IDEA

Se-Ma-For Film Festival (international festival of puppet animation and other three-dimensional stop-motion animation techniques)  is the second worldwide and the only European festival dedicated to stop-motion, especially puppet and three-dimensional animation. Festival consists of three main elements:

• competition screenings of international competition for best stop-motion animation (puppet animation, clay animation, three-dimensional cut-outs animations, objects animation, powders animation, other three-dimensional animation techniques)
• Polish animation industry competition
• special screenings (thematic, historical, monographic) presenting variety and endless possibilities of stop-motion animation techniques.

As a tribute to the Father of modern Polish puppet animation – Zenon Wasilewski, whose Star we will present in the Lodz Alley of Fame at Piotrkowska Street, viewers will be able to watch a retrospective of his films. Other retrospectives will be dedicated to artists awarded with Peter Awards for Lifetime Achievements. Moreover, an important part of the Festival programme is dedicated to Danish and Hungarian cinematographies, as Hungary passes by Presidency of Council of the European Union to Poland and Denmark takes it over after Poland. Also Swiss animation will be widely presented during the Festival. As coproduction and international cooperation is an important issue in animated films production, we’d like to organize a special panel discussion on coproduction and European funds with representatives of different institutions from Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Switzerland and other countries interested in the topic.

Broad and multidimensional programme of Se-ma-for Film Festival includes: workshops, exhibitions, meetings with artists, seminar, concerts, performances, presentations of equipment and software for animated films production. Moreover, one of Festival’s aims is to create an international forum devoted to the issues of stop-motion animation and children cinema, hence we’d like to invite guests, both from Poland and abroad: artists, producers, distributers, theoreticians, historians and popularisers of animated films.

Unlike most festivals, Se-ma-for Film Festival includes also films for children in its programme. Our aim is to acquaint children with Polish and European children cinema, to initiate their interest in films from Poland and Europe in the future.

Despite being focused on a niche film area, Se-ma-for Film Festival is not a closed event for professionals and specialists only. From open competition for best stop motion animation for both recognised artists, art schools and film studios, to screenings and special events for children and youth (from kindergarten to high school), students, adults – we are opened to all people interested in art of animation of any kind. Through the series of workshops we also want to inculcate in youngsters an interest in artistic creativity.