At the start of the pandemic, animation artist Arezou Ramezani was feeling especially disconnected from festivals, events, and others who shared her passion for animation. The London-based Iranian artist shared with Cartoon Brew how a constant desire to create, learn, listen to other artists’ stories, and pass on her own knowledge helped inspire her to launch a podcast, Arezou Art, last August.
Ramezani’s journey into animation began like many others: discovering it as a child, constantly drawing, consuming animated content, being active on art sites, inhaling any behind-the-scenes features on dvds, and much more. The university she attended, Tehran University of Art in Iran, only had an MA in animation, so she studied graphic design first. Ramezani then studied abroad in England on a full scholarship, earning a second masters in animation at Arts University Bournemouth.
When asked how the animation scene in Iran has improved since when she was younger, Ramezani replies, “These days you can find literally anything on the internet. The access to the information is limitless and there are many online courses, tutorials etc. In Iran also there are schools that have animation majors in specific and their quality is good … So yes, I would say things have got much better.”
