Editor

63 short films, 6 full-length films and 23 animated series will compete for 42,500.00 euros in prizes in the Official Section of ANIMADRID 06 From September 29 to October 6, 2006
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- The Festival is growing and has received the greatest number of entries for the competition in its seven years of existence.

- ANIMADRID 06 has also proven itself to be one of the most thought-provoking arenas for parallel animation activities in Spain, which continue to increase in number and quality from year to year.

- In addition, for the first time, support for this year’s event is being provided in part by the MEDIA PROGRAM.


The International Festival of the Animated Image of Pozuelo de Alarcón - Community of Madrid is celebrating its seventh year. It is organized by the City of Pozuelo de Alarcón and the Council for Culture and Sports of the Community of Madrid, and directed by Pedro Medina Díaz.

Since its inception, ANIMADRID has been strongly committed to the Official Section, becoming an attractive and unmissable date for animation producers from all over the world. Proof of this is that over the years, the number of works received has doubled: this year, around 500 works have passed the selection process, compared to 440 received in 2005.

From these 500 works of animation that were presented, 91 have been selected; these will participate in the different categories of the Official Selection of ANIMADRID 06. There will be 6 features, 63 shorts, and 23 series competing in this year’s festival for 42,500 euros in prizes.

Fimfarúm 2 by Bretislav Pojar, Jan Bajel, Vlasta Pospisilová, and Aurel Klimt (Czech Republic), Olentzero and the Magic Trunk by Juanjo Elordi (Spain), Khan Kluay by Kompin Kemgumnird (Thailand), Holic Manatsu no yo no yume by Tsutomu Mizushima (Japan), Wood & Stock: Sex, Oregano and Rock ’N’ Roll by Otto Guerra (Brazil), and Shisha no sho by Kihachiro Kawamoto (Japan) will be the 6 full-length films in the competition.

The international character of ANIMADRID 06 and its excellent reception outside of Spain are more evident than ever in this year’s event, for which animated films have been received from 65 different countries from five continents: from France, which sent the most films to the competition along with Spain, Brazil, Canada and Korea, and including the United States, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, Russia, Iran, Japan, the United Kingdom, Columbia, Argentina, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Singapore, among others. It should be emphasized that many of the selected works have won important international prizes and are by the greatest animators in the world, securing ANIMADRID a place among the best international animation festivals.


One year on, the competitive section of ANIMADRID has become the main focus and highlight of the festival. In each new edition, the three competitive sections have created lots of excitement among the attending public, strengthening the festival’s place as one of the most attractive settings in the international panorama of animated film.


ANIMADRID 06, in addition to being a showcase for the best in international animation, has established itself as a meeting point between animation professionals and the attending public. For this reason, a fundamental part of ANIMADRID 06 are the Informative Sections, the guest school La Poudrirére, Contemporary Film, the guest country—Brazil, a Tribute to Pablo Llorens, Animation at the Oscars IV, First Looks, A Window to Development: Black Africa, and the Parallel Activities. This year, again, we have tried to make the offerings as attractive and surprising as possible.


Parallel Activities

ANIMADRID 06 is rounded out by a variety of parallel activities, some of which will be held outdoors for this year’s festival, due to the change of the Festival’s dates. The number of workshops has doubled, and many of them are for children.


- III “ANIMAMAX” Animation Marathon. For the third consecutive year and after its resounding success in earlier festivals, Animadrid and CICE will organize a 3D marathon: 15 teams, each made up of one or two people, and with the same equipment (software and hardware), will face off against each other for 24 hours straight to determine, according to their individual talent, who are the greatest animators of the country. This year’s theme is “Join in the challenge of water”.
- Children’s Workshops. In the “First Looks” section, we have prepared a number of different workshops so that children can get to know films from the inside. They will make an animated film using plasticine with Pablo Llorens, learn to add the voices to an animated film, and have fun experimenting with their own body in the special effects makeup workshop.
- Midnight Animation. A date with the craziest and most transgressive animation around. You will be able to see titles like Tim Burton’s Stainboy or Spike and Mike.
- Outdoor Animation Sessions. Special projections of films which will take place in the “El Torreón” Auditorium in Pozuelo.
- Presentation of the Year-End Works from ECAM. The most recent batch of graduates specializing in Animated Film from this prestigious school.
- Animation to Come. This was another of the pilot experiments from the previous festival and was a big success. It will give an opportunity for projects in different phases of production to be presented by the people who are making them, in an environment of professionals and an interested public, who will get an advance look at the future of animation.
- Animation in Advertising. A fascinating journey through the evolution of how animation has been used in advertising.
- Animated Film from the Canary Islands. We will be able to see the most recent animated productions made in the Community of the Canary Islands.
- The Universe of “Pocoyo”. Produced by the Spanish firm Zinkia, the series “Pocoyo” won First Prize of Animated TV Series at Animadrid 05, among many other international prizes, and was sold to television stations around the world. We will celebrate its upcoming broadcast on TVE with a complete range of activities so that children can play and have fun with the popular characters from the series.
- Automaton Theater. Thanks to some mechanical actors who will come to life before our eyes, we will experience the magic and fascination of this spectacle, unique in the world, which was created at the beginning of the twentieth century.
- Edition of the DVD “Short Animated Films sponsored by the Community of Madrid (2006)”.
- Seminar on Computer Graphics given by the CICE School.
- “Film Forum” Special Session given by ECAM.
- Ambigu: self-service animation.

And for the first time, support for this year’s festival is being provided in part by the MEDIA Program, and for the second straight year, support for ANIMADRID also comes from the Ministry for Culture.