The great celebration of animation is set up in the capital of the Cyclades for the 15th consecutive year and takes place from September 20 to 25 in co-organization with the Municipality of Syros Ermoupolis, the South Aegean Region and with the support of PPC.
With award-winning films, international guests, special tributes, educational workshops, the Market and a multitude of events comes Animasyros 2022.
The great celebration of animation is set up in the capital of the Cyclades for the 15th consecutive year and takes place from September 20 to 25 in co-organization with the Municipality of Syros Ermoupolis, the South Aegean Region and with the support of PPC.
With a program richer than ever, the largest International Animation Festival in Greece and one of the top 20 of its kind in Europe, gathers more than 200 films by established and new creators from 43 different countries, includes 8 competition sections (International, Student, K.ID.S, AnimaPride, National Competition, TV & Commissioned Films, Feature Films & EU Values), special tributes, educational workshops, regional actions, international collaborations and the Market which is now a reference center for the industry of the sector in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The official opening of the festival takes place on September 22, 2022 at 20.00 at the Apollo Theater. There, among other things, will be presented the new animation film produced by Animasyros created for EOT, as well as the new film of the “Ninety Seconds” series in collaboration with the radio station Melodia 99.2 dedicated this time to the great Syrian poet and lyricist Manos Eleftheriou.
The events will take place in emblematic places of Syros, such as the Apollo theater, the Pallas summer cinema, the Ermoupoli Cultural Center, the historical former winter cinema HERMIS, the Tsiropina mansion in Poseidonia, in outdoor areas such as Phoinika Square, the courtyard of Capuchin Fathers Monastery in Ano Syros, while throughout the festival parallel events will be held in central parts of Hermoupoli. Part of the program of screenings will also be available through digital screenings on the website www.animasyros.gr, while the work of the Market will be broadcast on the official channel of Animasyros on YouTube.
The closing and awards ceremony of the festival takes place on September 25, 2022 at the Apollo Theater and, in addition to the long-awaited winners, will host a live performance by composer and singer Theodore of his song “The Transcendence of Man” accompanied by an animated video created by Babis Alexiadis produced by Animasyros.
Tributes
“The Baltic Animation Way”
The main theme of the festival is dedicated to the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) with the feature films “Captain Morten and the Spider Queen” and the hypnotic “AWAY” the great film by Gints Zilbalodis, which won the Best Film Award in the category Contrechamp at the Annecy Animation Festival and has been selected and screened at more than 85 festivals, and has been purchased by 18 countries. It is the first feature film of the 27-year-old Latvian, who wrote the script, directed, designed, produced and composed the soundtrack and is a guest of the festival. In addition, there will be two specially designed programs with a total of 12 films from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia co-curated by Anna Zaca, director of the Latvian Animation Association, together with Animasyros.
“Norway Calling”
We’re moving further north for the tribute to Norwegian animation, a series of short films curated by Anders Narverud Moen, director of the Fredrikstad Animation Festival, alongside the feature film ‘Louis and Luca – Mission to the Moon’.
“Stand With Ukraine”
Animasyros programming could not miss, this year, a tribute to contemporary Ukrainian animation, curated by Anastasiya Verlinska, program director of the LINOLEUM International Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, the most important animation festival in Ukraine.
Acceptance, empowerment, human relationships, the management of emotions, are just some of the themes dealt with by the films in all three tributes, conveying – in a pleasant and creative way – social messages to young and old.
Feature Films and International Panorama
Animasyros presents the 10 best films of the past few years, raising the curtain with ‘FLEE’, a film from StraDa Films, which received three Oscar nominations, was selected at Cannes and won the Grand Prize at the Sundance International Competition. This shocking documentary about the true story of a young Afghan boy fleeing his country for the Homeric journey to freedom will be presented by the film’s contributors Mikkel Sommer and Danae Katopodi. Alongside the screening, the exhibition “The faces of FLEE” with works created by Mikkel Sommer for the film will be presented in the Braziliana on Ano Syros.
