Animation Is Film Returns This October

 Animation Is Film is a Festival whose mission we can get behind. Taking place in the iconic Chinese Theater, the festival brings the best in animation from around the world to the very heart of Hollywood. The festival is held jointly by GKIDS Films, Variety and Annecy International.This year's event takes place from October 18- 22.

The festival kicks off with an already sold out screening of Hayao Miyazaki's new feature The Boy and The Heron

Jumping ahead to October 20 starts off French sci-fi Noir Mars Express and South Korean LGBT coming-of-age drama The Summer. The latter of which screens alongside award winning short The Sea On The Day When The Magic Returns. The first night closes out with China's Art College 1994

Screening in celebration of Disney's 100th Anniversary is footage from the latest Walt Disney Animation Studios release Wish and the acclaimed celebratory short Once Upon A Studio. Stick around for a panel on the studio's newest short. Screening at midday is the third Trolls movie Band Together. Eagerly anticipated short The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story screens later that afternoon, accompanied by a panel with Jarelle Dampier (Director), Khaila Amazan (Writer), Clara Chan (VFX supervisor), and Joe Darko (animation supervisor).

Then comes quirky Japanese feature The Concierge. Franco-Belgian production Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds follows. Studio 4°C's Phoenix : Reminiscence Of Flower adapts the manga by 'God Of Manga' Osamu Tezuka. Spanish live-action aueteur Pablo Berger's first foray into feature animation Robot Dreams closes out the day.

The final day opens with a celebration of 100 years of Warner Bros. with a screening of a selection from the recent series of Looney Tunes Cartoons. The screening includes a Q&A with creatives behind the shorts, plus never seen before Looney Tunes Cartoons and some of their favourites from the series. It also features a special screening of Daffy In Wackyland, the first ever stop-motion Looney Tunes short.

Screening ahead of its December release on Netflix, is Aardman Animation's sequel Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget. The closing night fiim is French comedy- and prize winner at this year's Annecy Festival Chicken For Linda.

There are three seperate programs of shorts: Award Winning Shorts, Best Of Annecy In Partnership With Women In Animation and Student Showcase.