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The Animation Festival of Halifax (AFX) takes place in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral
territory of the Mi’kmaq. We are all Treaty People who are responsible for enacting peace and
friendship in this magnificent land.

Animation Festival of Halifax

Are you an aspiring, new, or emerging Black, Indigenous, and/or Person of Colour (BIPOC)
animator based in Mi’kma’ki? AFX will mentor a BIPOC animator through the creation of a very
short animated film (under two minutes) between June 2022 and April 2023, and we will
feature the film and artist at the festival in May of 2023. The deadline for applications is 30 May
2022.

This program aims to nurture the talent and career of a BIPOC animator and spark conversation
about race and ethnicity in the field of animation. The successful applicant will be selected
partly for “fit” with AFX’s key values of inclusiveness, positivity, and sincerity, but you will have
creative freedom (choice of topic, technique, etc.) within the film itself. Although your film
doesn’t need to address issues of race, ethnicity, inequity, and diversity (although it certainly
can), you do need to be willing to talk at the festival about both your artistic vision and your
experiences as a BIPOC artist.

The successful applicant will:

  • Receive a $3000 artist’s fee ($1500 at the beginning of the project and $1500 upon
    completion of the film for the festival)
  • Have a budget of $2000 for filmmaking costs (e.g., equipment rental, software purchase,
    fees for sound designer)
  • Have monthly meetings with mentors to support your project development and career.
    The mentors will include educators and prominent members of the field of animation,
    and we will do our best to match you up with mentors who can address your specific
    questions or goals.
  • Give an informal presentation of your work in progress in the winter of 2023 (speaker’s
    fee of $350) and introduce your film and talk about it during a Q&A during the festival
    (speaker’s fee of $350). The festival event will be recorded and posted to our website.
  • Receive screening fees for screenings during the festival, and also on the festival’s
    website starting two years after the AFX presentation. You will retain copyright, and we
    will pay rates set by the Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes
    canadiens (CARFAC) for moving images on the internet for 5 years. Between the festival
    and posting the film to our website, you’ll be welcome to submit it to other festivals.

This project is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada.
Applications should be emailed to animationhalifax@gmail.com, and should answer these
questions in whatever format you prefer:

  1. Where are you based/where do you live most of the time? You need to be based in
    Mi’kma’ki/the Atlantic Provinces to be eligible for this program.
  2. What is your experience/background in animation and/or related fields such as
    illustration, live-action filmmaking, etc.? This can include projects you have done
    professionally, or for a high school class or community course, or on your own. Please
    send us links or files for your past projects.
  3. What are your ambitions in animation? For example, do you want to work in a
    commercial studio? Do you want to go to art school and become an independent
    animator (or have you already done so)? Do you want to make animated music videos?
    Become a YouTube influencer as an animator? Something else? Our festival team
    includes people working in both commercial and independent animation, and we
    welcome applicants with a range of interests and ambitions.
  4. In about one paragraph, describe the film you’d like to make through the program.
    Please tell us what the story/subject matter would be and describe how it would
    look/feel. If you already know, please tell us how you would accomplish it (animation
    technique, software/equipment, etc.). Feel free to include images by you or examples
    by other people that are similar to what you’d like to do, but this is not required.
  5. Are you willing to speak in public about your experiences as an artist who is Black,
    Indigenous, and/or a Person of Colour? You can approach this question any way you
    like, such as discussing barriers you and/or your community have faced or inspirations
    that have informed your work. You are welcome but not required to share thoughts
    about this in this application.

If you are a more experienced animator, because of the program’s emphasis on mentorship, we
encourage you to apply to develop a new skill that you have not had a chance to explore
previously.

For more information about the Animation Festival of Halifax, please visit our website, Facebook page, or the Twitter
account of Carbon Arc Cinema, which presents the festival.

And if you have any questions, just drop us a line at animationhalifax@gmail.com.

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