Melbourne International Animation Festival

The Melbourne International Animation Festival is a forum that brings together animators from all over the world.

These animation works are selected from recent and historical releases’ creme de la creme. The annual event is an eye-opener for players in the animation industry and offers an engaging and insightful experience for those who attend.

Since 2001, MIAF has showcased the art of animation at its most eclectic and inspired, transcending expectations and doing it all on the unbeatable big screen. The 140+ works on display were curated from over 2000 submissions. They feature contemporary and retrospective pieces from emerging and established talent.

Animation requires artistry, imagination, and technical skill. It captivates and transports. See through the eyes of the world’s most creative animators with MIAF.

Most sessions are classified Unclassified (M) Mature, not recommended for viewers under 15 years.
Some sessions are classified Unclassified (18+), restricted to people 18 years and over.

The big opening and closing weekends will be at the Treasury Theatre. We love coming to the Treasury; it has a nice big screen, comfy seats, and a cool bar right there on the premises! There are good times, fun crowds, and great animated energy. Easy to get to, just a three minute walk from Parliament train station.

On weeknights the festival will be at The Backlot Studios in South Melbourne. We’re excited to be taking MIAF to this cosy space. Expect a diverse range of International Competition as well as themed programs with an extra emphasis on “Meet The Filmmaker” sessions. And Backlot has the perfect festival bar – a great space to hang out before and after every screening. Only 15-20 minutes by tram from the city. Jump on a #1 or #12 tram line, they run every 10 mins. Very limited seating, just 44 seats. Don’t miss out.

Opening Night

Nobody screens more Australian animation than MIAF. We proudly open the festival each year with the Australian Showcase, which surveys the incredible artistry and skill of Australian animators. We will also be screening the Australian Student Showcase, which features the best new animators from across the country.

This is a chance for those great local films to get some time on the big screen, where they belong. Ensure you don’t miss this chance to catch the best homegrown films.

A fun-filled night on Sunday, 18 May at Treasury.

International Competition

The International Competition Programs are the backbone of the entire MIAF mission. Drawn from more than 2,300 submissions, they showcase the best, most imaginative animating talent in a series of programs whose only rule is diversity.

Because it is MIAF’s 25th anniversary, we will kick off each program with a very special “look-back” film from the MIAF vault that highlights a special moment in our history.

#1: Masters & Returnees
#2: Digital Extremes
#3: Hi-Fi Design
#4: Hi Estonia & A Bonobo Shout-Out
#5: It’s Meta Time
#6: Character Study Drill Down
#7: Abstract
#8: Shar Studio Spotlight
#9: The Friday Freaks Parade

If you miss the first screening of programs 1-5 at The Backlot Studios during the week, come along to the repeats on the weekend at the Treasury Theatre.

Meet The Filmmaker

Every weeknight, we kick off proceedings with an invitation to meet some of the people who create the work we celebrate in MIAF. These sessions are always different but blend a filmmaker’s presentation, a mini screening of their work, and a chance for you to ask questions.

Although the full line-up is still being locked down, expect a uniquely personal look inside the world of Japanese animation, an animated doco shining a light on one of our most cherished Aus indie animation events, and an opportunity to take part in Melbourne chapter of an international organisation built to encourage and celebrate the work of women in animation.

International Student Animation Festival – THE RETURN

This year, we happily relaunch a mini-festival-within-a-festival dedicated entirely to the dynamic world of student animation.

A day dedicated to watching AND talking.

We have pulled together three fabulous, short programs for films from some of the best schools in the world, and we’re busy assembling a roster of way-cool guests and presenters to share their work, tell their stories and pass on their advice. So whether you’re in the bar, the foyer or the cinema, something will always go down.

Pannonia Film Studio – Some Kind Of Wonderful

This extraordinary collection of recently restored works showcases the elastic imaginations of several generations who worked for Pannonia, the studio charged with crafting screen culture during much of Hungary’s communist era.

Often mining imagery that borders on the psychedelic and hallucinatory, this work is utterly unlike anything that emerged from communist-era studios in other states at the time. Researched and curated in Budapest on the cusp of the COVID era, this program we’ve wanted to share with you for five years.

Late Night Bizarre

Love your crazy content? Then you’ll love Late Night Bizarre. A dependably depraved screening of animated specimens from the wrong side of the tracks. Join us on Saturday night at Treasury for MIAF’s annual cult moment!

This session will be classified as Unclassified (18+).

We Made A Film At Aardman

Aardman Animation needs no introduction. Whether your first encounter with their iconic stop motion work was Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, or Shaun the Sheep, if you’re here at MIAF, we’re sure that at least one of their amazing films have found a place in your heart. Their films have entertained millions, and their iconic characters are beloved and will surely outlive us all. There is a magic in the middle of their work that speaks to so many of the things that make animation such a captivating art form, and over the years, that magic has done nothing but grow and magnify.

Recently, Aardman formed an academy to offer emerging puppet animators a chance to come to their studio and make a film under their roof, to learn from the masters, and maybe absorb some of the Aardman animated alchemy. This would be the experience of a lifetime for eight lucky young animators, and the films they each produced are a wonderful combination of their individual visions multiplied by that Aardman magic. MIAF reached out to this smallest of all animation tribes, and SIX of them eagerly agreed to beam in for a joint session in which we will show their films, talk to them about their experience, and take questions from the audience. This promises to be a very special, not-to-missed session.

Best Of The Festival

It all comes down to the Best Of The Festival. After all the votes, the best emerge. This is the program that screens them. It’s always popular, so get tickets early.

Then stick around afterward for a bit of a celebration of all things animation.

Sunday, 25 May at Treasury.