Animation NOW!

Animation NOW!

Also known as: Animation Now, New Zealand International Animation Film Festival
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Animation NOW! presents independent animated short films from around the world in Auckland, New Zealand, under the umbrella of the New Zealand International Film Festival. Its origins lie in Malcolm Turner’s long-running animation programming for NZIFF, with its own festival identity dating to 2016. The selection spans hand-drawn work, painted animation, stop motion, digital techniques and abstract filmmaking. Themed collections such as Handmade and Dark Hearts explore the physical craft of animation and its possibilities for unsettling storytelling, alongside an international showcase.

The standalone festival’s 2019 edition dates are 9–11 August at Academy Cinemas, with six curated collections and a jury competition. Animation NOW! also appears in subsequent NZIFF programmes, including three collections in 2023.

Country

New Zealand

Focus

Animation

Categories

Animation, Experimental, Short

Awards and prizes

The 2019 competition includes the Victoria University of Wellington School of Design Jury Prize, a $5,000 award for the film judged best in the programme. A panel of programmers and animators shortlists the finalists. Films in five of the six collections are eligible; the Rosto retrospective is outside competition.

Festival rules

Archived submission guidance (2020): animated short films submitted through NZIFF may be invited to Animation NOW!, with selection by the animation programmer. Entrants identify the film as animation and provide an entry form, a preview screener and a press kit with a synopsis and key credits. The published NZIFF eligibility rules require films not previously screened, broadcast or commercially available in New Zealand, except for invited archival or retrospective programmes and discretionary exemptions. Films screen in their original language with English subtitles where appropriate.

Contacts

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