The Animation/Cartoon Festival Animix Comes to Tel Aviv.

Animix

The festival is in its 20th year – plus one for the 2020 edition – and at that age, it is a cultural force to be reckoned with in Israel.

After last year’s online edition, Animix, the Israeli festival of animation, comics, and cartoons in Tel Aviv, will take place live and in top form from August 10-14 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.

The festival is in its 20th year – plus one for the 2020 edition – and at that age, it is a force to be reckoned with in Israel’s cultural scene, as well as one of the most genuinely enjoyable events of the year.

The festival will include showings of feature-length and brief animated films from Israel and around the world, master classes with distinguished artists and animators, art exhibitions, tributes to leading Israeli arts figures, and a market with stalls selling comics and a variety of other merchandise. Animix is a fantastic chance for individuals to learn about the worlds of animation and comics, as well as for those who are heavily interested in these fields to meet and share ideas.

The opening night show is a visual and musical tribute to the renowned Israeli comedy trio, Hagashash Hahiver (meaning The Pale Tracker), in which Hagashash’s Shaike Levi will perform. Another performance honouring Israel’s cultural legacy will be a homage to poet Leah Goldberg, whose poetry have been turned to song several times and who penned a number of beloved children’s books, by comic artists and musicians. Another homage will be paid to Itamar Daube, a well-known political cartoonist and regular Animix participant.

The Oscar Celebration is an anthology of Oscar-nominated animated short films. Documentation 2021 is a programme of current animated documentaries, a genre that has been in the spotlight this year with the Cannes Film Festival debut of Ari Folman’s animated docudrama Where Is Anne Frank?

Political cartoons are usually present, and this year’s theme is drawings inspired by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Tower of Babel Falls is a series of short animated shorts that examine society from an unusual angle.

Alon Gur Arye, director of the film Mossad, will speak about the successes of the Pixar Animation Studio, which has been generating commercial pictures that entertain both children and adults for more than 30 years.

In addition, there are other high-quality programmes geared at children, such as seminars and movies. Given their modest cost in comparison to so much other children’s entertainment, these workshops and other events are a fantastic way to get kids out of the home during the late-summer doldrums and offer them a unique experience.

This year’s Animix programmes for children include the “Shy Robots and Nervous Aliens” lecture and workshop delivered by Uri Goldberg, an animator and member of the Jerusalem-based TOHU animation group, and Gilat Parag, a seasoned film and television animator. The session will educate youngsters aged five and above how to play an animated character and how to make the characters they build convey emotions and seem realistic and appealing. TOHU animators are featured in another programme, this one for adults, TOHU Crushes.

Uri Fink, an artist, is teaching a class titled “Anyone Can Create Comics,” in which he will explain comics foundations and assist participants in creating their own characters.

Noam Raz’s clay (plastilina) course introduces numerous methods to play and create with the popular flexible children’s art medium. You may have seen Raz on children’s programmes or purchased his books, which teach simple techniques for making almost anything out of clay, and the opportunity to learn from him in person will be enjoyable for the entire family.

A homage to Japanese animator/director Hayao Miyazaki will be held, featuring screenings of Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle, all of which are best viewed on the large screen.

And, as we enter our second coronavirus year, artist Erez Zadok will lead a class called “Enough Masks!” on how to generate engaging face expressions ideal for mask decoration.

There are hundreds of additional activities throughout the festival, and seminars, in particular, fill up rapidly, so it is critical to register early.