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6th THESSALONIKI ANIMATION FESTIVAL
Join us for a full 7-day animation event, from the 22nd to the 30th of October 2020!
TAF is here for the 6th consecutive year and it’s TAF-er than ever!

As we try to stay positive and active during the global health crisis, we keep spreading awareness and sharing our love for the art of animation, by going online!

We have selected the best 114 films among 2000 amazing entries that were submitted this year, and we have arranged them in 10 thematic blocks. Based on your interests, you may watch as many films as you like.

The awards for the top 3 animated films, along with the one for the best film in terms of storytelling, will be awarded by our jury members, which consist of renowned artists and professionals from the animation industry. Additionally, the best film relating to human rights, will receive a special award by the Select Respect network. What’s more, this year we have created a Balkan Award and film block, in honor of the Balkan region.

But that’s not all. Going online gives us the opportunity to become as inclusive as possible, and TAF is all about bringing people together. So, for the very first time you will be able to vote for your favourite film and become part of the Audience Award.

Apart from screenings, TAF hosts a range of events, seminars and masterclasses, and this year is no exception. During the festival, our special guests will perform webinars and lectures live, via Zoom (platform).

Last, but definitely not least, we are very excited to introduce the very first Balkan Animation Forum (BAF), bringing together artists from all over the Balkan region.

Remaining true to our spirit, there is no entrance fee for the screenings or the webinars, but there will be a limited number of virtual seats available, so stay tuned!
Let's get TAF-er!

FILM BLOCKS

GUESTS

Carlos Gaxiola

Carlos Gaxiola is the CEO of DEMENTE Film Studio, in Mexico. Carlos is a designer with over 20 years experience in brand communications, advertising and product design. He has led projects for global brands in Mexico and abroad, including Cartoon Network, LazyTown, Disney and Discovery Networks. Carlos oversees all of Demente Studio’s projects, managing local and remote teams to deliver on our promise of high quality and cost effectiveness.

CEO - DEMENTE Animation Studio

Christian Lloyd

Award winning actor, writer, and photographer. Christian’s select Film/TV acting credits include: Guest Starring as the God Argus in AMERICAN GODS (Starz/Amazon), portraying one of the commanding architects of Gilead in the Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning THE HANDMAID'S TALE (MGM/Hulu), 11/22/63 (Hulu), THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (Netflix) MUM'S THE WORD (Hallmark), REPO MEN (Universal), David Cronenberg's MAPS TO THE STARS (Focus Features), and playing John Hinckley Jr. in Oliver Stone's THE DAY REAGAN WAS SHOT (Paramount/Showtime). Select theatre credits include: THE HEART OF ROBIN HOOD, WHO KILLED SNOW WHITE, CHICKEN GREASE IS NASTY BUSINESS, AMADEUS, PLATONOV, TWELFTH NIGHT. As a writer, Christian has had plays performed in Toronto, California, and South Africa, having success with his short film Getting Lucky, the feature film Moments of Clarity and the never aired pilot What Would Trejo Do.
Christian graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics. He then completed the 3 year Professional Theatre Training Conservatory at Toronto's acclaimed George Brown College. He is also a graduate of the New York Institute of Photography.
Actor

Marci Dhrami

Marc Dhrami began his career in animation in 1998 at Studio Dargaud-Marina as post-production supervisor and joined Millimages in 2000 as head of operations, later moving up to head of productions in 2005.
He is recruited by Gaumont Animation as head of financing and co-productions in 2011 and then takes on the role of head of production adding studio operations and production to his co-production responsibilities. He recently joined NORMAAL as head of business development and international.
Film Producer - NORMAAL

Alan Keane

Writer, Story Editor, Creative Producer, Alan Keane is a graduate of NUIG’s Heuston Film Schools MA in Screenwriting Program back in 2005. He was awarded the Pat Sheerhan Scholarship to UCLA’s professional screenwriting program. In the same year he did an internship on several feature projects in development, including “Captain America”. Many of the shows Alan has worked on have gone on to win and be nominated for Emmys, BAFTAs and even Royal Television Society awards, with “Black Mirror” being among them. Alan also was a Story Editor and co-Writer for Cartoon Networks much-lauded The Amazing World of Gumball. Recent shows Alan has both developed and was Head Writer on are Space Chickens in Space for Disney and the double Emmy nominated The Oddbods Show for ONE Animation. Alan has also co written a $50m feature film Miro’s Magical Opus due for cinematic release in 2022. Amongst other projects, Alan is currently working on an Oddbods feature film: Oddbods Lost in Time project for Netflix. And is currently developing a big budget TV adaptation of a large Hollywood Animated Movie Franchise for 9 Story/Brown Bag Films.  He also has projects in development with Cartoon Saloon and Sixteen South too. Alan Keane founded Hot Drop Films back in 2015 with Shane Perez. Collectively they have written, and edited over 400+ episodes of produced animation for studios and production companies all over the world.

