The lineup for the third edition of Animation Is Film (AIF), L.A.’s increasingly buzzy animated feature film showcase, has been announced. Ten films will play in competition at the festival, which runs October 18–20 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The event, which is produced by indie animation distributor GKIDS in partnership with Annecy Festival, Variety, and ASIFA-Hollywood, champions the sorts of artistically minded animated features that tend to get overshadowed in the U.S. by big-studio releases. This year’s selection includes works from Asia, Europe, and North America. Some are by noted auteurs, while others have built up plenty of hype on the festival circuit. Most are U.S. premieres.
These ten movies will vie for two jury prizes and an audience award. Curiously, nine of the 12 jury members served last year, too. In all, seven people have been on the jury at all three editions of AIF. This is highly unusual among film festivals, where the norm is to appoint an entirely new jury each year.