Canterbury Anifest 2012 Receives National Funding

Press release from the Canterbury Anifest:

Kent, UK -- The Canterbury Anifest announced that it has received funding from Creative England, the new agency for supporting creative services in English regions. Creative England have announced funding for 39 film venues, festivals and archives and Canterbury Anifest is the only organisation in Kent to receive funding.

This year’s Canterbury Anifest 2012 will return to the city in October and will be bringing more big names from the animation industry to our county. The festival aims at giving an insight into animation with talks, workshops and screenings of British and international animation productions. At last previous festivals, Aardman Animations have brought their fantastic Wallace & Gromit models and local animator Peter Firmin has spoken about the much loved Bagpuss, which was created in the Canterbury District.

Canterbury Anifest Festival Director Dan Richards said: “This is fantastic news for Anifest as well as the city. It really shows how much the festival has grown for it to be recognised nationally. Over the past five years we have had thousands of local people and visitors attend and enjoy screenings, talks and demonstrations from studios and animators from all areas of the industry. Some of the highlights have been showcases on features such as Wallace & Gromit, Bagpuss, Coraline and the Harry Potter films. We are looking forward to announcing our programme later in the year.”

Creative England CEO Caroline Norbury said: “It is a great reflection of the vitality of film in England that we received so many strong applications to this first round of Lottery awards. While we had to make some tough decisions I am confident we are backing the right spread of projects across the country with these awards, which will benefit each of these organisations and the audiences they serve.”

Canterbury Anifest:
Canterbury Anifest is the South East’s only annual animation festival. It is a great community event which invites people of all ages to come and experience the magic of animation; allowing them to get involved with something out of the ordinary. With a range of workshops, behind the scenes presentations from industry professionals, screenings and family-friendly events, Anifest has something for everyone. The festival also caters for specialists and those in the industry, featuring national and international awards and guest speakers from some of the most prestigious animation studios. For more information, please visit www.canterburyanifest.com [1].

Creative England:
Creative England opened for business on 1 October 2011, with the core purpose of supporting the sustainable growth of independent creative businesses, and the talent that feeds them, in every part of England outside London. This new organisation builds on the work of the Regional Screen Agencies that, for the past ten years, have assisted the development of the film, TV, interactive, games and digital media industries, and the growth of film culture in England.

One of our first objectives is to establish a new infrastructure for film in the English regions, to ensure continuity and lay the foundations for the development and sustainability of a vibrant film and moving image culture outside London. Creative England has awarded almost £470,000 in its first round of Film Culture Fund Lottery awards, investing in an exciting and diverse range of film culture projects across the English regions. For more information visit: www.creativeengland.co.uk [2].