The ever-current theme of the refugee and the journey from childhood to adolescence will also concern us in the film “The Escape/La Traversée” by Florence Miaihle from France, while the new film by Ari Folman, (better known by ” Waltz with Bashir”), “Where Anne Frank is Hiding”, delivers history lessons to young and old. The screening of the film “Icarus and Daedalus” transports us to the world of Greek mythology, in the presence of the director Carlo Vogele, the multi-award winning Spanish film “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles” pays tribute to the father of surrealism and is shown in the presence of Fermin Solis at comic on which the film was based.
The journey into the magical world of animation continues with “The Ape Star” – a tender animation about unconventional love, shown dubbed in Greek with the voices of, among others, Sotiris Kontizas and Eugenias Delialis and in collaboration with the International Athens Children’s and Teen Film Festival and the postmodern musical comedy “The Island” by Anca Damian (“Marona’s Fantastic Tale”).
Original and ground-breaking works from a technical or directorial point of view from every corner of the planet are included in the International Panorama through 27 films originating from America, Europe up to South Korea and Australia and with themes that include documentaries and fiction to video art .
Competitive Sections
Over 100 films frame the 8 competition sections of the Festival, including the Oscar-nominated “Bestia”, in the International Competition Section, the new video clip “Up and Away” by Stella, the video clip “Bientôt la Lumière” by Mad Rey edited by Thami & Hedi Nabil (who also handled the new Red Hot Chilli Peppers video) in TV and Film on Demand, films from internationally renowned animation schools (Gobelins, FAMU, Bezalel) in the Student Diagnostics Department.
The Greek Competition Section consists of 20 films. Acclaimed and up-and-coming Greek animators present some of the best animated films the Greek scene has to offer. Many of the films that this year are part of the Greek-language Competition Program with an award sponsored by the Hellenic Film Center have been completed within the context of the special Covid-19 program of the Ministry of Culture and Sports implemented in collaboration with the Hellenic Film Center, with the aim of supporting of the film community against the effects of the pandemic.
The AnimaPride competition section highlights, through 10 films, important aspects of the LGBTI+ movement: homophobia, transgender rights, gender boundaries, online dating, polygamy.
The children’s program K.ID.S consists of 20 films, which through imagination, humor and ingenuity open the horizons of thought and highlight messages concerning the environment, diversity, empathy, family relationships.
Finally, in the context of the #thisIsEU – European values ​​section, with a prize awarded by the Delegation of the European Commission in Athens, six films with the same theme will be screened, on the environment, conversion therapies, child poverty, immigration, violence against women and the self-determination of the body.
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The Agora, one of the liveliest parts of the festival, is now a reference center for the industry in the Eastern Mediterranean as it brings together international professionals in the industry with the Greek animation community. This year, in collaboration with the internationally renowned French NEF Animation, presentations, round tables, workshops, masterclasses and networking meetings are taking place.
This year, Animasyros is honored and delighted to host Peabody, Humanitas, NAACP and Emmy award-winning Chris Nee, creator and executive producer of the animated series Ada Twist, Scientist, The Little Doctor, Vampyrina as well as the recent series “ We The People’ for Netflix co-produced by Barack and Michelle Obama with the aim of teaching children the basic principles of their rights as modern citizens in a fun way. Journalist, animation film historian and music producer Nancy Denney Phelps moderates the interview with the internationally acclaimed producer.
In addition, distinguished animators and screenwriters such as Joanna Quinn and Les Mills will present a unique masterclass based on their film “The Affairs of the Art”, nominated for this year’s Oscars in the short animation category, while the renowned independent producer, Olivier Catherin ( producer of “Granny’s Sexual Life,” “Steakhouse” and the César Award-winning “Kiki of Montparnasse”), will share with the audience his extensive experience as well as strategies for developing projects and managing co-productions.
All activities of the Market take place in person at the Hermoupolis Spiritual Center and are broadcast live, through a link available on the website www.animasyros.gr
Detailed information on tickets here
Educational programs
A key pillar of the festival are the educational workshops aimed at children, teenagers, young professionals, the elderly and people with disabilities. This year, the theme of the workshops is based on the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe and in this context, in collaboration with the Association of Asia Minors of Hermoupoli, Syros, the participants are invited to be inspired by literary passages, photographs, traditional music from Asia Minor, recorded and written testimonies and create animation films under the guidance of experienced instructors from Greece and abroad.
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