By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Second edition of ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival will be held in Baku on October 18-20. The festival will screen some of the best animation films. Along with the competition program, the audience will enjoy a rich program consisting of Czech animation classics.

The festival has received 268 submissions from 50 different countries, the festival organizers said in a message. All submissions were accepted via Filmfreeway international festival platform.

"We have received a lot of submissions from the United States and England including plenty of interesting films and screenplays," said director of the festival Rashid Aghamaliyev.

On August 31, the Selection Panel will announce the list of films and screenplays chosen for participation in the competition program on the festival's official website.

Earlier, ANIMAFILM Organizing Committee  announced its jury members. The jury is composed of professionals from Germany, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, and the Czech Republic.

The international jury will be headed by Masud Panachi, famous Azerbaijani director and animator.

Members of the Jury for Animated Films include director and animation artist Masud Panachi (Germany), animation artist Jahangir Suleymanov (Russia), animation and film scholar Miroslava Janicatova (Czech Republic), artist who has been active in fields such as animation, painting, digital art and street art Samir Salahov (Azerbaijan), and script writer, director and host of the Palitra ART TV series on Azerbaijan State Television (AzTV) Afet Ilhamqizi (Azerbaijan).

The Jury for Screenplays is composed of Azerbaijani and Russian screenwriter, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Ramiz Fataliyev, photographer, animation director and illustrator Zeynab Gurbani Faryad (Iran), literary critic, translator, member of Azerbaijan Writers’ Union since 1985, Honored Art Worker Intigam Gasimzade (Azerbaijan), editorial writer and screenwriter, member of Azerbaijan Writers’ and Cinematographers’ Unions Gulshan Tofiggizi (Azerbaijan).

Two international juries and one national kids jury will choose animated films and screenplays for the festival’s competition, which aims at further development of animation.

Every audience member has a chance to make his or her own contribution to the evaluation of animated films by voting on them. At the end of the voting, the Audience Favor Award will be presented to the winner. 

ANIMAFILM Organizing Committee also plans to award a Golden Boat trophy at the festival to the one who has made great contribution to the development of animation in Azerbaijan.

The members of the jury will also actively participate in the festival’s non-competitive and professional programs.

This year, the festival’s organizing committee decided to invite children to enter Kids Jury, which will determine the winner in the category Best Short Animated Film for Children. Only kids aged between 7 years to 13 years were eligible for joining the Kids Jury.

Members of the Kids Jury include Aydan Kerimli (Azerbaijan), Fatima Allahverdiyeva (Azerbaijan), Nilufar Azimzada (Azerbaijan), Zarif Gasimova (Azerbaijan) and Beril Karaoglu (Turkey).