CRAFT Animfest

When the pandemic hit the world, we just finished the 2^nd edition. Little that we knew, that will be the last edition of CRAFT Animfest organized strictly for Yogyakarta people and its visitors.

Our biennial schedule didn’t save CRAFT Animfest from these changes. 2021 came and brought along the heartbreaking second wave. We certainly won’t distract your focus towards our communal health and safety. But the pandemic didn’t stop animation creators from creating. The film submissions we received post pandemic are almost five times the last edition. So we decided to embrace the online festival format.

After receiving and watching more than 1800 submissions, we can certainly say that The 3rd CRAFT International Animation Festival is a success, before it even started.

This year we prepared for you four programs including three competitions. As always it will be a huge variety of techniques, emotions, and styles. The International Competition Of Stop-Motion & Traditional Techniques In Animation, consists of 46 movies. 19 films in the Southeast Asian Competition included all kinds of animation techniques and presented what happens nowadays in this part of the world. International Shorts For Kids Competition, consists of 10 movies. And the special Southeast Asia Shorts For Kids Non-Competition Program, consists of 7 movies.

And then, like the theme of this year’s edition; Branches, the online format has allowed CRAFT Animfest to branch out, reaching new spaces for you, the audience in Southeast Asia.

The online format also makes the meeting between filmmakers and their audience to another level of possibilities. During our last two offline editions, no more than 20 filmmakers got the privilege to fly to Yogyakarta to meet their audience. This online edition, more than 40 filmmakers will be able to meet their audience, each from the comfort of their home. 

The online format does not stop us from collaborating with talented artists. This year we have the honor to have works of Udeido Collective to be the face of the festival. For The Opening we will also have music performances from two Indonesian talented musicians and songwriters; Lukman Marjabinie and Fortunata Y Fidelma. Each of them wrote the song they performed.

Now as we always said, CRAFT Animfest is organized for you filmmakers and audiences. So let’s go watching, let’s go meeting, let’s do a workshop, let us … for the third time.. celebrating craft based animation.

– Chonie Prysilia (Festival Director)