These days I have been reviewing some old posts and I have realised that I had not talked much about animation festivals. When we analyse the differences between animation, fiction and documentary festivals, it is surprising to see some differences, especially between animation and documentary.
While most documentary film festivals have a premiere requirement, whether international or national, and usually charge entry fees, in the case of animation festivals we find the opposite situation: most festivals do not have a premiere requirement and do not usually charge entry fees.
These two differences strongly shape distribution work in both genres: while documentary progresses little by little, respecting festivals’ premiere calendar, animation has a faster run, and with more freedom. For example, it can be online before any other genre without it harming it too much, as in the case of Sidewalk.
Along these lines, none of these five animation-specialised festivals require a premiere and all have free entry. They are ordered by submission deadline:
#1 Klik!
It takes place in Amsterdam from 17 to 22 October. It has several awards, including for animations made in virtual reality, music videos and documentaries, all with a maximum running time of 25 minutes.
The submission deadline is 1 June, via an online form and, as I mentioned before, with no premiere requirement.
#2 Krok International Animated Film Festival
This festival has a very particular venue. The screenings are itinerant, taking guests to cities between Russia and Ukraine by boat. It is held every two years, with the last edition in 2015.
It also has the particularity of not accepting student works. There is a specific children’s animation section and it accepts films from 5 to 50 minutes. Submissions are open until 10 June, via a PDF form.
#3 World Festival of Animated Film Varna
In this case, the competition is open to short films up to 30 minutes, and feature films from 60 minutes. It also has special sections for children’s animation and TV series. It takes place from 13 to 17 September.
The submission deadline is 15 June via its own online form.
#4 Anim’est
It takes place in Romania and, in addition to short films and feature films, it also accepts medium-length films, as it sets a running-time limit of up to 50 minutes for short films; above this duration they are considered feature films.
As usual, it has awards for music videos and short films aimed at children. It takes place from 29 September to 8 October and the submission deadline ends on 15 June; it also has its own online form.
#5 CutOut Fest
This festival takes place in Mexico, in the town of Querétaro, located in the centre of the country. In this case the deadline closes on 30 June via Filmfreeway.
Like the Klik! festival, it specialises in short films, up to 30 minutes, and also has awards for animated music videos, as well as a special category for animations made in GIF.
If you have an animated film currently in distribution, take good note of all of them—you can submit it right now.