Animaze Comes To Montreal September 17-19

September is a big month for Canadian animation. Later this month the 50th anniversary of the Ottawa International Animation Festival will take place. But before that, the 13th edition of Animaze- The Montreal International Animation Festival comes to Quebec's largest city. Running from September 17-19, the festival brings together international animation, independent filmmakers, special guests, masterclasses and awards. The 2026 programme includes 123 short films, from comedy, music and family animation to experimental and after-dark selections.

Independent animation icon Bill Plympton returns to the festival as a guest, presenting a 90-minute masterclass on drawing, storytelling and building an independent career, as well as heading up the six-person Animaze Jury.

Animaze welcomes ttikr as the festival's official creator marketplace partner, giving Animaze's global animator community new year-round tools to share and monetise their work.

Unfortunately, the festival organisers have decided to give quite a platform to AI at this year's event, including screening a program of "AI-assisted" shorts, whatever that might mean. For much of the animation community, it's dispiriting to see such a major event going down this path.

“This year's jury reflects exactly the range we want Animaze to represent: filmmakers who've spent their lives at the drawing table alongside technologists and editors shaping where animation is headed next. It's an incredible group, and we're thrilled to have each of them in Montreal this September," said Laurie Gordon, Festival Director, Animaze Festival.

THREE DAYS OF ANIMATION

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

•     4 PM — Opening Networking Cocktail

•     Beautifully Absurd — inventive, comic and unconventional animation

•     Music in Motion — animation and music across styles and approaches

•     What We Remember — memory, history, loss and personal experience

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

•     Worlds in Transition: A.I. — a selection of AI-assisted animated shorts

•     Johnnie Semerad: From Pencil to Pixels to AI — 45-minute presentation

•     Human Connections screening programme

•     Roots and Journeys — culture, identity, place and belonging

•     Turning Points

•     After Dark — Animaze's darker, stranger, more provocative late-night programme

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

•     Young Animaze: Big Adventures — family-oriented animated shorts

•     Bill Plympton Masterclass — 90 minutes on drawing, storytelling and creative independence

•     Strange Worlds & Future Tense — surreal, speculative, forward-looking animation

•     Turning Points

•     Animaze Awards Ceremony — closes the 2026 festival

2026 Animaze Jury

Johnnie Semerad  —  Jury Member

Founder of QuietMan, the innovative studio behind the first Beatles music video and the first primetime Emmy awarded for a TV commercial. QuietMan's work has earned Emmys and a Grammy across more than 150 Super Bowl commercials, with pieces in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. This year Semerad launched the YouTube channel Deep Space Degenerates, already drawing millions of views.

Bill Plympton  —  Jury Member & Masterclass Instructor

Two-time Academy Award-nominated animator known as the “King of Indie Animation,” Plympton has hand-drawn every frame of his 11 animated features and 60+ shorts, including The Tune, Cheatin' and Slide. His work spans music videos for Kanye West and Weird Al Yankovic and eight Simpsons “couch gag” sequences. He headlines Animaze's newly expanded Masterclass Program.

Iona Pelovska  —  Jury Member

Artist and filmmaker exploring perception, dream and technology's entanglement with human experience. She holds a doctorate in Communication and Culture, and her films and installations have shown at festivals and art spaces internationally.

Dr. Elisa Schaeffer  —  Jury Member — Dean of Technology, LaSalle College Montreal

Dean of Technology at LaSalle College Montreal, with a doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) and prior faculty roles at UANL Monterrey and McGill's School of Continuing Studies. Her work spans computational intelligence, graph theory and machine learning.

Katia Zenava  —  Jury Member

Game-production specialist and educator with nearly a decade in the industry. At Nvizzio Creations (formerly Funcom), she contributed to titles including RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch, Rokh and LEGO Minifigures, and now teaches game production at LaSalle College.

Edward Crompton  —  Jury Member — Film & Animation Editor

Montreal-based film and animation editor whose credits include animation editor on The Garfield Movie, plus work on Isle of Dogs, Ron's Gone Wrong and Dead End: Paranormal Park. Currently 1st Assistant Editor on The Angry Birds Movie 3.

Animaze brings together international animation professionals, filmmakers, and industry experts to form the festival jury.

Animaze takes place at Cinéma du Musée — 1379-A Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Québec H3G 1K3. For more information, see the festival website.