Be there! Corfu Animation Festival: 2011–2017 History

Be there! Corfu Animation Festival was launched in Corfu, Greece, in 2011 as an international festival focused on independent and artistic animation (artistic director Vassilis Kroustallis, managing directors: Alexandros Tziotis, Mando Mazi). Across its six editions, the festival gradually expanded from competitions for shorts and graduation films into feature animation, thematic retrospectives, masterclasses, national programmes and discussions about contemporary European animation. The Zippy Frames coverage from 2011–2017 documents that development, from the festival's beginnings to its final edition.

2011 — The inaugural festival

The first Be there! Corfu Animation Festival took place from 7–10 April 2011. From its first edition, the festival combined international competition with retrospectives and prominent guests. Oscar-winning Polish filmmaker Zbigniew Rybczyński was one of its major guests, presenting a masterclass on modern image creation and visual effects, while his Emmy-winning 'The Orchestra' was included in the programme. Retrospectives were also devoted to Czech filmmaker Jiří Barta and Canadian animators Richard Condie and Cordell Barker. 

The festival opened with the Greek premiere of Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal's 'Chico & Rita', while its competitions comprised 45 short films and 21 graduation films representing a broad spectrum of animation styles and techniques. 

Inès Sedan's 'The Man Who Slept' won the festival's first Grand Prize, presented by Rybczyński. Bastien Dubois's Oscar-nominated 'Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage' received the Jury Prize, while Michel Korb won the award for music for 'The Silence Beneath the Bark'. In the graduation competition, Ben Cady's 'The Goat and the Well' took the main award, Dennis van den Bergh's 'Echo' received a special mention, and the Greek film 'O' by Emmanouil Ioannidis won the Audience Award. 

Jury members:

Short Films Competition: Stelios Polychronakis, Marianna Strapatsaki, Peggy Caratzopoulou-Vavali
Graduation Films Competition: Magdalena Sebestova, Christian Pappas, Leonidas Koufalis

2012 — Expansion into feature animation

For its second edition, held 29 March–1 April 2012, Be there! significantly expanded its ambitions. Most importantly, it established a competitive feature-film section—described at the time as a first for a Greek animation festival—with both jury and audience awards.

The short and graduation competitions brought together 82 films from 32 countries. Among the better-known selections were 'Dimanche', 'A Morning Stroll', 'Maska', 'Luminaris' and 'The Renter'. The feature competition included 'A Cat in Paris', 'George the Hedgehog' and 'Fat, Bald, Short Man'. 

A major artistic focus was a retrospective of French filmmaker Jean-François Laguionie, covering both his shorts and features such as 'Gwen, le livre de sable' and 'L'île de Black Mor'. Laguionie also conducted a masterclass on developing and creating an animated feature. Animator Alex Orrelle, whose credits included 'Finding Nemo', 'The Incredibles' and 'Yogi Bear', presented a session on constructing animated scenes. 

Kamil Polak's 'The Lost Town of Świteź' won the Grand Prize, while Jack Shih's 'A Happy Wish' received the Jury Prize. Lily Sheikhat's 'Way Out' was named best student film. In the newly established feature competition, Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol's 'A Cat in Paris' won both the jury award for best feature and the feature Audience Award. Marek Skrobecki's 'Danny Boy' received the short-film Audience Award. 

Jury Members

Feature Films: Elena Hamalidi, Giorgos Koskinas, Vassilis Letsios

2013 — International perspectives and thematic programming

The third edition, held 4–7 April 2013, further strengthened the festival's international profile. Its competitive programme contained 81 films, alongside retrospectives, thematic screenings and international guests. 

French-Dutch animator Monique Renault was invited for a retrospective of her work, while Argentine filmmakers Inès Sedan and Patricio Plaza discussed Latin American animation. The festival also presented 'Greece, Animated: Portrait of a Country', bringing together historical and contemporary animated representations of Greece, and the programme '10 Films for the 21st Century', which included filmmakers such as Steven Woloshen, Koji Yamamura and Tomek Bagiński. (Zippy Frames)

The feature competition consisted of 'Daddy, I'm a Zombie', 'The Apostle', 'Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe' and Don Hertzfeldt's 'It's Such a Beautiful Day'. Shorts in the programme included 'Tram', 'Edmond Was a Donkey' and 'Oh Willy...'. 

Daniel Sousa's 'Feral' won the Grand Prix, with Julia Gromskaya's 'Flood' receiving the Jury Prize. The student-film award was shared by Song E Kim's 'Bite of the Tail' and Tim Reckart's 'Head Over Heels'. Walter Tournier's 'Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe' won both the best feature award and the feature Audience Award, while the animated documentary 'Father' received the short-film Audience Award. 

