About
Anima in brief
The ASBL Folioscope organizes Anima, the Brussels International Animation Film Festival every year. The Festival presents animated films exclusively, namely films created frame by frame (traditional animated cartoons or using puppets, plasticine etc. or digital films), and not shot in live action.
These films are diverse in length and come from all around the world. They can vary from advertising films or video clips to feature films and they are for all audiences, from very young children to a professional audience or films for adults or the whole family. All the films are carefully selected by the Festival team each year and divided into various categories and programmes, including, for example, the famous Best of Shorts, It’s Belgian or Focus…
Anima is the only festival of its kind in Belgium. It always takes place during the ‘Carnaval’ school holidays, and usually in the former Flagey radio building in Brussels. There are also decentralization programmes in a number of locations in Wallonia and Flanders.
Anima is one of the most important festivals in Europe and is qualified to nominate its candidates for the Oscar® for best animated short film. It is also famous for its friendly atmosphere and its pancakes!
Folioscope also organizes the Anima Saturdays (one session per month) and the Anima on Tour screenings, and helps to promote animation in Belgium and abroad in all possible ways.
ANIMA IN FEW DATES
The first edition of the festival, which was called at the time Rencontres du cinéma d'animation take place at Riches Claires in Brussels in 1982. Two years later, in 1984, it will become the '' Semaine du dessin animé'', and welcomed Tim Burton and John Lasseter, then perfectly unknow. Over time, the Festival will receives big names in animation, including Bruno Bozzetto, Paul Grimault, Jean-François Laguionie, Peter Lord, Youri Norstein, Nick Park, Bill Plympton, Barry Purves, Isao Takahata and many others.
In 1988, the Folioscope association was created to perpetuate the organization of the Festival, which was then called the ''Festival du dessin animé et du film d’animation''. It was then recognized and subsidized by the French Community, now called the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Seven years later, in 1995, the Festival was also recognized and subsidized by the Flemish Community. Since, the whole Festival communications have been trilingual, in French, Dutch and in English, to get closer to both national and international audiences.
Since year 2000, the festival has organized national and international competitions for short films. An audience prize is also awarded for feature films. At the same time, the festival's first professional events were launched and have grown over the years: From 5 or 6 events per edition at its launch, they now include over twenty conferences, master classes, round tables and much more...
In 2003, the festival changed its name to anima, while the professional meetings were renamed Futuranima. Anima was set up in 2007, after having organized several editions at Riches Claires, Palais des Congrès and Passage 44. The festival also organizes decentralized events, both in Brussels (at the Cinémathèque and the Palais) and in Wallonia and Flanders at various art cinemas.
The Anima festival was named ''Best International Event in brussels '' in 2011 by visit.brussels, the Brussels-Capital Region's tourism communications agency, and was also recognized as a qualifying festival for the Oscar for Best Short Film by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 2013. Finally, Anima is adding virtual reality animated films to its programming from 2017, and is organizing its first online edition on its Anima Online platform in 2021, to bring its programming to their audiences from their homes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anima Festival - Folioscope will be awarded the 2-star Ecodynamic Company label in December 2022. This label, awarded by Brussels Environment, rewards and encourages companies, associations and institutions in Brussels that take action to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment.
See also : Anima à l'affiche, by Philippe Moins, Editions Lamiroy 2019
Follow the Anima Festival on your favourite social networks !
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