Script Writer - HOT DROP FILMS

Denis Friedman

Denis Friedman has been involved in the production of feature films and feature animation for more than 15 years. His first production was «KAENA, the Prophecy», the first full CGI feature film to be produced in Europe (released in France in 2002, and distributed in more than 20 countries all over the world). In 2005 Denis Friedman co-produced with Prima Linéa, «Fear(s) of the dark», a landmark feature animation that will remain a reference in the field of adaptation of graphic novels to the world of animation. In 2007, Denis Friedman Productions joined the famous Japanese studio Madhouse to co-develop and co-produce «Yona Yona Penguin», the last feature from world acclaimed director Rintaro (Metropolis, Captain Herlock). Released in 2010, the film has been selected in many festivals worldwide and was chosen by the Venice Mostra in 2009 as the closing movie of the Festival.
Film Producer

Ilan Urroz

Ilan Urroz, studied biology and chemistry, after having a bachelor’s degree in vegetal biology and wine. He also studied informatics, computer languages and infotainment. From Design agency to urban transportation engineering or government agencies in measurement or RFID, he decided in 2009 to develop his passion for animation as director of La Cartoucherie. Built by the city council of Valence (Drôme in France), La Cartoucherie it’s a center dedicated to animation studios. For 6 years Ilan developed the business of all the studios, bringing them on markets, making networking or innovative projects with more than 6M€ spend or building the extension of the center for 3M€. In 2015 he moved to Marseille (south of France) to manage the content cluster of all the south region from Avignon, Aix, Marseille to Cannes and Nice. With more than 150 members in content industries : animation documentary, live action, TV broadcast. He develops networking, international partnerships and markets like Cannes, MIFA, Sunny Side, South by Southwest first French delegation in this US content forum. In 2018, with his experience in partnership, market and management. He buys with Nicolas FLORY his associate, the company founded by Pascal LE NÔTRE known as cofounder of Folimage.

CEO - FOLIASCOPE

Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos

Dr Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos is Assistant Professor in Computer Animation at the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering of the University of the Aegean. He has extensive experience in Teaching and Digital Production activities both in Greece and France since 1987, including Expertise for the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Dr Kyriakoulakos received the Grant of Excellence Research in Paris 2013 from the City of Paris to conduct research in Paris, in the context of HIST3D Research framework. Dr Kyriakoulakos received the title of Chevalier des Palmes Academiques by the French Ministry of Education (2014) for his commitment to the French-Greek Cooperation in the Sectors of Education and Culture. He serves as Vice President of ASIFA Hellas.
Film Producer

SCHEDULE

* The schedule follows the GMT+3 time zone.

Day 1 // THURSDAY 22

17:00 - 18:00
Opening of TAF 6
Welcome by Dimitris Savvaidis
"75 years of Greek Animation"
A lecture by Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos
The Greek Animation Community celebrates 75 years of Greek Animation (1945-2020) as a success story, thanks to the results achieved during the last five years due to several initiatives of ASIFA Hellas. With bi-annual Actions (Greek Animation Rocks, Greece Animated, Greece Animated 2021) the Hellenic Union of Animation systematically prepares, in cooperation with the Greek Authorities and Professional bodies, a new dynamic Production Ecosystem. The Action 75 years of Greek Animation is under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and it is financially supported for the year 2020.
18:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // MULTIVERSE film block
19:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // JUKEBOX film block

Day 2 // FRIDAY 23

17:30 - 19:00
"IGNITING CHARACTER: Tips from an actor to demystify the process"
A masterclass by Christian Lloyd
19:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // 0-99 film block
21:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // HORROR film block

Day 3 // SATURDAY 24

17:00 - 18:30
"The Power of Visual Story Telling: Provoking Engagement to your audience"
A masterclass by Alan Keane
19:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // BALKAN film block
20:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // EROTIC film block

Day 4 // SUNDAY 25

18:00 - 19:30
"Stop-motion 2.0: The evolution of stop-motion with LED light, pipeline and FX"
A masterclass by Ilan Urroz
20:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // GENDER EQUALITY film block
21:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // HUMAN RIGHTS film block

Day 5 // MONDAY 26

17:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // INTROSPECTIVE film block
19:00 - 28 Oct
Screenings // PLANET EARTH film block
20:00 - 22:00
"Producing in a crisis environment"
A masterclass by Denis Friedman

Day 6 // TUESDAY 27

ALL DAY
All film blocks & masterclasses available
18:30 - 20:00
"How to finance your project"
A masterclass by Marc Dhrami

Day 7 // WEDNESDAY 28

ALL DAY
All film blocks & masterclasses available
18:30 - 20:00
"How to build a film studio from scratch"
A masterclass by Carlos Gaxiola

Day 8 + 9 // THURSDAY 29 + FRIDAY 30

29 OCT - 20:00
TAF 6 // AWARDS
ALL DAY
Awarded films & Awarded BAF projects

BAlkAN ANIMATION FORUM

BAF - Balkan Animation Pitching Forum is an event dedicated to the exchange of ideas, as well as creating new collaborations. Eager to share our passion and encourage, we invite artists from the Balkan region to present their work and meet with experts from the field of animation. 

To their advantage, the artists selected will have the chance to attend a training session on pitch development. What’s more, the top 3 winning pitches will enjoy private mentoring sessions on script and production issues conducted by well respected animation industry experts.

Each one of the selected finalists will have up to 10 minutes to pitch their project in English, to an INTERNATIONAL JURY consisting of animation professionals. Through the Pitching Forum process, the committee will select the 3 winning projects considering both quality and performance.
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