Return of the 18th London International Animation Festival

Get ready for the return of the 18th London International Animation Festival.

The UK’s longest-running, largest and most eclectic animation festival is back and screening in-cinema and online all across the UK for 10 days from November 26th.

There will be live in-cinema screenings and this year as well as our regular venues the Barbican, the Horse Hospital and Close-Up Cinema there will be screening at the Hackney Picturehouse and the Puppet Theatre Barge for the first time. Most of the screenings online on the trusted streaming platform.

Tickets and passes will be going on sale in a few weeks time.

There are almost 2,400 entries this year and after much soul-searching here’s a taste of what you can look forward to:

• 94 of the world’s best animated shorts from 31 different countries screening in 9 official competition programmes including the British Showcase and the Abstract Showcase.
• 91 other shorts in several other competitive programmes including our much-loved and returning programmes: Music Videos, Late Night Bizarre, Best of the Next (student films) and Children’s films.
• Japan now! A three-programme focus on the booming indie animation scene in Japan including a full-blown retrospective of the absurdist and minimalist films of Atsushi Wada, the UK premiere of the sci-fi stop-motion masterpiece feature-film Junk Head and a look back at some of the most mind-blowing independent shorts made in the last decade.
• The wondrous realities of Andrew and Eden Kotting: Andrew and Eden live and work between Hastings and the French Pyrenees. Eden is Andrew’s daughter and was born in 1988 with Jouberts Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. She grew up in London and developed a keen interest in drawing and painting and her visual impairment influences the way she sees the world. She has been working alongside Andrew all her life and the fantastical body of work they have created together voyages us to all kinds of wondrously observed and vividly imagined realities. Andrew and Eden will be live and onstage to talk about and present their remarkable short films.
• Joseph Wallace: One of the UK’s most extraordinary animation and stop-motion directors will be live at LIAF to present a selection of his short films and music videos. Over a 15 year career Joseph has built up an astounding collection of work including his most ambitious film to date ‘Salvation Has No Name’ (just finished and hitting the festival circuit in 2022) and his recent stop-motion segments in ‘The Sparks Brothers’ musical documentary.
• Figures in Focus (previously called Female Figures) – Up Yours! A celebration of radical animators making politically charged work. At a time in the UK when our right to protest is being challenged, this programme reflects on the power of animation to spread a message. Works by daring animators, including Martha Colburn, Chloé Mazlo, Lorelei Pepi and OV, demonstrate how animators are presenting an alternate viewpoint to the status quo through their experimental and artistic work.
• Edge of Frame – Fvoom! The Animated Films of Robert Breer: It is 10 years since the artist and animator Robert Breer died, and his impact on experimental animation practice is greater than ever. Two programmes exploring Breer’s substantial legacy including a range of work by contemporary animators who have built on Breer’s myriad conceptual innovations, taking his lead into unexpected new directions.

Besides, there will have several industry panels and discussions from the UK and the worlds’ leading practitioners giving insider access to the hottest topics of the year.