Animest invites the female illustrators and creators from the animated film community to apply for the 3rd and largest edition of Sisterhood of Young Animation Auteurs that will take place in Bucharest, between the 19th and 25th of August, 2023.

This year Animest signed a partnership with the Animation Film Festival Network and expanded the mentoring programme for female illustrators and filmmakers to a regional level. Whereas until now the programme was exclusively dedicated to artists from Romania and Moldova, in 2023 SYAA will also offer development opportunities to animators, illustrators, directors and screenwriters coming from the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Until the 30th of May, creators from the region working on their first or second short animated film project as the main author (director, screenwriter) are invited to apply for free participation in the programme by filling in the form available online: https://www.syaa.animest.ro/en/apply

SYAA, an initiative through which the Animation Film Festival Network encourages and promotes talent, is an intensive study programme that brings together the new talents in the world of animated film with the professionals in the European industry. Over the course of 7 days, mentors will provide the 10 selected participants with script consultancy, as well as professional advice on the development of concept art, production or distribution, or behind-the-scenes secrets of the industry by sharing their own experiences. 

Creating a community of women to act as a support system against discrimination in the industry is among SYAA’s main objectives.  The programme consists of a series of lectures, presentations, practical workshops, 1:1 meetings, screenings and networking events, where participants can develop their animated short film projects. They also learn how to develop their artistic portfolios, what tools to use in developing an idea, what levers to use to develop an independent career and what are the stages of setting up an animation studio.

The eligibility criteria for enrolment in the programme do not include an age limit, and students‘ participation is more than encouraged. The programme will be conducted in English, which is also required upon all the application materials. Following the selection, 10 female authors will be invited to the workshop in Bucharest from August 19-25, 2023.

Among the artists who will join the programme this year as mentors are Raluca Mănescu, the Romanian screenwriter whose name is linked to numerous short films that have won awards at international film festivals such as Cottbus IFF, Sarajevo IFF, Thessaloniki IFF, Namur IFF. She was the screenwriter for ”The World is Mine“ directed by Nicoale Constantin Tănase, which received a special mention from the jury at Karlovy Vary IFF in 2015, and the debut award at TIFF, Romania, 2015. 

For her part, Polish filmmaker Katarzyna Gromadzka has accepted the challenge of mentoring SYAA for the third consecutive year. Co-founder of Momakin and co-organiser of Animarkt Stop Motion Forum, Katarzyna is an executive producer and coordinates stop-motion artists, collaborates with producers from all over the world and is a member of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP) and the Polish Animation Producers Association (SPPA).

„Through SYAA we want to create a safe and welcoming space for women working in animation, a space where they can present their ideas without prejudice and where they can be defined as artists and creators first and foremost. In order to have a healthy society, it is imperative that the presence of women in the film industry should become the norm, not the exception,“ says Helga Fodorean, Head of Studies.

More details about the Sisterhood of Young Animation Auteurs are available online: http://syaa.animest.ro/.

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Sisterhood of Young Animation Auteurs is a project initiated by the Animest Association, organised in cooperation with the Animation Festival Network and co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration and Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union.