Festivals
Animation Volda Festival
Organized by the animation students at Volda University College, the Animation Volda Festival is an annual event that focuses on student films. The festival takes place in September and attracts distinguished international guests who come to Volda to present their films, to lecture and socialize.
Animatricks
Animatricks is the biggest animation film festival in Finland. Every year in April, the festival’s mission is to provide the Finnish and international audiences with a selection of the most interesting animated films, and to promote and strengthen the position and awareness of animation as an art field and industry in Finland. The festival also works as a meeting place for animation professionals, students, and fans.
ANIMOK
ANIMOK is the Nordic animation and game festival for children and youth. We curate a strong and eye-opening program consisting of film screenings, workshops, an Nordic animation competitions for schools, a youth jury, talks and teaching materials. Animation and games are the focal point of ANIMOK, and through our activities, children, youth and their families actively encounter animation and games as a cultural and aesthetic form of expression that they can make into their own personal language. Our programs gives room for reflection and big laughs and we aim to facilitate the development of social, cultural, and creative communities for kids and youth.
CPH:DOX
CPH:DOX – Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival – is one of the largest documentary film festivals in the world. Founded in 2003, the festival takes place in March each year and attracts nearly 100,000 admissions. CPH:DOX continues to develop and expand, presenting a programme that ranges from the works of major international directors to new talent, from large-scale theatrical releases to film/video works where cinema and visual art intersect. The festival does not focus specifically on animation but include animated documentaries in its programme.
CPH:PIX
CPH PIX is the biggest annual feature film festival in Denmark. Every year the festival offers film lovers, regardless of age, a 14-day programme with more than 150 of the latest films from all over the world. In 2016 CPH PIX merged with BUSTER Film Festival for Children and Youth to become one big festival for all ages. CPH PIX does not have special programs devoted to animation, but animated films are featured in both the children’s and adult’s sections.
Film Fest Sundsvall
Launched in 2018, Film Fest Sundsvall is a brand-new film festival. The programme contains shorts and features from the most exciting Nordic directors, and documentaries from all over the world. No special focus on animation but the festival will highlight important animation talents.
Films from the South Festival
Founded in 1991, Films from the South Festival is a unique international film festival based in Oslo. 80 films from Asia, Africa and Latin America are shown throughout the course of 11 days, with audiences totalling approx. 25,000 people. The festival has a side programme dedicated to Japanese animation: Mangapolis.
Fredrikstad Animation Festival
Fredrikstad Animation Festival is the oldest and largest of its kind in the Nordic region, dating back to 1994. The annual festival now takes place each October in the town of Fredrikstad, outside of Oslo. One of the cornerstones of the festival is the Nordic-Baltic animated short film competition, but the festival also screens features. The festival is a professional arena for the animation industry as well as being an important event for students and educational institutions within animation, graphic design and digital media production. Each year, top animation industry professionals give seminars and lectures.
Gothenburg Film Festival
With 160.000 admissions, Gothenburg Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Nordic countries. During the ten-day event in late January, the audience is served nearly 450 films from 80 countries. The festival’s goal is to springboard new Nordic films out into the world. The festival’s industry section, spearheaded by the Nordic Film Market, is the foremost marketplace for Nordic film and TV drama, as well as an important meeting place for industry visitors from all over the world. Gothenburg Children’s Film Festival is held the weekend preceding the film festival. The festivals do not have a specific focus on animation but do include animated films in their programmes.
Kristiansand International Children’s Film Festival
Kristiansand International Children’s Film Festival (Barnefilm Festivalen, BFF) is one of Norway’s largest cultural events for children and young people. The festival programme consists of feature films, short films, and documentaries for the target audience of 6-13 years old, and the festival also screens films for the even younger audiences. BFF focuses on screening quality films from all over the world, which usually do not find the way to Norwegian cinemas. In addition to this, the festival holds events like seminars and workshops for the film industry. The festival is held every year at the end of April.
Love & Anarchy
Finland’s leading film festival, Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy, celebrates its 31st anniversary in 2018. During eleven days in September, the audience is offered a great variety of shorts and features from all over the world. Through the programme Animated Dreams, the festival showcases the most exciting animated features from Europe and elsewhere. The festival also hosts the Finnish Film Affair, the best place to discover new Finnish Films.
Nordisk Panorama
Established in 1990, Nordisk Panorama is the biggest film festival for Nordic documentary and short films. Initially, the festival toured the five Nordic countries, but from 2013 Nordic Panorama has been permanently located in Malmö. The festival provides a unique opportunity to benchmark the Nordic short and documentary film scene, network with the Nordic film industry, watch films made by top Nordic film producers and discover promising new and aspiring Nordic talents. No dedicated programme for animation, but animated films are included both in the children’s section and in the competition programme.
Norwegian Short Film Festival
Norway’s oldest film festival takes place in June each year and is the best place to discover new Norwegian talent in short film, short docs and music videos. The competition programme for international short films attracts filmmakers from the rest of the world to Grimstad, and the festival facilitates for bonds to be tied between the Norwegian and the international film community. The festival is Oscar qualifying. No specific programme for animation, but animated shorts and documentaries are a welcomed part of the competition programmes.
