Launching across online platforms on Monday evening, the Anibar International Animated Film Festival will begin its eleventh edition with films, workshops, discussions, masterclasses and presentations all to be streamed virtually for audiences over the next seven days.

The festival, which usually sees animation enthusiasts flocking to Peja each year, will screen around 150 selected films from 17 to 23 August, available for viewing through Anibar’s online platforms. 

This year, the festival’s theme is ‘Humans,’ focusing on civil rights and political activism. 

Vullnet Sanaja, Anibar’s director, told BIRN that the aim of the eleventh edition of the festival and its programme is to shine a light on the contributions made by people in Kosovo and internationally who are committed to “humanity and the planet” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This edition, beyond bringing light to those who served and are serving on the first line of duty, we want to also bring light and rethink what makes us human,” states  an announcement on Anibar’s website. “How under extreme circumstances we have to make choices and decisions that might conflict our values and principles as human beings, and how under these circumstances we can change so that we elevate our humanity, our sense of community and our relation to the environment.”

This year’s panel discussions will tackle topics such as ‘Access to All’ addressing the rights of people with disabilities in Kosovo, ‘Solidarity in Action,’ discussing volunteering during the coronavirus pandemic, and ‘Are we Human, Are we Dancers?’ exploring identity, individuality and innovation, with each panel bringing politicians, activists, artists, doctors, lawyers and journalists together between 18 and 21 August.

While the festival’s selected animated films will be available on a specially made online platform, its presentations, panels and masterclasses will be organised through Zoom, with live streaming and links available on Anibar’s social media platforms.  

Key presentational speakers at this year’s Anibar festival include David Silverman, an American animator and director, Brooke Keesling, the Director of Animation Talent Development at Disney and previously at Cartoon Network, Canadian screenwriter and author Chris Robinson, French filmmakers Nicolas Blies and Stephane Hueber-Blies and Susi Jirkuff, an Austrian artist and animator. 

For more information and to gain access on this year’s programme, register here.