The sixth edition of the ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum, an event dedicated to the art of animation, kicks off on 7 December and will be held in a hybrid form until the 11th. “Taking advantage of last year's online experience, we decided not to give up on the prospect of a personal meeting in the area of EC1 Łódź - City of Culture, but rather to empower it with online tools,” say Paulina Zacharek and Agnieszka Kowalewska-Skowron, the creators of ANIMARKT, in a press release. “Therefore, we allow participation in the forum for those who, due to geographical limitations or restrictions related to COVID-19, cannot make the trip to Poland.” The programme of the event has a clear structure and is divided into three main sections: Masters, Pitching and Business.

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Fifteen projects from all over the world will take part in the Pitching session, which offers generous prizes. The winner will receive a voucher worth PLN 60,000 (approximately €13,000), to be used at the Audiovisual Technology Center (CeTA) in Wroclaw; €2,000 to be spent on production in one of the Visegrad Group countries; an artistic residency in the Argentinian city of Unquillo; and an accreditation for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and its Mifa Market in France in 2022.

The Business section of the animation gathering includes a new element called Talents Fair, which will present the portfolios of young filmmakers, and introduce said directors to the inner workings of the employee selection system in film studios. Also, industry talks by Becky Perryman (Strange Beast), Erika Forzy (Passion Animation) and Dorien Schetz (Beast Animation) will form part of the programme, as will the “Ask the Expert” initiative, presentations of full-length films and series called “Show Me Your Project”, and the “Meet Your Partner” strand, which this year focuses on the dialogue between Chilean representatives and European producers.

The Masters section will consist of lectures and talks hosted by producers Jim Capabianco and Kat Alioshin (The Inventor [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]. Marcos Valin will host a master class on character animation, while Zofia Jaroszuk, of Animoon Studio, will give advice and tips on how to find a producer for an animated project. Gábor Osváth (the founder of Filmfabriq and Boddah Stuios) and Jean-François Le Corre (Vivement Lundi!) will discuss the collaboration between creators and producers.

The event is organised by MOMAKIN – a company that specialises in stop-motion animation, but which also supports animated projects at every step of their production, from planning to distribution. The Łódź-based company also aims to connect the world of animation filmmakers with the international production, distribution and promotional markets. “We are happy to announce that the offline part of ANIMARKT will again be held in the beautiful area of EC1 Łódź – City of Culture, backed by the Łódź Film Commission. Moreover, both parties have become the main partners of the Stop Motion Forum,” say Zacharek and Kowalewska-Skowron.

The event, which wraps on 11 December, is also co-financed by the International Visegrád Fund and by the Polish Film Institute. It will be possible to attend ANIMARKT in person in Łódź; however, only holders of the EU COVID certificate will be admitted. Online participation requires a fee of €10. Further details can be found on the ANIMARKT website.