Tallinn hosts Estonia’s first animated film festival

The theme of 2021 Animist Tallinn is “Animation and Anthropology”

'Animist Tallinn', a new animation movie festival open to international participants is set to have its first edition in Estonia’s capital on 18-21 August 2021, festival organizers have announced. The annual event aims to offer an overview of the best contemporary animated movies, value animation as an art form, promote creative thinking and contribute to the distribution of Estonian animation.

"[In Estonia] there is a significant history of animation, permanent national production support, several operating studios and international animation training but, unfortunately, we haven't had a festival dedicated to animated films up to now," Priit Tender, artistic director of the festival, told public broadcaster ERR.

Themed “Animation and Anthropology”, the 2021 festival cooperates with the Department of Social Anthropology at Tallinn University to compile a film programme focused on topics such as travel, concealment of identity, body and animism, etc.

The festival’s international competition is in two categories – Best Animated Short and Best Student Animated Short. Animist Tallinn has already announced a call for film submissions.  The submission process is free of charge, with submissions accepted by 30 April 2021.

Views of the world

The Estonian Art Academy (EKA) in Tallinn will become the main festival venue, hosting screenings, workshops, lectures and meetings with authors. For the duration of the festival, EKA's gallery will house an animation art exhibition named "Views of the World", curated by Gerben Schermer, long-standing director of the Dutch Animated Film Festival, and Yiorgos Tsangaris, the director of the Cypriot Animated Film Festival. Another partner of Animist Tallinn is the Kai Art Center, where some of the festival's programmes are to be shown.