Cardiff Animation Festival Returns For A Weekender in May

Cardiff Animation Festival is one of the leading animation events in the UK. And it has been announced that the festival would return this year for a special "weekender" edition. It basically means that the festival is compressed down to two days- but it's still looking pretty packed. The weekender will run in person at several venues across Cardiff on May 17-18, and online from May 17- June 01.

Feature film screenings will include Don Bluth's The Land Before Time, a Wallace and Gromit double-bill featuring The Wrong Trousers and their newest film Vengeance Most Fowl; dreamy coming-of-age film Boys Go To Jupiter; new anime feature Ghost Cat Anzu and a rare Welsh-language screening of Welsh fantasy  Y Dywysoges a’r Bwgan (The Princess and the Goblin).

Short films will include festival favourites, hand-picked highlights from over a decade of Cardiff Animation events; Oska Bright's Best Of The Fest showcases unique voices, styles and themes and Cardiff Quick Draw Shorts sees Teams across the globe take on the impossible task of completing an animated short in a single weekend.

Talks include John R. Dilworth, travelling all the way from New York to celebrate 25 years of Cartoon Network cult classic Courage The Cowardly Dog; and Chris Shepard shares his nostalgic debut graphic novel Anfield Road, in conversation with Hannah Lau Walker.

Other events include Interactive Workshops, including a stop-motion workshop with Helen Piercy, using locally sourced fossils and traditional animation techniques to make a dinosaur film; make your own Gromit and Feathers McGraw with expert guidance from Aardman. New event Sketch Showdown brings artists head-to-head on stage in an epic cartoon memory battle. Local film and art group Sinema Colomendy host a Dog Life Drawing Session.  An exhibition will showcase the work of Welsh animators alongside their inspirational treasures. One Bum Cinema Club- possibly the smallest cinema in the world, returns to Chapter. And Cardiff Animation Nights kicks off the Weekender with a launch party.

"Cardiff Animation Weekender is an invitation to reconnect with your younger self", said festival director Lauren Orne. "With a programme full of stories about growing up, alongside some of the cartoons that raised us, it’s a space to watch films together, laugh, cry, and have great chats about them afterwards – with drinks in the dark, in the online chat box, or over a big shared lunch."

"We’ve designed the Weekender to be a welcoming, inclusive space for everyone – all about fun, community and connection. A chance to tap into your childlike joy by learning something new, getting swept up in stories, and letting yourself be silly. We can’t wait to see you there."

The festival will be completely accessible- all events will be captioned and BSL interpreted, and all online events will be captioned.

Cardiff Animation Weekender is funded by Arts Council of Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales, has received funding and support from Welsh Government via Creative Wales, is supported by investment from Arts & Business Cymru, and is sponsored by University of South Wales, Cloth Cat, Twt Productions, Beryl Productions, Picl Animation and ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund with contributions from UK animation productions.

Day passes, Weekend passes and tickets to individual events are now available from the website.