Manchester Animation Festival 2018

The Manchester Animation Festival returned to Manchester once more, hosted at HOME cinema showcasing a selection of animated films using different styles and covering a range of topics.

This year The Mancunion’s writers had the opportunity to attend the festival, reviewing:

• AniJam, showcasing a selection of short, and heartwarming animated shorts created in a mere 48-hours.
  
• Ce Magnifique Gâteau,  which explores European colonisation of Africa in the 19th century.
  
• And finally, Virus Tropical which is the film-adaptation of the graphic novel following the story of one girl, Paola and is set between Ecuador and Columbia.

Read the reviews to find out more about these films.

The festival began in 2015 and has grown from strength to strength. Jen Hall, the festival producer, has said, “in the first 3 years we have seen nearly 70% increase in admissions, growing not only the audience but the programme too.” The Manchester Animation Festival is a not-for-profit company and puts the creators at the centre of the festival, to celebrate their work.

The programme is broad as the festival is proud to share local Mancunian animation talent, as well as feature an extensive international collection. In addition to this there is no submission fee for the festival, making it accessible to smaller companies sharing this platform with a range creators.

The Manchester Animation Festival had submissions from over 70 different countries leading to a diverse range of films on offer. Each year thousands of animated films are received by the festival, whose team needs to watch and select only a handful to share during the three-day festival. This is Jen Hall’s favourite parts in the run up to the festival as it shows “the talent and diversity in the animated short films that are being created.”

Manchester seems to be the perfect location for the UK’s largest animation festival as we have a “rich animation heritage starting with Cosgrove Hall’s early days in the 70s creating childhood favourites like Danger Mouse and Duckula.”

Keep an eye out for next year’s Manchester Animation Festival, which is set to be a success much like these previous years.