Animaze 2026 also welcomes ttikr as the festival\u2019s official creator marketplace partner, giving Animaze\u2019s global animator community new year-round tools to share and monetize their work.<\/p>\n
\nThis year\u2019s jury reflects exactly the range we want Animaze to represent: filmmakers who\u2019ve spent their lives at the drawing table alongside technologists and editors shaping where animation is headed next. It\u2019s an incredible group, and we\u2019re thrilled to have each of them in Montreal this September.<\/p>\n
Laurie Gordon, Festival Director, Animaze Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nTHREE DAYS OF ANIMATION<\/h3>\n
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- 4 PM \u2014 Opening Networking Cocktail<\/li>\n
- Beautifully Absurd \u2014 inventive, comic and unconventional animation<\/li>\n
- Music in Motion \u2014 animation and music across styles and approaches<\/li>\n
- What We Remember<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 memory, history, loss and personal experience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Worlds in Transition: A.I. \u2014 a selection of AI-assisted animated shorts<\/li>\n
- Johnnie Semerad:\u00a0From Pencil to Pixels to AI<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 45-minute presentation<\/li>\n
- Human Connections screening programme<\/li>\n
- Roots and Journeys \u2014 culture, identity, place and belonging<\/li>\n
- Turning Points<\/li>\n
- After Dark<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Animaze\u2019s darker, stranger, more provocative late-night programme<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Young Animaze: Big Adventures \u2014 family-oriented animated shorts<\/li>\n
- Bill Plympton Masterclass \u2014 90 minutes on drawing, storytelling and creative independence<\/li>\n
- Strange Worlds & Future Tense \u2014 surreal, speculative, forward-looking animation<\/li>\n
- Turning Points<\/li>\n
- Animaze Awards Ceremony<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 closes the 2026 festival<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
MEET THE 2026 JURY<\/h3>\n\n- Johnnie Semerad<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Jury Member<\/li>\n
- Bill Plympton<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Jury Member & Masterclass Instructor<\/li>\n
- Iona Pelovska<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Jury Member<\/li>\n
- Dr. Elisa Schaeffer<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Jury Member, Dean of Technology, LaSalle College Montreal<\/li>\n
- Katia Zenava<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Jury Member<\/li>\n
- Edward Crompton<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Jury Member, Film & Animation Editor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Johnnie Semerad<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jury Member
<\/em>Founder of QuietMan, the innovative studio behind the first Beatles music video and the first primetime Emmy awarded for a TV commercial. QuietMan\u2019s work has earned Emmys and a Grammy across more than 150 Super Bowl commercials, with pieces in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. This year Semerad launched the YouTube channel Deep Space Degenerates, already drawing millions of views.<\/p>\nBill Plympton<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jury Member & Masterclass Instructor
<\/em>Two-time Academy Award-nominated animator known as the \u201cKing of Indie Animation,\u201d Plympton has hand-drawn every frame of his 11 animated features and 60+ shorts, including The Tune, Cheatin\u2019 and Slide. His work spans music videos for Kanye West and Weird Al Yankovic and eight Simpsons \u201ccouch gag\u201d sequences. He headlines Animaze\u2019s newly expanded Masterclass Program.<\/p>\nIona Pelovska<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jury Member
<\/em>Artist and filmmaker exploring perception, dream and technology\u2019s entanglement with human experience. She holds a doctorate in Communication and Culture, and her films and installations have shown at festivals and art spaces internationally.<\/p>\nDr. Elisa Schaeffer<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jury Member \u2014 Dean of Technology, LaSalle College Montreal
<\/em>Dean of Technology at LaSalle College Montreal, with a doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) and prior faculty roles at UANL Monterrey and McGill\u2019s School of Continuing Studies. Her work spans computational intelligence, graph theory and machine learning.<\/p>\nKatia Zenava<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jury Member
<\/em>Game-production specialist and educator with nearly a decade in the industry. At Nvizzio Creations (formerly Funcom), she contributed to titles including RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch, Rokh and LEGO Minifigures, and now teaches game production at LaSalle College.<\/p>\nEdward Crompton<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jury Member \u2014 Film & Animation Editor
<\/em>Montreal-based film and animation editor whose credits include animation editor on The Garfield Movie, plus work on Isle of Dogs, Ron\u2019s Gone Wrong and Dead End: Paranormal Park. Currently 1st Assistant Editor on The Angry Birds Movie 3.<\/p>\nOFFICIAL SELECTION<\/h3>\n
Animaze 2026 brings together animation from Canada and around the world, representing independent, student, professional and emerging voices. All films selected for Animaze 2026 retain their Official Selection status and remain eligible for jury awards.<\/p>\n
Tickets are available now at: eventbrite.ca\/e\/animaze-montreal-international-animation-film-festival-2026-tickets-1993144207980<\/a><\/p>\n
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