Odense International Film Festival
OFF – Odense International Film Festival – is Denmark’s international short film festival. Launched in 1975, it is also the country’s oldest film festival. OFF was started with passion and creativity, a spirit that the festival has nurtured ever since. OFF celebrates the short film genre without compromise, but Odense International Film Festival is also a festival for the audience and attracts a huge support from the locals whom visit the festival in August/September every year. The festival gives awards in five categories: The International Competition, the Danish Competition, the Animated Competition, the Documentary Competition and the Youth Competition.
Oslo Pix
Oslo Pix is a new international film festival, launched in 2017. The festival showcases features, documentaries and shorts from North America and Europe, with a special focus on Nordic Cinema. The ambition is to create a new Scandinavian hotspot, for emerging directors and well-established masters of cinema. Oslo Pix does not have a programme devoted to animation, but includes both animated shorts, features and documentaries in their line-up.
ReAnima International Animated Film Festival
ReAnima Festival, founded in 2017, is the only festival for international animated film in Bergen, Norway’s second largest city. The annual festival has an international competition with films from all over the world as well as feature films and various events. International and national guests are giving the festival a good atmosphere for building network within the international animation society. ReAnima Festival is cooperating with the local- and national animation society and many international animation festivals. The festival’s main goal is that as many as possible should have the chance to enjoy the best of international animation.
Rex
Rex Animation Festival was established in 2015 and is held in Stockholm in October each year. The festival focuses on European animation, both features and shorts, aimed at children and adults alike. An award is granted to the best animated student film produced in Sweden. The festival was initiated by EUNIC, European Union National Institutes for Culture, with the aim of promoting European animation.
Reykjavík International Film Festival
RIFF – Reykjavík International Film Festival – is one of the biggest and most diverse cultural events in Iceland. For eleven days every autumn since 2004, locals and tourists alike enjoy the best and freshest of international film making. The festival shows approximately 100 films from 40 countries. RIFF highlights independent films from all over the world with the emphasis on up-and-coming film makers, with the main prize – the Golden Puffin, being awarded only to first or second-time directors. The festival does not have specific programmes for animation but includes animated films in their line-up.
Stockholm International Film Festival
Stockholm International Film Festival is an auteur focused, generalist film festival, held in the Swedish capital each autumn. The festival has a keen eye for emerging talent and showcases both shorts and features. No specific attention to animation.
The Norwegian International Film Festival
Since the early 1970s, The Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund has celebrated film and film art, and acted as a meeting place for the Norwegian and Nordic film industry. The festival is an arena for film-professional and film-political discussions and a showcase for national and international cinema. The festival also hosts the Norwegian national film award, the Amanda. And since 1995, New Nordic film, the festival’s annual film market for Nordic cinema, attracts professionals from all over the world to discover the newest Nordic trends. No specific focus on animation.
Trollywood Animation Festival
Established in 2016, Trollywood Animation Festival seeks to highlight and expand the local animation industry in the Trollhättan area. The festival has a wide variety of workshops and speakers, highlighting the tech side of animation, as well as the artistic content. The festival includes film screenings of both shorts and features, but the main focus is on the seminars.
Tromsø International Film Festival
Located in Northern Norway, Tromsø International Film Festival succeeds in attracting both a large local audience as well as international guests, It offers a ray of light during a pitch-dark week in January each year. The festival screens films from all over the world, but with a special focus on the Northern regions. No programme for animation, but animated films are frequently featured in both short and feature film programmes.
Turku Animated Film Festival
Established in 2016, Turku Animated Film Festival is a fresh international film festival celebrating creativity and the art of animation. The international competition bursts with original, bold, uncompromising and inventive animated shorts under 30 minutes in length. In addition, the festival programme consists of an alluring selection of carefully selected special screenings, workshops, talks, and exhibitions.
Uppsala International Short Film Festival
Founded in 1982, Uppsala International Short Film Festival has become Sweden’s premier arena for short film. Every year in October, the festival shows more than 300 short films in five different sections – from new film to retrospective programmes, from fiction film, documentaries and experimental film to animations. Uppsala International Short Film Festival is recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which means that winning the international or national competition at the festival makes a film eligible for an Oscar nomination. Screening at the festival also qualifies Swedish short films for Guldbagge nominations and British short films for BAFTA nominations.
Viborg Animation Festival
Viborg Animation Festival – fondly known as VAF – is Denmark’s largest animation festival and a celebration of the possibilities of animation. The festival takes place in week 39 in Viborg and surrounding areas. Featuring new works, long and short films, documentary formats as well as showcasing animation tools for business and social enterprise, Viborg Animation Festival celebrates this unique and ever evolving medium with a week of films and events for the public and the practitioner.
VOID
VOID International Animation Film Festival is a relatively new festival that takes place in Copenhagen in January/February. VOID focuses on animation for adults and screens both shorts and features, with a special focus on fresh, emerging directors. The programme also includes the best student films from animation schools all over Europe.
