COVID-19 has forced the Anima Brussels organization to move the festival to a completely online mode. Still, the spirit of the films themselves and their programming, plus the associated Futuranima industry events, make it a festival that you need to experience. We picked up some of the highlights of this year's edition:

Opening Ceremony (12 Feb): Anima Online opens at 5 p.m. sharp on the Facebook page of the festival.

Short Film Competition: It goes without saying that Anima Festival always features a strong line-up of independent international and Belgian animation films. Check the complete lineup of the 2021 edition.

Souvenir, Souvenir / Bastien Dubois

Feature Film Competition: 9 feature films overall in the festival selection. 6 films compete at Anima Festival (7 Days War, Josep, Kill it and Leave this Town, My Favorite War and Topp 3), plus a restored version of Akira, a 3D animation adventure comedy featuring gentleman thief Arsène Lupin (Lupin III: The First) and the documentary Up we Soar.

40 Years of Anima: A 78-minute programme of animation shorts, from Joanna Quinn's Girls Night Out to Regina Pessoa's Tragic History with A Happy Ending, all of them individually acclaimed.

Childrens Programme: 6 thematic top programmes for children of all ages, including Belgian films and films from the 2020 Anima Festival edition.

Korean Focus (in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre): The latest (and the challenging) in the independent South Korean animation production.  One programme of short films (lineup here) and three feature films are included: The Shaman Sorceress, by Jae-Huun Ahn (also the director of The Shower, Anima's closing film in 2018), Motel Rose, by Eun-a Yeo, and Beauty Water, by Kyung-hun Cho.

• Read our review for Beauty Water

Balkans Now: 9 recent films are showcased from the Balkan region, to express the diversity and the quality of a region with a rich history in independent animation. In alphabetical order: All Those Sensations in My Belly, Arka, Cockpera, Let's Meet Yesterday, Love in Time of Tourism, Prelazak, Tasks of the Day, The Adventures of Gloria Scott - Murder in the Cathedral. Full details

Animated Night (13 Feb): This year, taking place online, an endless stream of films, characterized by the festival itself as 'unclassifiable, politically incorrect and radical. The event launch via the festival's Facebook page. (13 Feb, 7 pm, CET).

Valentine's Programme (14 Feb): What you expect from the title, but being an independent animation, it is also more quirky than usual. 

Futuranima events: The festival industry event puts this year's Belgian animation film in the spotlight in celebration of its 40th edition. The programme consists of 15 events: 5 Futuranima videos (available all week)  and 10 Futuranima Live events

The 5 Futuranima Videos

•  Masterclass Stop Motion with Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier
• Masterclass Screenwriting with Xavier Vairé
• Panorama of Belgian Animation Film. Philippe Moins, the founder of the Anima Festival, animation film theorist and professor at ENSAV La Cambre, reflects in this conversation with Dick Tomasovic, Professor of Cinema at Liège University,
• Belgian Filmmakers. Q&As with Lia Bertels, Pieter Coudyzer, Nienke Deutz, Anna Heuninck, Thomas Leclercq, Nicolas Keppens, Roman Klochkov, Imge and Sine Özbilge, Britt Raes, An Vrombaut
• Belgian Studios. Discover a handful of talented Belgian animation film studios, including Squarefish, Animal Tank, S.O.I.L., Volstok, Zorobabel and Camera-etc, in this video series.

The 10 Futuranima Live Events (lectures, Q&As and rountables on Zoom)

• Green IT: Embracing the Green Transition — Monday 15.02 • 5PM
• Unreal Engine : Video Games and Films — Thursday 18.02 • 10AM
• A.L.I.C.E. : Animation League for Increased Cooperation in Europe — Thursday 18.02 • 5PM
• BROTARU — Monday 15.02 • 7PM
• Training & Network: Opportunities at European Level — Tuesday 16.02 • 2PM
• Webcréation #10 : Finance & develop a hybrid projet — Thursday 18.02 • 2PM
• Impact of the Pandemic : Remote Work — Monday 15.02 • 2PM
• Inside The Studios — Monday 15.02 • 10AM
• Distribution and Digitalisation — Tuesday 16.02 • 5PM
• Construire sa carrière dans l’animation — Tuesday 16.02 • 10AM
• Inside The Studios : Belgian VFX — Friday 19.02 • 2PM
• Een carrière opbouwen in de animatiefilmsector — Tuesday 16.02 • 10AM
• Q&;A : Masterclass Screenwriting with Xavier Vairé — Wednesday 17.02 • 2PM
• Q&A : Panorama de l'animation belge — Wednesday 17.02 • 5PM
• QA : Belgian Filmmakers — Friday 19.02 • 5PM
• More info 

Closing Ceremony (19 Feb): All the awarded films will be revealed during a Facebook live on Friday 19th Feb at 8pm, with the announcement of the prizes of the 4 juries (Short Films, Feature Films, Belgian Shorts and Shorts for Children) and the winners of the Do It Yourself photo contest.

The official 2021 festival trailer
Animation:Gil Alkabetz / Music: Thomas Giry /Sound: Sonhouse - sound production agency

The 40th Anima Brussels Animation Film Festival will take place 12-21 February 2021.

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