Festival Pass | Anim'est 2015

10th edition

The tenth edition of Anim’est International Animation Film Festival will take place between October 2nd and October 11th 2015 at Cinema Studio, Cinema Elvira Popescu and Re: Animation Hub. Festival passes are now available on eventbook.ro.

After purchasing the festival pass, please send your name and photo [portrait] to tamina[at]animest[dot]ro for the festival badge, which will be handed to you at the festival. Additional information will be provided via e-mail.

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The most intense film festival in the capital and the only festival in Romania exclusively dedicated to animated films, has been busy preparing a memorable anniversary edition between October 2nd and 11th. Ever since 2006, the beginning of October has been painting the capital pink and inviting the audience to take part in a unique selection of screenings complemented by workshops, masterclasses, music and movie theme nights, parties and meetings devoted to animation, thus making Anim'est one of the most important cultural events in Bucharest.

This year the festival returns with the slogan "Anim'est means tradition" and it promises to offer 10 effervescent days to be enjoyed by animation lovers of all ages. In keeping with the festive spirit of celebrating a decade of activity, the 2015 edition will have a predominant musical theme, preparing a series of surprise films, parties and live acts performed by some consecrated artists.

10 years of Anim'est – that sounds surreal, but ever since 2006 the festival has been constantly changing people?s views on animated films in Romania. For a decade now Anim'est has screened thousands of films in movie theatres and, most importantly, it has managed to create a community that grows with the festival. The results are visible in this anniversary edition, which opens with the screening of a Romanian animated film. This year we aim to delight you with animated films and music in the good old tradition of the festival, says Michael Mitrica, the artistic director of Anim'est.

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Since the first edition and until the present day, 170,000 spectators have filled the Bucharest cinemas which hosted Anim'est. Over 200 animated feature films awarded at well-known international festivals, films such as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mary and Max or Ernest et Celestine, and over 3000 animated short films coming from 6 continents have been selected at the festival over the nine previous editions. The appetite for animation grew and the audience acquired a more in-depth understanding of a complex and generous industry thanks to our 500 international guests, consecrated animators like Bill Plympton, John Dilworth or Michel Ocelot and famous studios such as Laika, Pixar, Aardman, or Framestore. The fresh and friendly ambiance our festival is known for has been supported by over 1000 dedicated volunteers, the most enthusiastic of them being now part of the Anim'est team.

Since the very first edition, Anim'est aims to help the domestic animation film industry evolve and improve and that is why the educational component of the festival has become more and more important every year. Along with the 30 workshops and 15 animation masterclasses for adults and children, our mission to develop Romanian animation spawned an ambitious project outside the festival, Animation Worksheep, which reached its fifth edition in 2015. Of the 56 graduates of this intensive animation workshop that takes place for two and a half weeks each spring, all of them young animators from Romania and Moldova, more than half currently work in animation studios and related industries, as illustrators, graphic designers etc. Moreover, the Anim'est educational platform has been expanded through a presentation session / competition for animated short film projects named Project Worksheep that reached its third edition this year thanks to the suport of HBO Romania.

The screening of The Magic Mountain (2015), the docu-drama directed by Anca Damian which opens the anniversary edition of the festival, marks both the celebration of Romanian animation and 10 successful years of activity for Anim’est. It is the second Romanian animated feature film since 1989, the first was Crulic - The Path to Beyond, also directed by Anca Damian and which opened the 2011 edition of Anim'est.

A Romanian - French – Polish coproduction, The Magic Mountain animation brings forth Adam Jacek Winker’s journey through nearly half a century of history. He was a Polish artist, photographer and experienced mountaineer. As a political refugee in Paris, Adam hoped to change the world. His adventurous life took a radical turn in the 80s, when he saw himself as a sort of the twentieth century knight and he left France to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Along with Crulic - The Path to Beyond which received the Best Feature Film Award in 2012 at Annecy, The Magic Mountain is part of a trilogy about heroism, it aims to put into perspective the relationship between the individual and history as highlighted by his deeds and his death.

Through a frenzy of interconnected animations, The Magic Mountain uses a variety of visual techniques, paper cut-outs, animated cartoons, photography and film. The animated parts were created in two Romanian studios, Abis and DSG, and in a Polish studio. The team of animation artists consisted of Theodore Ushev, Raluca Popa, Tomek Duck, Dan Panaitescu and Sergiu Negulici, the last two are also trainers for our own Animation Worksheep.

The animation was selected in the official competition of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the greatest film festival in Eastern Europe, where it received the Special Jury Mention. In Romania, The Magic Mountain, distributed by Aparte Film, will be released in cinemas on October 9th.

Before the screening, the audience will enjoy a special recital by Alexander Balanescu on the stage of Cinema Studio. He is one of the most renowned Romanian musicians of the last few decades and he created the soundtrack for The Magic Mountain.

Anim’est International Animation Film Festival is a member of the pan-European Cartoon Network, it is organized by Este'n'est Association, with the support of the National Cinematography Centre, the Ministry of Culture, the Bucharest Centre for Cultural Projects - ARCUB, the National Cultural Fund Administration and the Romanian Cinematographers Union