GIRAF, or the Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival (est 2005), is an annual animation festival that runs each November at the Plaza Theatre in Calgary.  GIRAF celebrates the spirit of independent, underground, and experimental animation, showcasing Canadian animators and presenting diverse animations from around the globe. We’ve showcased the award winning independent work artists including Don Hertzfedlt, Bruce Bickford, Brandon Bloomaert, Barry Doupe, Cordell Barker, Richard Reeves, Chad Van Gaalan, Nick Fox-Geig, Amy Lockhart, Stu Hughes, Madi Piller, and Cam Christiansen, among many others.

GIRAF is committed to gaining greater awareness for animation as an art form. Through 5 days of interactive activities: workshops, artist talks, visiting artists, and animation screenings, our festival showcased over 80 animations in 2010 alone. We focus on presenting works that push boundaries through the development of new techniques, hybrid forms of creation, and challenging subject matter, and thus animation that is rarely seen at other festivals.

Animated Dreams, the oldest and biggest Estonian animation film festival, offers Estonian animators a chance to display the state of their art as well as promotes high-quality international animation culture. From its beginnings as an offshoot of Black Nights Film Festival back in 1999, the event has evolved into a small independent festival. The festival consists of the short animation competitive programme and several special programmes. Traditions include lectures by foreign guests, meetings and workshops.