New Animation Festival adds to Brighton's cultural calendar

The Brighton International Animation Festival is the brainchild of Kate Jessop - a multi-award winning director alongside her film-related teaching at University of Brighton – and will bring together leading animators with the university's Animation BA students, both in the programme and behind the scenes.

Live events will take place over two days at the Latest Bar in Kemptown, but Kate has also teamed up with Latest TV to provide a TV strand to the festival to provide accessibility to people unable to attend in person. 

Kate Jessop

The festival will mix workshops and talks – plus an Animation Karaoke Battle! - with some of the best new animation from the UK and around the world, including contributions from China, Canada and the Czech Republic. Specially curated programmes include The Female Gaze, Global Visions, Sound and Vision and Puppet Stories.

There will also be a programme entitled Queer Contemporaries featuring international LGBTQ+ animators, funded by the University of Brighton's Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender research group. Sequential Design/Illustration MA student Joana Pinto, meanwhile, will compete in the New Generation programme, showcasing the best new graduate work from around the world. 

Other highlights include an industry talk from Peppa Pig series producer Jamie Badminton of Karrot Animation Studio, plus a festival opening feature Strike by local animation studio PigBird. Full programme details are available from the Brighton International Animation Festival website.

Kate Jessop, Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Media at the University of Brighton, said: “Festivals are so important in terms of community building, building networks and just friendships! They are also a place of knowledge exchange and inspiration for the medium. I moved to Brighton last summer and wondered why there had never been one here... I set up an animation club meet up – but that soon ended up being a whole international animation festival, which I hope will become an annual event.

“My vision for the festival was that it would embrace international partnerships and also be a place for people to learn about the medium through workshops and industry speakers. I also wanted it to be as accessible as possible, so one rule was that all submissions had to be captioned. The partnership with Latest TV also means people can see the festival on their TV.”

Watch the festival trailer and follow updates on Instagram: @brightonanimation

Image from the Brighton International Animation Festival