nominated short films will be screened: Beurk! (Yuck!) (France, 2024) by Loïc Espuche; Wander to Wonder (Netherlands, France, Belgium and United Kingdom, 2023) by Nina Gantz and Beautiful Men (Belgium, France and Netherlands, 2023), by Nicolas Keppens. In addition, the Oscars will also be present in the feature film selection, with two titles nominated for Academy Awards: Flow (Latvia, France, Belgium, 2024), by Gints Zibalodis, and Memoirs of a Snail (Australia, 2024), by Adam Elliot.

Carolina López also highlighted the presence at Animac 2025 of productions that have recently won awards at the Annie Awards, the most prestigious awards in world animation, such as the Netflix series Arcane, Flow, Wander to Wonder, and Goodbye (UK, 2024) by José Prats, among others.

 

CREATORS VISITING ANIMAC 2025

Animac 2025 will be attended by some of the biggest names in international animation. Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, the Canadian animation duo, will receive the Honorary Award and will give a masterclass in which they will share their creative process. Gianluigi Toccafondo, an Italian artist with a unique career in the fusion of painting, film and movement, will receive the Animation Master Award and will reveal the secrets of his animated art.

Cartoonist Javier Mariscal, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his influence on design and animation, creator of Cobi and co-director of Chico y Rita (2010), the first Spanish animated film to be nominated for an Oscar, will collect the award at the closing ceremony of Animac and will give a talk on his multidisciplinary career.

Also taking part in the Festival will be artist Isaac King, known for his animation with an ecological and social focus; Jordi Solanes, lead animator of the Arcane series; Eduard Puertas and Laura Aguado, who will talk about the creative process of the production Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake, the first stop motion animation feature film made in Catalonia; and Isabel Herguera, Animac godmother and Honorary Award winner at the previous edition, who will share her journey into animation.

 

MONOGRAPHS, LITTLE ANIMAC AND MORE

Animac presents different monographs: We Animals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with a selection of films on the relationship between humans and animals, one session of which focuses on the underground fauna of animator Chintis Lundgren; Global, which deals with post-colonialism and the challenges of the global south; Singular, dedicated to indie animation; Best of Spain, which brings together the best of Spanish talent and the winner and nominees for the best animated short film at the Goya Awards 2025, Cafunè (Espanya, 2024) by Carlos F. De Vigo and Lorena Lres; and Larga vida!, a proposal made up of 8 short films aimed especially at senior audiences.

Among the proposals of the Little Animac, you can see Tiddler (United Kingdom, 2024) in premiere in Spain, by directors Andy Martin and Alex Bain, a story of a little fish with a big imagination, Animanimusical (Germany, 2024), by director Julia Ocker, a short film that belongs to the series ‘Animanimals’; Los Carpinchos -Capybaras- (France, Chile, Uruguay, 2024), by the renowned Uruguayan director Alfredo Soderguit, a beautiful portrait of wild and farm animals; AB OVO (Ukraine, 2023), by Oleksandr Viken, which narrates the life of a turtle who wants to learn to fly, and Humans Build The Biggest Nests (Canada, 2024), by animator Isaac King, also premiering in Spain.

As for the School Sessions, this year 11,791 pupils will participate in person at La Llotja and CaixaForum. This initiative is one of the most popular activities of the Festival and takes place the days before: from 17 to 20 February 2025. Forty-three schools will attend School Sessions 1 (infant education and initial cycle), 38, School Sessions 2 (middle and upper cycle), and 14, School Sessions 3 (secondary).

In addition, in the professional section of the Festival, Incubator, which hosts projects in an embryonic state so that a panel of experts can help them to grow, has received 52 national and international proposals, of which 14 have been selected to participate in this edition, which will have 2 sessions in the Leandre Cristòfol hall of La Llotja. The high participation figures and the quality of the projects presented show the consolidation of this space as a tool appreciated by creators.

 

OPENING

The opening of Animac will take place on Thursday 20 February at 8.30 p.m. at La Llotja, with the presentation of the Honorary and Animation Master awards, the screening of the short film La voix des sirènes (2024) by Gianluigi Toccafondo and the premiere of the audiovisual show Flora and Fauna in Motion, by the Estampa collective and J.M. Baldomà, an audiovisual experience that explores movement as the essence of life.

With this programme, Animac reaffirms itself as a key event for international animation, combining emerging talent and established figures to offer a unique experience for lovers of animated film.