Manchester Animation Festival Changes Submission Rules for 2020 Edition
This year's festival is not due to take place until November 15-19, which is still quite some time away. Due to the fact that we're currently in completely new territory, nobody has any idea whether this year's on-site festival will be possible. If the current situation was to extend into the autumn (or a second lockdown imposed) then plans for an online edition are being considered.
Festival director Steve Henderson says:
Although we don’t yet know what form the 2020 edition of the festival will take, we want to reassure filmmakers that they are at the heart of what we do as a festival. We are currently planning for many variations of Manchester Animation Festival including in person and online editions, we are monitoring the global situation and advice from official sources and will make our decisions based first and foremost on the health and safety of our audience.
MAF is committing to ensuring that all selected films will get a cinema screening. Should the 2020 edition become an online event, then the films will be screened out of competition at the 2021 festival. The filmmakers will also be given a free pass for the 2021 festival in this case.
The festival has also announced that the rules for eligibility have also been modified. Normally films are only eligible for submission for one year after completion. However, due to the lockdown, any film completed after July 27, 2019 will be eligible for entry not just for this year, but for the 2021 festival as well.
Manchester Animation Festival has opened its call for entries for both its international film competition and industry excellence awards which celebrate individuals working in the industry. The deadline for both is the 31 July 2020. Submissions start here.
