Animate OPEN 2025

Festival Description:

The Animate OPEN sets out to celebrate, subvert and confound expectations of what animation is. It will bring together different artistic approaches that connect through their exploration of the concept of animation, both as a contemporary art and craft practice. The festival is looking for artists’ animation that explores form and technique and has an experimental approach.

2024 Call for Entries

 This is an international call, for single screen, experimental animation, made by artists and animators, since September 2022.

2024 Festival Theme: ALL THAT IS SOLID – a phrase from the Communist Manifesto.
All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and [people are] at last compelled to face with sober senses, [their] real conditions of life.

The theme is deliberately broad; the festival organizers would like to see a range of work that reflects or responds to the world today – community, activism, protest – urging us to become agents of a future, better world.

• There is no limit on running time, but the festival expects to choose a selection of works that can tour as a single screen cinema programme. The festival has previously selected a few longer works to show alongside the main programme.
• There is no premiere status requirement. Work can be available online.
• Work made as current student is not eligible; graduate work is eligible.
• Works commissioned by Animate Projects or QUAD are not eligible. Other work made by artists that either organisation has previously commissioned is eligible.
• Work made using Artificial Intelligence tools is not eligible.
• Work must be complete. Work-in-progress will not be considered. 

All selected animations will be eligible for the Jury Award (£1,000) and Audience Award (£1,000). Selected artists will be paid an exhibition fee of £300, for the gallery and touring screenings, for a period of 12 months. For the exhibition opening in Derby, travel and accommodation will be covered for UK-based artists.

• Full regulations and submissions via FilmFreeway
• Deadline: 15 October 2024