From Boulder to Brown Bag to Mooshku and more, Dublin is a developing hub of animation and every year, the Dublin Animation Film Festival celebrates the best of the format, both Irish and internationally. This October sees the festival return for its 8th edition, and submissions for animators are open now.
This year’s festival will take place on the 26th and 27th of October. and the closing date for submissions is fast approaching. The closing date for receipt of entries is 5pm, 10th August 2018 (GMT).
The Dublin Animation Film Festival started back in 2011 and has grown impressively since then. The first festival was a one-day event, which received 45 entries, with the first festival screenings were held in a former Methodist Church in Blackrock, now known as the Urban Junction. This year’s festival takes place in both Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire, and as the festival has developed, they’ve helped Irish animators develop as well, providing a platform to showcase their work. If you have an animated short ready to go, the festival are currently taking submissions for the following categories:
- Best Irish Short Animated Film
- Best International Short Animated Film
- Best Irish Student or Graduate Student Short Film
- Best International Student or Graduate Student Short Film
- Social Recognition Short Film (Awarded to a film that has been created for a good cause or has an important social message).
Entry forms and more details can be found here.
One of the highlights from this year’s festival is going to be a screening of The Breadwinner.
With beautiful animation and rich subject matter, Nora Twomey’s animated feature is unquestionably one of the best Irish films of the year, animated or otherwise. As part of the DAFF 2018 programme, the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire will be screening the film, followed by a Q & A with a very special guest from the film’s studio, Cartoon Saloon. The programme will also include the official selection of shortlisted films for the Dublin Animation Film Festival, a ballot for the Audience Choice Award, followed by the presentation of the DAFF 2018 awards. Tickets for The Breadwinner cost €9, all other events of the festival are free but require advance booking.
You can see more details about the festival below, or check in with Dublin Animation Film Festival, or the Pavilion Theatre. With workshops and special guests to be announced and with time still for those shorts to be submitted, it’s shaping up to be a great weekend of animation on the southside this October.