Schedule | Philly Animation Fest
2026 Festival

2026 Schedule

Three days of screenings, panels, workshops, artists and animation in Philadelphia.

Tickets

NOVEMBER 13-15, 2026 ✦ PHILADELPHIA ✦ ANIMATION LIVES HERE
Friday
Nov 13
6:00 PM - 6:45 PM

Philly Showcase 1

Kicking off the festival and panel discussion with a collection of animations made by Philadelphia-based filmmakers.

Cost: FREE

Program

  • Philly Freestyle (an exquisite corpse), the Animation Ensemble, USA, 6:00
  • Initiating Protocol 1, Cybee, USA, 4:29
  • The Glutton, Chris McDonnell, USA, 1:43
  • Super Connection, Adin Duncan, USA, 7:20
  • Werewolf at the Bus Stop, Adem Kaan, USA, 0:35
  • Holometabolous, Davey Levson, Elaine Artemieff, Angela Jarpa Jerez, Li Zhen Maradiaga, USA / Spain, 4:14
  • Whale, Marybeth Chew, USA, 2:10
  • Picking Flowers, Isabella Akhtarshenas, USA, 2:28
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Game Changers Panel

This year at the Moore College of Art and Design's "Game Changers" event, we spotlight three Black women thriving in the animation industry. From indie animated shorts, to feature length films, to creative direction at big studios and tech companies and more, these women bring with them a voice and perspective too often minimized by our industry.

Panelists:
Tracey LaGuerre
Tara Nicole Whitaker
Angelica McKinley

Cost: FREE to the Public

8:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Game Changers + Philly Animation Fest Opening Reception

Saturday
Nov 14
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Animation Playhouse: A Family Friendly Screening

Saturday morning cartoons the whole family can enjoy! Experience a curated collection of animated shorts fit for all ages.

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • OFF ON, Stella Zanardi, Italy, 2:00
  • Find Find, Angela Wong, Anita So, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, 7:40
  • Bear Appetite, Arianna Tan, USA, 5:40
  • The Dandelion, Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong, USA, 6:00
  • Kargoosh (Deaf Ear), Reza Sarbakhsh, Ali Jamali Motlagh, Iran, 4:46
  • Don't Pull Us Apart!, Linh Phung, USA, 5:33
  • James and the Giant Ban: Know Your Rights University (ACLU), Brandon Lake, USA, 4:11
  • Sapling, Connor Yarish, Canada, 5:42
  • Sidy, Nerina Penzhorn, USA, 1:26
  • Enshrine, Dani Ha, USA, 3:54
  • The Sky Was Candy, Anh Tú, Germany, 2:59
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Animator Maker Mart - The Great Hall

Cost: FREE to Public

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Family Friendly Workshop

An all ages drop-in art workshop. Description TBD.

Cost: FREE with admission ticket / festival pass

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Animated Shorts Block

A curated collection of animated shorts from around the world. This category hosts narrative animations made with a variety of mediums from clay on glass animation to stop-motion puppets.

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • Visionaries, Daniela Sherer, United Kingdom, 2:35
  • A Black Rail's Tail, Lynn Tomlinson, USA, 5:10
  • At Night, Pooya Afzali, Iran, 4:35
  • Venezia Diorama, Nicolas Piret, Italy, 6:30
  • Voices from the Arctic, Jess Mountfield, United Kingdom, 9:27
  • Tell Me When You Get Home, Tshay Meade, USA, 9:17
  • Awake, Elyse Kelly, USA, 5:30
  • KAUKOKAIPUU, Valentina Lo Duca, Italy, 8:55
  • Transitional Object, Shayna Strype, USA, 6:34
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Puppet Making led by Big Howl

A drop-in stop motion paper-puppet building workshop for beginner and intermediate crafters.

Cost: FREE with admission ticket / festival pass

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Experimental Block

Animations that are experimental in nature either breaking away from a narrative structure or demonstrating experimentation with materials in interesting and unique ways.

WARNING: Some films in this program contain flashing lights.

Still from In the Woods by Chen Wang
Image still from In the Woods by Chen Wang.

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • Busy Bodies, Kate Renshaw-Lewis, USA, 5:45
  • Microcosmos. A Cabinet of Curiosities, Maria Lorenzo Hernandez, Spain, 9:04
  • Hermit Falls, Pablo K Lorenzana, USA, 4:58
  • decay, Juan Camilo González, Colombia, USA, 7:08
  • So Many Different Things, Sakshi Jain, India, 2:46
  • Due to Delay, Xianzhi Zhang, China, 3:38
  • In the Woods, Chen Wang, USA, 5:58
  • Cyclotron, Brian Gibson, USA, 4:24
  • Action Bog, Winston Hacking, USA, 1:22
  • Sylvia, Bernadine Van Renne, Canada, 1:32
  • The Red-Haired Man, Neely Goniodsky, USA, 1:45
  • Ordinary Life, Yoriko Mizushiri, Japan, 9:47
  • Hungry Hollow, Sarah Franny Ruyle, USA, 5:41
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Festival Keynote - Musa Brooker

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Music Video

A collection of animated music videos with a variety of music genres and visual styles.

Still from Western Sun by Sean Clark
Image still from Western Sun by Sean Clark.

