Things at FAF are shaking up as we look forward to 2023 as a return to the past. Our original festival started in 2016 as a weekend to celebrate animation. We screened a wide variety of films, from shorts to features, over three days to delight our community and Tallahassee Film Society members. The festival grew out of the knowledge that the most well-attended screening of the Oscar-nominated Shorts year after year at our cinema was always the Animated Shorts. Shows would sell out and we would hold them over as many times as we could in the brief period allowed before the Oscars. Over the years our festival has grown and morphed, having gone from a weekend of strictly curated pre-existing content to being 100% submissions-based.  We pivoted to a virtual fest in 2020 and it went so well that we continued it the following two years.  Being able to screen more content to a worldwide audience was nothing short of thrilling, giving our submitters a chance to have their work seen by not only themselves in context of programming, but by hundreds of other “attendees” who would otherwise not be able to travel for a physical screening.

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It’s been quite a ride to say the least!  But we’re at a moment where we’ve decided to pump the brakes for 2023.  In addition to adjusting to “a post-Covid world,” our venue, All Saints Cinema, has been under construction and will continue to be until further notice.  The uncertainty of our location’s status has thrown a wrench into our logistics and rather than run another year of planning through last-minute changes determined by the ever-changing contractors’ timelines, we thought it’s best to hit the pause button.

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What does this mean for FAF 2023?  Our next festival will present collections of animated content from several reputable sources, and we are holding off on receiving and awarding submissions. We’re looking forward to putting together a “throwback” fest to our first year, and seeing how it goes! The dates could shift a little but will still be in the summer; stay tuned to our website and social media channels, the TFS Website and their socials– or better yet sign up for the TFS email newsletter to have all the latest info on FAF’s programming.

 

If you’re an animator looking to submit your work for festival recognition, we would like to recommend our new friends at the up-and-coming FLAnimationFest in Jacksonville, FL!  They are on FilmFreeway and will be hosting their event in January 2023.  Please refer to their website and FF listing for more information, and good luck!

 

We are eternally grateful for our supportive animation community. Over the last 7 years we have formed strong relationships with animators, studios, schools, distributors, and of course fellow animation-enthusiasts. We have all come together to marvel at the wonderful work by animators everywhere, and it is our hope that we can continue to provide a delightful experience to our community and TFS members!

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