A Bigger, Better Animahenasyon  Festival!!!

We are at it again! said this year's Animahenasyon Festival Programmer Ricky Orellana. We are once again inviting professional and amateur/student Filipino animators to join the 2nd Animahenasyon 2008:Pinoy Animation Festival. The event, which is spearheaded by the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc., is now on its second year and the organizers are promising to give local animation enthusiasts a broader and better program. Definitely, the scope is bigger this year, Orellana said. We want to give festival-goers a larger view of what Philippine animation by screening earliest works done by animation masters. According to Orellana, last year's festival has seen a lot of professional animators asking for advanced workshops. That's why this time there will be master classes for professionals and enthusiasts. There will also be classes on visual storytelling, film language, production design, Asian and Japanese animation, and visual effects, he said. Last year's festival screened over 150 original Filipino animation works and featured a two-day conference with Filipino US-based animator Ronnie del Carmen of Pixar animation as guest of honor keynote speaker.

The support was overwhelming, said Orellana. We are thankful to the animators who submitted very accomplished works as well as to the movie-goers who went out of their way to watch the screenings. In fact, the week-long event was even extended for a longer run at the Indie Sine Robinson's Galeria. I thought that it was a very successful festival, said Del Carmen. I was very impressed with the animators. They were undaunted and courageous in pursuing their passion. In fact, so impressed was Del Carmen that he even agreed to give a talk in Naga for the regional extension of the festival. We have very accomplished animators, he said. These animators have contributed over the years to animated content the world over on very popular properties. If that isn't about being world-class, I don't know what is. We are known to be reliable and versatile, able to tackle the work and meld into what the project needs and get the job done.

Last year's festival really proved that there is a very active animation industry in the Philippines, said Orellana. And this year, we are hoping to have more participants and more original works. And just like last year, 2^nd Animahenasyon 2008 will feature 10 categories: one minute up to five minutes; 6 minutes up to 20 minutes; 21 minutes up to 40 minutes; Full-animated feature (more than 40 minutes); music video; OBBs, TVCs, infomercials, demo reels; and TV series. All of them are open for professional and amateur/student animators. Some of the award-winning animation entries last year were Jeff Capili's Malaya (Best Animated Short, professional division), RJ Mabilin's WWII (Animated Music Video, professional division), Valroman Francisco's Pop (Animated Music Video, amateur division), and Anna Katrina Bigornia's My Pet (Viewers' Choice Award). The festival also honored the late Larry Alcala with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The deadline for the submission of entries is on October 8, 2008. For inquiries, call: 8172727 loc 108 or send an email to animationcouncil@gmail.com or visit ACPI's website www.animationcouncil.org.