ANIMAGE's ninth edition reaffirms its style as a festival that favors the artistic and cinematographic essence of the animation language. It's program is based in films that are independent, authorial, experimental, daring, expressive, politically driven, innovative and original. With a fair amount of films at its program, 202 among short and feature films, representativity, visibility and consistency is what determines what's shown to the audience.
ANIMAGE is, at the present days, the Brazilian animation festival that shows the largest amount of feature films at its programm. Being opened to such an large amount of films within this profile is a way to value deeper and more mature works, developed throughout the years by artists who surrender an intense authoral immersion.
At the short-films program is clear that the contemporary animation production keeps carrying out freedom of speech and that it remains really close to social reality, as in many films produced based on interviews, testimonies and processes that often used in documentaries. At the same time, abstract experimentalism, aesthetic drills on style and cartoonish humor are still very present.
The special showcases build bridges among different cultures by presenting short films from Africa (in association with FupiToons Festival), Germany (collaboration with Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart), France (represented by the master Michel Ocelot), Pernambuco (with sessions of films listed as the 100 hundred best films in 100 years of Brazilian animation), and Rio Grande do Sul (retrospective of Otto Desenhos Animados).
Special screenings held at schools, public squares and small country towns help to publicize ANIMAGE at the suburbs of hegemonic centers and provide decentralization, inclusion and the democratization of the access to the animated film production.
ANIMAGE is a realization of Rec-Beat Produções with the endorsement of Prefeitura do Recife, France General Consulate of Recife and Northeast, Institut Français of Brazil and Cinematheque of the French Embassy in Brazil, CePE, German Consulate, Comacessibilidade, Fundaj and Cine São Luiz, sponsored by Caixa.