Cardiff Animation Festival is excited to announce a brand new collaboration with New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival.
For the first time, the programme will include Welsh and Japanese animated shorts side by side, as well as animation professional masterclasses from both countries. The Cardiff Animation Festival team will bring Welsh film to the festival at Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport which hosts Japan’s first ever airport movie theatre. As well as the coming together of festivals, director Nia Alavezos and animator Asaki Nishino are developing an animated short film that celebrates the cultural vibrancy of both Wales and Japan. Between both animators and festivals, the project will include a cultural exchange in Hokkaido: sharing working practices, nurturing a residency between creatives and delivering a programme of vibrant animation events.
On the upcoming collaboration, Director of New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival Tomoko Ono said:
We are honoured that Cardiff Animation Festival has given us, New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, the opportunity to collaborate on projects together. Supported by our mutual love of animation, we are excited to curate exciting programs while interacting deeply online with members who live far away in Wales. The exchange program of fascinating animation from Wales with Japanese independent animation and the wonderful encounters with guests from Cardiff will be an exciting outcome for our festival. I sincerely hope that learning about the different ways of working in different countries will inspire filmmakers to create their next projects
As international exhibitors of independent animation, the partnership explores each other’s ways of working and championing animators from both countries. With rich animation histories and vibrant storytelling at the heart of both cultures, the project seeks to highlight how artists have been inspired by the countries they call home.
From stories about vengeful spirits to unique tales of love, fighting your inner demons, pet taxidermy, hide and seek and much more; the programme CAF will take to Japan celebrates weird and wonderful work born in Wales. Films include Affairs of the Art (2021) by Joanna Quinn, Hounds of Annwn (2023) by Beth Hughes and Bryony Evans and Creepy Pasta Salad (2019) by Cardiff Animation Festival Director Lauren Orme. Alongside our shorts programme, Producer, Writer and Director Nia Alavezos will run an animation masterclass in Hokkaido sharing insider knowledge about working in the animation industry in Wales, as well as insights and highlights from her own film career.
Laura Welsman from Cardiff Animation Festival adds:
We’re delighted to receive this opportunity to work closely with one of our favourite animation festivals on the other side of the world. Cardiff Animation Festival and New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival are deeply committed to cultural storytelling and bringing people together around a love of animation. This collaboration gives us a chance to share our journeys, working practices and curate Japanese work next to Welsh and Wales-based work towards an exciting programme.
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival takes place in person from 21st - 25th November at New Chitose Airport. You can join in and watch the film screenings from anywhere in the world 1st - 8th December on Cardiff Animation Festival online platform Eventive.
Cardiff Animation Festival x New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival is funded by Wales Arts International, British Council and Welsh Government as part of the Year of Wales and Japan 2025, celebrating and strengthening connections across both countries. Find out more here.