© Animated Exeter.

At the start of 1999, Irene Kotlarz concluded her report "Animation Festivals: A Year of Proliferation and Change" on the world festival scene -- with special attention to Vital's failure -- with the comment, 'It seems unlikely Britain will see another broad-based international animation festival any time soon.' Her claim has borne out. Certainly, there hasn't been any British event on a comparable scale since Vital crashed and burned, to the tune of perhaps a hundred thousand pounds-worth in debts. Yet festival activity stays lively, and there's a strong sense of rebuilding. Britain may not be able to produce anything in Annecy's league for the moment, but there's plenty going on.

Richard Golszowski receiving one of his trio of awards for the very popular Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire. Photo courtesy of BAA.

One recent big event was the British Animation Awards (BAA). The third edition of these biannual ceremonies, it was held in London's National Film Theatre, and like its predecessors was completely sold out. Three of the awards were in 'Public Choice' categories, voted for in nine cities at venues including Bristol's Watershed and Cardiff's Chapter cinema. The winning films have embarked on a countrywide tour till September, and are also going abroad.

Meanwhile, independent and foreign animation is playing in local cinemas. For example, the Welsh-Russian film The Miracle Maker had a limited theatrical outing this spring, while London's Institute of Contemporary Arts has recently run retrospectives of Osamu Tezuka and Jan Svankmajer. There are also clubs such as London's Halloween Society and Film Arts Norwich (FAN), which specialize in screening diverse short films, including animation. FAN is preparing a festival for this October (there's more information below).

Kingston University student Kunyi Chen wins the Mari Kuttna Award for Best Student Film. Photo courtesy of BAA.

Animated Exeter
One participant in the BAA 'Public Choice' voting was Animated Exeter. This was a brand-new, five-day festival in southwest England, held between the 18th and 22nd of February. As an organiser explained, 'Exeter City Council was looking to extend the calendar of arts events to raise the city's cultural profile. Cardiff's demise presented an opportunity, and we thought there might be an opportunity to build on Exeter's media activities, using the centrally located venues for screenings and production activities.

'The size of our media economy didn't warrant an industry-oriented festival, but the strength of our arts and educational base suggested an animation week combining screenings, production workshops and interactive shows. We focused on children and young people, with workshops and screenings ranging from those for the very young through to the club scene and students. The event was held in the February half-term holiday.'

The resulting programme consisted of the three BAA 'Public Vote' sessions, along with a collection of 'Children's Animation Film from the South West.' This local showcase included representatives from Honeycomb Animation, a festival backer, together with A for Animation, Bumper Films, Alison DeVere Animation and King Rollo.