Animateka, a week-long international festival of animated film, takes place every year in Ljubljana?s Kinodvor and Slovenska kinoteka. Beginning on the first Monday in December, it focuses primarily on the latest production of East and Central European short films. It also includes a wide range of special programs, which offer the audiences an insight into the beginnings and the development of animation, and present them with a short overview of the best contemporary animations on a worldwide scale.
The festival annually hosts many authors and authorities in animation, both domestic and international, which has made it an important crossroads of experiences, ideas and opinions, as well as a creative environment and a hotbed of new projects. This dynamic atmosphere, however, never fails to reach the audiences, who visit every new edition of Animateka in greater numbers. Their number neared a round 10,000 in 2010, which was also due to the expansion of the festival to the Kino Udarnik in Maribor.
Animateka is a competitive festival, focussing mainly on the role of the author. Each year the international jury has selected and awarded the best contributing author, with the Audience Award becoming a festival fixture in 2005. Short animated films compete in the main Competition Program, the European Student Animated Film Competition Program, and the Elephant International Competition Programme for Children. One of the most popular regular features at Animateka is also Best of the World.
Animateka has been traditionally dedicating a great portion of the festival program to specialized retrospectives (presenting stop-motion, avant-garde and experimental animated films, the relationship between animation, music and sound) and to a focus on the animated production of a selected nation (Finland, Yugoslavia, Poland, Spain, Germany).
Realizing the importance of introducing the younger generations to animated films, Animateka always pays special attention to children. To this end, we have created the Elephant program, which focuses on young audiences, and includes year-round animation workshops (these are free of charge during the festival). The Elephant?s projections, an exciting experience for the entire family, are usually scheduled for the festival weekend.
Although revolving around films, Animateka strives to bring animation closer to the audiences through lectures, conversations with authors and diversely themed panels. The festival?s accompanying program also offers art exhibitions and audiovisual events, as well as the already traditional ?wrap-up parties? at the end of every festival day.
Since 2008, Animateka has been organizing AnimaWeb, a competition of computer-made short animations viewable online and on mobile phones. We wish to inspire young aspiring artists to take on animation, and boost the production of animated film in Eastern and Central Europe.
After the festival?s conclusion, Animateka goes on the road. Animateka After Animateka, the program featuring the winning short animations from the Central and Eastern European Short Animated Film Competition Programme, visits youth centres, arts centres and cinemas all over Slovenia. As the festival itself, Animateka After Animateka is complemented with an accompanying program including animation workshops, a lecture and an audiovisual concert.
Źródło: Animateka