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • She is Mira, Fangyi Teng, China, 2:35
  • Molecules, Ana Mouyis, USA, 4:00
  • The Queen, Damir Inbar, USA, 4:16
  • On the Way to Buy a Tie, JiHee Nam, USA, 2:00
  • Thoughts Can Curse, Leilani Bhullar, USA, 3:30
  • Wish U Knew, Dris Ali & Partlytruth, USA, 2:40
  • Mould, Martyn Thomas, UK, 2:14
  • On Being, Masanobu Hiraoka, Japan, 3:27
  • OHOIOrOI, Taewan Kim, South Korea, UK, 2:56
  • Novyny, Sergii Bublyk, Ukraine, 3:28
  • Little Moments, Max Vannienschoot, Canada, 2:59
  • Drunk Lament, Lucia Schmidt, Germany, 2:10
  • Simian Fever, Christy Karacas, Luca Depardon, USA, 4:00
  • Western Sun, Sean Clark, USA, 3:26
9:00 PM - 10:15 PM

After Dark Screening

For the late night cartoon enthusiast, you can enjoy a fever-dream-like experience of uncanny, comical and downright weird animations.

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • Left to Right, Phil Davis, USA, 3:05
  • Fundie, Zachariah OHora/ USA Tom Jolliffe/Canada 5:47
  • Clambake Mutiny, Mark Neely, USA, 7:46
  • So Here We Are, Shane C Beam, USA, 1:16
  • The Paperclip, Lukas Chad Sedelmeier, USA, 2:18
  • Dear Satan, Daelan Hontanosas, USA, 3:38
  • I am a Robot, Wyatt Rudolph Tomaselli, USA, 6:02
  • The Trench, Ethan Frost, USA, 1:39
  • Curb Appeal, Isaiah Moncher, USA, 2:31
  • Gerogie, Maxius Ming Mellish, US, 4:05
  • Paws & Pestilence, Laura Venditti, Canada, 0:52
  • Sylvia, Bernadine Van Renne, Canada, 1:32
  • I HAVE BECOME, Lee J Holoubek, Canada, 1:09
  • Rewind, Taney Basinger, USA, 3:23
  • The Stain, Abraham Joel Pena-Puleo, USA, 1:40
  • Play Fight!, Katrina Cecilia Larner, USA, 7:39
  • The Tower, Arius Ziaee, USA, 7:49
  • POOB, AJ Jefferies, UK, 6:31
Sunday
Nov 15
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Pathways, Co-hosted with the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • Sunburn, Esther Son, Korea, 05:00
  • Drive On, Mr. Otter, Chun Kit Fong, USA, 11:00
  • Paper Daughter, Cami Kwan, USA, 15:00
  • Like Friend, Like Deer, Malek Eghbali, Iran, 13:00
  • More Than Happy, Wei Keong Tan, Singapore, 17:00
  • reTIRED, Mari Jaye Blanchard, USA, 09:00
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Student Animated Shorts

Experience the impressive, emerging talent of student artists all over the world with our curated collection of both local and international student-made films.

Ticket link coming soon

Cost: $10 regular, $5 student (Included in $30 3 Day Pass)

Program

  • Miguel Lopez is a Snake, Kati Zacarias Snotherly, US, 04:06
  • Sauna People, Sanna Taikina, Finland, 05:10
  • Apple Gatherers, Danielle Rhoda Addae-Boateng, UK, 08:31
  • The Runaway Horses, Daien Ngeiw, Australia, 04:22
  • Super Duper Mega Spider, Weirong Xing, UK, 07:39
  • A Grieving Heart, Wendy Cong Zhao, US, 12:17
  • Each, All and Every, Nikoletta Veress, Hungary, 11:29
  • Stone Lions Don't Roar, Le Hang Whalen, US, 10:50
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Pitching Workshop led by Bryan Korn

Learn about how to create a pitch to present to a production company in this workshop led by Hilda Writer/Producer, Bryan Korn.

Duration: 60 minutes

Cost: FREE with festival pass

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Meet the Team of Lil' Kev

Go behind the scenes of Lil Kev, the BET+ animated series inspired by the early life of Kevin Hart. Meet members of the creative team, including Matthew Claybrooks and Michael Price, writers, executive producers, creators, and showrunners behind the series, along with Musa Brooker, director.

Matthew Claybrooks is an Emmy Award-winning executive producer whose credits include Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, Everybody Still Hates Chris, The Game, and Gordita Chronicles. The conversation will explore storytelling, character development, and the animation production process.

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Philly Showcase 2 + Awards

Closing out the festival weekend with a curated collection of animations made by Philadelphia-based filmmakers plus a screening of the exquisite corpse project: Philly Freestyle. Award winners will be announced, followed by the festival after party.

Awards Announced:
Best Segment of Philly Life Exquisite Corpse
Best Music Video
Best Student Animated Short
Best Narrative Short
Best Experimental Animated Short
Best of Show
Audience Award TBD

Cost: TBD

Program

  • Philly Freestyle, Philadelphia Animation Ensemble, Philadelphia, USA, 05:00
  • You're Not Like the Other Forks, Veda Rouze, USA, 2:02
  • Project Selkie, Ryleigh Moule, USA, 07:50
  • Workaholics Wanonymous, Travis Swisher, Nate Dresch, Aiden Chen, Vinny Wang, Jordan Dohou, USA, 01:14
  • SunKissed Sapphics, Jennifer Marie Cella, USA, 08:14
  • Barnacles, Kara Bergey, USA, 01:07
  • Nu Shoes, Manny Taveras, Nero Catalano, USA, 02:29
  • Feast for the Smile, Nicole Rodrigues, USA, 02:49