Everything you need to know about the panels of this year’s edition of Anibar International Animation Festival!

This edition will bring six different panels

In this edition of the festival, visitors will be able to experience our educational and expressive panels in addition to the festival’s usual and highly anticipated workshops, masterclasses, and movie screening which includes 300 films gathered from submissions from all over the world. Panels are an important component of the festival’s framework since they provide a common platform for us to debate various topics.

This edition will bring six different panels, led from professionals of different fields, each of them distinctive in its own merit, tackling different discussion topics, and bringing a new facet of interpretation as well as appreciation for the festival and the participants alike. Panels are one of the leading ways that we connect with each other, our audience, and the world outside of Kosovo during the festival’s course. We offer a front seat in the ongoing discussion, where ideas are shared and where everyone can learn as much as they can on what makes for a great animation film. In all its meanings, not just in the technical aspect, animation is first and foremost a story waiting to be told: learning how to tell it is where the trick lies. 

Here is a walkthrough of this year’s panels and what to expect from them: 

Isolation brings isolation – Whatever a person’s mental and social status, the pandemic scenario has imposed social distance, resulting in various types of isolation. This forced seclusion has brought to light problems that have been hidden for a long time, and it has highlighted the different tiers of mental health concerns in our society. Domestic violence and suicide rates in Kosovo have been on the rise. It is possible that physical isolation has resulted in mental isolation. Art and culture, in general, are recognized for being reassuring to the people, breaking down mental and physical isolation. A panel that explores art as a safe haven for breaking the barriers caused by isolation. This panel will take place on the 24th of July at 17:00. 

Reliving lullabies through animation – The first animation of the series “7 lullabies” by Besa Berberi brings “Lullaby N” which the mother sings to her daughter. It is a reproduction of the sounds that remain in the present and are returned to be passed on to future generations. Besa Berberi, through 7 lullabies, documents and opens a new chapter on spiritual heritage.”Ninulla N” is a folklore variation for the modern times. Musical and poetic navigation like dreams A musical and poetic journey of the motherly figure, welcoming a child to life Experiencing subtle and pure feelings. This panel will take place on the 25th of July at 17:00.

Haven’t we noticed? – The average person spends 78,000 hours watching films, videos, animations, and TV programs that sums up to 8 years in an average lifetime of spending time in front of the screen. Being such a vital part of our life, now it is time to question the impact. What are we watching, and how do the things that we watch affect us? Storytelling can be one of the most powerful means, through which we can pass information, express dissatisfaction, joy, love, hardship, and sadness. But, are we creating values, opinions, or shaping our life, vis a vis the stories we see and hear? Or would we also choose the things we choose if they haven’t been served to us? Haven’t we noticed the ultimate struggle of our time, and how much we are capable of contesting the knowledge and information that is being served to us, by using animation, music, film, and art in general? For more, is storytelling one of the crucial aspects of this necessary change?. This panel will take place on the 26th of July at 17:00.

Surrounded by four windows – This panel revolves around the topic of artistic isolation. Through a sufficient period of isolating themselves, artists can see beyond the realm of what other people can see. It explores the different facets of the creation process within isolation. The true essence of the panel is that artists require temporary seclusion in order to discover and display their inner creativity. Artists do not have to be alone to experience loneliness. For a Kosovar artist, simply belonging to a community is not enough, nor is it reassuring when possibilities are out of reach. This panel will take place on the 27th of July at 17:00.

Animation for the future –  A panel that deals with the topic of including audio-visual learning in our education system. It is a learning method that has proved to be most useful for all group ages. Considering its positive impact, given the beneficial influence that audiovisual learning techniques may have, as well as the ease with which animation can communicate information, it also talks about the positive impact it has on kids and teenagers by having a great impact on awakened creativity, cognitive development, and stress relief. This panel will take place on the 28th of July at 17:00.

F**k it through art – Throughout history, art has helped fundamental changes in society, and it is one of the most pleasant, peaceful, and yet revolutionary forms of communication. The ways of expressing a statement, a feeling, or resistance can be powerful so that it can not be imagined. People are not concerned by issues that do not affect them personally, while those that are affected do not always find the channel or voice to express their dissatisfaction and that is where art is most powerfully used. In this respect, we can be served by the anonymous graffiti artist Banksy saying: “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”. Might we want to disturb, to make a change? Yes, with the only needed weapons: a picture, graffiti, an animation, a painting, a film, an artistic installation. In other words: to denounce what is wrong in society. This panel will take place on the 29th of July at 17:00.

There are different layers on what it truly means to be a good artist, to be able to transmit your message completely, without interruptions, on your chosen medium and speaking to those you cherish the most, your audience. These panels explore  all of what it really means to create, from all the corners of the room, so that you, the audience member are lost yet found within these panels that await for you starting from the 24rd until the 29th of July! We hope you take something good with you, pass it on, and enjoy the ride that is this year’s edition.