About the GIRAF Animation Festival

Official festival website: http://www.giraffest.ca

GIRAF, or the Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival (est 2005), is an annual animation festival that runs each November at the Globe Cinema in Calgary, Alberta. GIRAF celebrates the spirit of independent, underground, and experimental animation, showcasing Canadian animators and presenting diverse animations from around the globe.

Unlike many animation festivals, GIRAF isn’t focused on the animation industry. Instead, we are committed to creating greater awareness for animation as an art form throughout our community, through four days of interactive activities including workshops, artist talks, visiting artists, and animation screenings. We focus on presenting works that push boundaries through the development of new techniques, hybrid forms of creation, and challenging subject matter.

Each year, GIRAF spotlights a select few visiting artists who are contributing to the growth of the medium. Throughout our 15 year run, these artists have included Phil Tippett, Kirsten Lepore, David O’Reilly, Lauren Hortie and Sonya Reynolds of MidKnife Films, Amanda Strong of Spotted Fawn Productions, Sean Buckelew, Amy Lockhart, Peter Burr, Mikey Please, and many others.

Sponsorship

If you would like to be involved with GIRAF as a supporter, please contact us at programming@quickdrawanimation.ca.