Event Description:
Animaze – Montreal International Animation Film Festival is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to advancing independent animation. Founded in Montreal in 2012, Animaze celebrates bold storytelling, artistic innovation and diverse creative voices from around the world.

Through international screenings, premieres, masterclasses, filmmaker conversations, workshops and industry events, Animaze brings together emerging talent, established artists, students, studios and audiences. From traditional and experimental animation to new technologies, we showcase the breadth of the art form while supporting the creators shaping its future.

2026 Animaze Festival Coverage

123 Animated Shorts, Masterclasses and a Six-Member International Jury Headline the Festival's 13th Edition at Cinéma du Musée, September 17–19

Animaze — the Montreal International Animation Festival — returns to Cinéma du Musée from September 17 to 19, 2026 for its 13th edition, bringing together international animation, independent filmmakers, emerging technology, special guests, masterclasses and awards over three days in downtown Montreal. The 2026 theatrical programme presents 123 animated short films, from comedy, music and family animation to experimental, AI-assisted and after-dark selections.

Returning guests Bill Plympton and Johnnie Semerad headline the festival's six-member jury and this year's masterclass programming: Plympton presents a 90-minute masterclass Saturday on drawing, storytelling and building an independent career, and Semerad presents Friday's 45-minute From Pencil to Pixels to AI, on animation's changing relationship with technology.

Animaze 2026 also welcomes ttikr as the festival's official creator marketplace partner, giving Animaze's global animator community new year-round tools to share and monetize their work.

“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.”  — 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 fest

2027 Animaze Festival Call for Entries

Animaze programs films in several review rounds during the submission period.  Selected films will be announced in Official Selection Waves throughout the year

It is imperative you indicate if the film is NOT approporiate for young children under 13 years of age. Short animated films are accepted up to 30 minutes

Categories:

Experimental
International Student Film Contest
Canada Wide Student Film Contest.
Feature
Short (between 15-30 mins)
First Nations
Music Video
A.I. films ALL GENRES
Works in Progress 

• Regulations and submission via FilmFreeway
• Deadline: 14 November 2026 (Fall Deadline), 28 December (Winter Deadline), 30 January 2027 (White Deadline), 1 April 2027 (Green Deadline), 19 June 2027 (Regular Deadline)