NIAFF Announces Selection of Twelve Animated Movies and Three Juries for Its Feature Film Competition in Niigata, Japan

Tokyo/Niigata, Japan, January 22, 2025 – Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF), the first film festival in the world dedicated to feature-length animated movies, announced on its official website (https://niigata-iaff.net/en/) the following 12 titles from 14 countries being selected for its Feature Film Competition:

Balentes
Clarice's Dream
Ghost Cat Anzu
Living Large
Look Back
Memoir of a Snail,
Olivia & The Clouds
Papercuts: My Life as an Indie Animator
Pelikan Blue
Pig That Survived Foot-And-Mouth Disease
The Worlds Divide
They Shot the Piano Player

There were 69 entries from 28 countries and regions. The large number of entries from Latin America and the Middle East showcases production of feature-length animation is widely spreading around the world. While many works actively incorporated new methods, such as the fusion of rotoscoping and digital technologies as well as the use of AI, traditional timelapse photography or stop-motion animation also seem to be favored among the creators, signifying the diversification of approaches in creating animation.

NIAFF also officially announced the names of three juries to evaluate all 12 films nominated for the festival's awards. Manuel Cristóbal, a Spanish film producer and winner of numerous awards at film festivals such as the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, has been chosen as the head jury. The two other judges are Christine Panushka, an American animator who teaches at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, and Noriko Matsumoto, a Japanese producer of stop-motion animation such as Domo-kun and the Rilakkuma series.

NIAFF aims to connect the world and Japan, as well as animation filmmakers and fans. Within just two years after its inauguration, NIAFF already achieved a firm track record. The third edition of the festival is slated for March 15 - 20, 2025 in the city of Niigata, Niigata Prefecture in Japan.

For more information, please visit https://niigata-iaff.net/en/

About NIAFF
As the world's first film festival focusing on feature-length animation and the largest animation film festival in Asia, Niigata International Animation Film Festival provides a wide variety of programs: Feature Film Competition, Retrospective screenings, Animation Camp, and numerous talk and forum events. The festival is held in the city of Niigata, the “Animation Capital of Japan”, where many creators of manga and animation originated from, including Hiroshi Ōkawa who founded Toei Animation and produced Japan's first colored feature-length animation movie The Tale of the White Serpent in 1958. NIAFF prides itself for providing opportunities to both creators and audiences to intermingle and exchange ideas in this centuries-old historical port city of Niigata which in the Meiji era boasted a population that surpassed that of Tokyo.