3 years ago

12th edition – An insight of all the activities taking place on Day 2

The festival has begun and we couldn’t be more excited!

We started off with Jürgen Hagler’s presentation “Expanded Animation” shown in Kinema Jusuf Gërvalla. Jürgen gave an amazing presentation on the possibilities that lie within animation, based on his extended experience in the animation industry. The audience was left inspired and enlightened, thus continuing with excitement to the other activities of the day.

Next on the list was the Kids and Teens Program, which took place at Istref Begolli Theatre. The main theme of the movies was climate change, while the goal was to raise awareness on the importance of saving the environment. Throughout the course of the movies different animals were shown having unpleasant experiences, all as a result of global warming. Even though this is a tough subject, animation made it possible to explain it to the kids in a way they not only understood, but were more than entertained. The Teens Program was also a success. Each of the films exhibited featured a more distinct, bright, and attractive style of animation than the other. They contained self-reflective themes and went on to show instances where the main characters were compelled to view a new reality in order to change for the better.

Our visitors also had the chance to participate in two workshops: “From one generation to the next” at the Youth Centre, led by Kaltrina Berisha, Finesa Peja, Vullnet Lleshi and Leonita Thaqi. “One frame at a time” was the other workshop that took place in Halit Kasapolli School at 10:00 and which was led by Joan Kamberaj.

That was followed up by the Balkan Competition in Kinema Jusuf Gërvalla, which featured a wide range of films. Ranging from ‘The Raft,’ which encompassed trippy music video styles, to animated horror short films. This category mostly contains Croatian films, since they have the greatest animation output rate in the Balkans.

At 17:00 we held a panel at the Lake Cinema titled “Isolation brings Isolation” by Florent Mehmeti, Leart Rama and Bind Skeja.

In the afternoon, our Lake Cinema welcomed an even larger audience, when we screened movies from the International Competition. It was a very friendly environment filled with comfortable sofas and chairs, as well as a few boats on the lake. The movies that were screened revolved around some very heavy and serious topics, thus keeping the audience interested. We then continued to Cubes Cinema with the screening of the Student Competition, where the weather was chilly but it was substituted by the warm atmosphere that the movies gave the audience. The movies were really captivating as they treated some very interesting topics such as climate change, which was very well received.

When all activities ended, it was time for our afterparty to start. Elsa Rraqi and Ilir Bajri, along with DJ Yll Megi delivered a great performance. Their amazing music selections encouraged a lot of dancing and singing. And that is what Anibar Dance Away is all about after all; leaving isolation behind and dancing together once again!

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