Cardiff Animation Mini-Festival Returns This March
Animation festivals give animation fans around the world a chance to engage more closely with their favourite medium. And there seem to be more than ever, with new festivals popping up all of the time. One festival that is preparing to make a return for 2023 is the Cardiff Animation Festival.
This year's event is described as a 'mini-festival' but hopes to prove that the best things come in small packages. Appropriately enough the theme for the mini-fest is all things miniature "celebrating the little things that make animation so special."
The line-up includes a screening of the Oscar-nominated Marcel The Shell With Shoe On, a talk from Welsh animator Ketnipz, Aardman discussing their series The Very Small Creatures and a screening of Annecy 2022 Cristal winner Little Nicholas. Plus the brilliantly named One-Bum Cinema Club- possibly the world's smallest cinema- will be making a return to the foyer at Chapter arts centre.
The festival will kick off with a special CAF edition of Cardiff Animation Nights and an opening party. Other highlights include a talk from studio Factory on creating miniature worlds, Japanese dystopian stop-motion sci-fi Junk Head, a workshop from Emmy and BAFTA nominated director Osbert Parker, networking and social events plus a program of shorts. A free miniature exhibition will also be held throughout the festival. Parts of the festival will also be available online.
On the launch of the program CAF Festival director Lauren Orne said "Mini-CAF will give audiences a taste of the direction we want to move in as a festival over the next few years. One of our main aims is to support our audiences' wellbeing. So we're putting on more social events, more meals people can sit down and eat together, and carving out more space between events for those magic conversations that only happen at festivals. We're also really thrilled that the whole festival will be accessible for D/deaf audiences. Snap up an Early Bird pass before they sell out!"
Cardiff Animation Festival Mini-Fest will be held on the 24th and 25th of March at Chapter.. Early bird tickets are on sale now, visit the festival website for full details and to buy your pass or tickets.
