Cardiff Animation Festival Announces Full Program

Relatively speaking Cardiff Animation Festival is one of the newer events of its kind in the UK. The first event was held in 2018 very successfully but the planned 2020 edition had the misfortune to be scheduled for the early days of the first lockdown. The organisers made the best of a bad situation and held a virtual festival and continued to hold such events throughout 2020 and 2021. As a result, it was announced that the 2022 festival would be a hybrid event, featuring both an in-person and online component.

The in-person festival will take place at the festival's home of Chapter and other locations in Cardiff from April 7-10. The virtual events will take place from April 7-24.  Last month the festival revealed its selection of shorts. Now, they have also revealed the full festival program, which features over 60 in-person events and 30 online.

Highlights include a screening of the triple-Oscar-nominated Flee with a Q&A with Art Director Jess Nicholls and Animation Director Kenneth Ladekjær. Japanese films On-Gaku: Our Sound and Summer Ghost will be screened along with Q&A sessions with their directors. The Head of Creature Effects from the BBC and HBO adaptation of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials will hold a puppetry masterclass and reveal behind the scenes details from the series. British animation icon Joanna Quinn (and now 2022 Oscar nominee) will be in attendance for a look at her career and a chance to see her animation live on stage!

Summer Ghost

Other masterclasses include a look behind the scenes of Nickelodeon series It's Pony, the life of an Aardman animator with  Carmen Bromfield Mason, writing for children's animation with the team behind Channel 5's Milkshake and a look at the blending of sound and animation with Skillbard.

The hosts of the Ghiblioteque podcast will present the Z To A Of Studio Ghibli, featuring sights, trivia titbits, theories and more. Scripts Out Loud will feature professional voice actors recording a new animation script live on stage and offer 1-2-1s for new writers. 

There will be a whole day dedicated to the climate emergency and how the animation industry can help fight it, in association with Clwstwr and AHRC’s Research in Film Awards.

The opening night will see a special edition of the regular Cardiff Animation Nights screenings, featuring shorts, street food and fun. It will be held at Depot, a huge warehouse in central Cardiff. The in-person festival will close with the festival's awards ceremony.

There will also be chances for in-person attendees to meet people at social events which include CAF’s Pen/Pals sessions (with free coffee/drinks provided; chatting and doodling encouraged), dog life drawing, an animated music video disco and  360º animated karaoke party at Cultvr Lab. We're not quite sure what that last one is, but we're intrigued...

Lauren Orne, CAF director says:

I’m so proud of the CAF22 programme. We’ve packed it full of so many in-person and online events that we couldn’t be more excited about. I can’t wait to share the amazing films, hear from our incredible guests and party with everyone at animated karaoke!

The online festival will feature several exclusive events including a Q&A with Elizabeth Ito, creator of Netflix’s City of Ghosts, a collaboration with Cape Town International Animation Festival, an all-ages character design workshop, industry panels and international filmmaker Q&As. Online pass holders will also be able to catch up on in-person events they may have missed.

Festival passes are now on sale, with in-person festival passes costing £80 (£55 for concessions) and online selling for £20 (with a £15 early bird price available for a limited time). Check out the full line-up here. Individual tickets for events are also available