Special Program: Animating For a Better World

It is naive to assume that a short animated film can change the world, but for sure it can change a personal view on the world.

It is naive to assume that a short animated film can change the world, but for sure it can change a personal view on the world. Also, many times it makes it a better world for the author being able to share a personal, social or political story with the world. The program made for Anibar under the flag of Human Rights, brings you six animated stories from different parts of the world, with one common denominator – fighting back for your (human) rights! Fighting back for human dignity and against many civilization evil ideological detours (neoliberalism, nationalism, fascism, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc…). In today’s crazy world, art is among the few existing tools that can keep us human and give us hope for the future. Among the arts, short authorial animation films are probably (together with poetry) the most free and radical.

So, let’s be naive and believe, we can still change the world. But for that, watching films will not be enough, we should make a few steps further and reclaim our rights back!

Igor Prassel

Animateka International Animated Film Festival

Igor Prassel was born in 1971 in the Slovenian coast town Koper-Capodistria. He was a long time co-editor of the Slovene comics magazine Stripburger. From 1998 he has been running a monthly animation film program at the Slovenian Cinematheque. He was working as a freelance journalist, animation film programmer and board member for many different film and contemporary arts festivals in Slovenia and abroad.

In 2011 and 2012 he served as a member of committees for the evaluation of short animated film production for CICLIC (France), La Poudriere (France – evaluation of student graduation films 2011/12) and Proimagenes (Colombia). He was a jury and program selection member at important international animation and short film festivals (Animafest Zagreb, I Castelli Animati, Stuttgart ITFS, SICAF Seoul, anim’est Bucarest, Balkanima Belgrade, Monstra Lisbona, Festanča Žilina, Animanima Čačak, 25 FPS Zagreb, Anifest Trebon, CICDAF Beijing, Animatou Geneva, Animfest Cyprus, Cinanima Espinho, Mecal Barcelona, Kecskemét AFF, AnimaSyros Greece, Primanima Hungary, FICAM Morocco, Anibar Peja, Fantoche Baden, Tabor ISFF, Krakow IFF, Anima Mundi Brazil, DocuTIFF Tirana, Belgrade Short Film Festival, New Chitose Airport International Animated Film Festival, Annecy International Animated Film Festival (jury Rene Martin), Turku Animated Film Festival, Ottawa International Animated Film Festival).

From 2008 until 2014 he collaborated with the World Festival of Animated Films Animafest Zagreb as programme adviser. He is a founding member of the Association of Slovenian Animation Film. From 2010 he is lecturing on the history and theory of animation film at the University in Nova Gorica. In 2012 the Slovenian Cinematheque published his book “The Filmography of Slovene Animated Film 1952 – 2012”. From 2013 until 2016 he was the director of the Festival of Slovenian Film. From 2014 to 2016 he was appointed as commissioner for animation film at the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC). Currently working as film curator and head of the program department at the Slovenian Cinematheque. In 2004 he founded the International Animation Film Festival Animateka (www.animateka.si) where he is the artistic director.