Jury members:

Short Film Competition: Monique Renault, Inès Sedan, Patricio Plaza

2013 Festival Poster by Tomek

2014 — Identity and European animation

The fourth edition moved to autumn and was held 16–19 October 2014. Its programme grew to 165 films from 35 countries, combining competitions with an increasingly substantial programme of retrospectives, national focuses and professional discussions. 

Identity emerged as an important theme. Oscar-nominated Czech filmmaker Michaela Pavlátová presented the masterclass 'From My Own Kitchen', drawing on themes of female identity and sexuality in her work. Producer Marc Jousset, associated with films including 'Persepolis' and 'The Day of the Crows', discussed the position of European and French animation within international production. Polish animation also received a dedicated festival focus. 

Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo's 'The Sense of Touch' won the festival Grand Prix. The jury praised its integration of storytelling, movement, sound and music, consolidating the festival's emphasis on artistically distinctive independent animation. 

Jury Members:
Short Film Competition: Michaela Pavlátová — Czech Republic, Eleni Mouri — Greece, Zbigniew Czapla — Poland
Graduation Film Competition: Marc Jousset — France, Barbara Szczekała — Poland, Marina Papasotiriou — Greece

2014 Festival Poster

2015 — A festival looking toward Europe

The fifth Be there! Corfu Animation Festival, held 15–18 October 2015, centered its programme explicitly on Europe, exploring European animation through eight different tributes and programmes.

French production was represented through a Sacrebleu programme and a visit from producer Ron Dyens, who presented a masterclass on French production and international co-production. Rémi Chayé's 'Long Way North' received a festival premiere screening. Another programme, 'Europe With In/Out Borders', addressed migration and European identity, with Swedish filmmaker Hanna Heilborn discussing visual politics and documentary animation. 

Other strands included animation from the Visegrad countries, a programme marking 70 years of Greek animation, European fairy tales and European painters, while a professional forum examined acting in animation, subtitling and the activities of ASIFA. The competitive programme contained 90 films across shorts, student films and features, with work by Andreas Hykade and Theo Ushev among the selections. 

Five features competed: 'POS ESO', 'Battledream Chronicle', Bill Plympton's 'Cheatin'', 'Sabogal' and 'Unknown Energies, Unidentified Emotions'. Jerzy Kucia's 'Fugue for Cello, Trumpet and Landscape' ultimately received the 2015 Grand Prix, while Kim Noce's 'Nest of Stone' received the Jury Prize. 

2015 Festival Poster by Kim Noce

2016 — Preparing the sixth edition

The festival did not hold a regular edition in 2016. Instead, the year became a period of preparation for the sixth edition, scheduled for spring 2017. The call for entries announced that the festival would return from 29 March–2 April 2017, continuing its emphasis on European and independent artistic animation. 

The competition was reorganized into shorts, student/graduation films, features and, for the first time, a dedicated Short Films for Children competition. Significantly, children judged the children's films themselves. The festival also launched a crowdfunding campaign toward the end of 2016 as preparations for the new edition continued. 

2017 — Re-boot: from analogue to digital

The sixth edition finally took place 29 March–2 April 2017, returning after the 2016 gap with its most extensive programme: 235 films overall, including 119 competition films. Its central theme, 'Re-boot', explored the relationship between analogue and digital animation and connected contemporary independent animation with earlier experimental practices.

Canadian experimental filmmaker Steven Woloshen was the subject of a retrospective highlighting his direct-on-film techniques, including scratching and drawing on celluloid and the use of found footage. Latvian filmmaker Vladimir Leschiov presented a masterclass, accompanied by a programme of contemporary Latvian animation. 

The competition included major contemporary shorts such as Theo Ushev's 'Blind Vaysha', Špela Čadež's 'Nighthawk' and Koji Yamamura's 'Satie's Parade'. Additional programmes explored Polish music videos, Serbian animation and animation dealing with disability. The festival also presented a preview connected with 'Loving Vincent', while screenwriter Katerina Giannakou and Greek filmmaker John Zhonga contributed masterclasses and presentations. An ASIFA-led panel examined more than seven decades of Greek animation and its contemporary challenges. 

Jury Members: Vladimir Leschiov, Anja Sosic, Nica Harrison, Panos Vlagopoulos, Steven Woloshen, Katerina Giannakou

2017 Festival Poster by Lucija Mrzljak

The festival ended its animation tour with that 6th edition.