Cardiff Animation Festival Announces Hybrid Edition For 2022, Submissions Now Open

2020's Cardiff Animation Festival was one of the early casualties of the UK's national lockdown last April. CAF second edition eventually took place as a virtual event later in the year, but it was a terrible shame to see months of planning for the in-person event derailed. The festival comes from the people who bring you the regular Cardiff Animation Nights screenings, who have been hosting regular online events throughout the Pandemic. With most restrictions in the UK lifted, CAN recently held its first in-person event in more than a year.

It has been announced that Cardiff Animation Festival will return in 2022- and will be the festivals first-ever hybrid event. The festival will feature both in-person screenings and events, held at Cardiff Animation's spiritual home of arts hub Chapter and online events for audiences across the country and worldwide.

Festival director Lauren Orme says: "we’re beyond excited to be back together in the cinema again, but we’re also really proud of what we built during lockdown, with our online events keeping audiences entertained and connected, and also improving access to animation for people who might not be so able to access our events in person. The 2022 edition will bring together the best of both worlds.”

The in-person part of the third edition of the festival will take place from March 24-27, 2021. It's anyone's guess where we will be Pandemic-wise by then, but all being well the traditional portion of the festival should be able to go ahead. If this does change however, the festival will be in a good place to adapt. Either way, animation fans will be able to take part in the festival wherever they are. Online vents will take place throughout March and April.

The rise of the virtual festival has been a boon for people who don't live in a major metropolitan area (or even country) or are unable to attend events due to disability, financial, physical or mental health reasons. If one good thing were to come out of this whole crisis, it would be great if this accessibility became a long-term thing. This is a positive sign the CAF might be thinking the same- although this also might be a case of playing it safe.

The festival will -as before- feature a selection of animation shorts and features from around the world, as well as filmmaker Q&As, masterclasses, workshops, behind-the-scenes screenings, industry events and panels.

Short film submissions are now open and will run through until December 3, 2021. Films completed on or after 6 December 2019 can be submitted via FilmFreeway. Discounted early-bird fees are available. Films can be submitted in one of three categories- International Shorts, Student Shorts or Micro Shorts (for films under 120 seconds).

For more details, visit the Cardiff Animation Website.

CAF's Mascot Dotty