Manchester Animation Festival 2024
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
Manchester Animation Festival is always a highlight for us here at Creative Tourist. One of Manchester’s biggest film festivals, MAF caters to animation fans, young and old, as well as budding animators and seasoned industry folk. Whether you’re looking to catch a preview of the latest studio release, such as DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot, discover emerging talent in one of the short film programmes, or hear success stories from seasoned professionals with experience with Disney, Aardman Animation, Netflix or the BBC, you can do so at Manchester Animation Festival.
This year’s event starts on Sunday 10 November with Family Day, featuring a schedule of screenings and events designed to involve some of the littlest animation fans out there. That means Creating Comics workshops, and a BBC Family Box Set full of family favourites and classics from the BBC Children’s stable. Plus a programme of short films for children, full of imaginative worlds and colourful adventures, as well as the 2024 Young Animator of the Year Awards, which recognises emerging teenage animators.
Other highlights of the festival include a chance to hear from Aardman’s four-time Academy Award®-winning director Nick Park
Other highlights of the festival include a chance to hear from Aardman’s four-time Academy Award®-winning director Nick Park and Emmy Award-nominated director Merlin Crossingham, who will be in conversation to talk about their anticipated new film, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Fans can also Meet the Puppets, as Animation Director Will Becher attends the festival to answer your questions accompanied by Wallace and Gromit themselves.
As mentioned, audiences can look forward to DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot which is accompanied by a Making Of event with Oscar-nominated writer-director Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) who will guide attendees through the process of bringing the epic adaptation of Peter Brown’s best-selling novel to the big screen. There are more feature films too: from Isabel Herguera’s feminist sci-fi story Sultana’s Dream, to mystical feline film Flow, and Borneo-set Sauvages, which takes us to the edge of a tropical forest where a baby orangutan has been saved from a palm oil plantation.
As past attendees will know, Manchester Animation Festival is as much about engaging with the industry as it is the screenings
As past guests will know, Manchester Animation Festival is as much about engaging with the industry as it is the screenings. From the Animation Nation Forum, that provides animation professionals the inside scoop on the business, to the Animated Connections Conference, aimed at bridging the gap between education and industry, there’s ample opportunities to build connections and hear directly from the best in the biz. Additional sessions at the festival range from a how to guide to short film funding, to a guide to music and sound for animation, and a chance to learn about the ways climate and nature are being explored on screen.
Of course, there are also plenty of chances to see both classic and upcoming animation on the big screen. A special 70th anniversary screening of Joy Batchelor and John Halas’ Animal Farm jumps out to us. While you might be drawn to one of the myriad themed short film programmes, which variously highlight new voices, commercial curiosities, student films — there’s even MAFTER Dark, an evening in the pub filled with animated amusements. Seriously, the festival is so packed with animated delights, we can only recommend you pick up a pass and dive in yourself this November.
