The annual Countryside Animafest Cyprus – Views of the World returns to Salamiou village this August for its 24th edition. A weekend packed with animation screenings in the field, workshops all around the village, exhibitions, late-night concerts, camping and parties is about to take off.

Animafest is one of the longest-running animation festivals in southern Europe and every year it presents a vibrant programme featuring independent international films, Cypriot productions and family-friendly events.

For this year, from August 8-10, Artistic Director Yiorgos Tsangaris has selected 33 films from 18 countries out of more than 700 global submissions. The Young Audience competition includes right films from five countries. This year’s jury includes Serbian filmmaker and visual artist Milos Tomic, Greek artist Dimitris Alithinos, and Cypriot poet Avgi Lilli.

The festival’s National Competition features five films, and 10 more will screen in the non-competitive Cyprus Panorama. Apart from outdoor animation screenings each evening, the festival also includes workshops, artist residencies and a collective animation project in collaboration with Cyprus Association of Graphic Designers and Illustrators using phenakistoscopes.

On August 10, the festival will screen The Tower, a stop-motion feature by Norwegian director Mats Grorud, as part of the international Palestine Animated solidarity programme. For those interested in more hands-on participation and learning ethnographic documentary techniques, the festival collaborates with the 20th Limassol International Documentary Festival for a workshop on collecting oral histories and creating a short documentary.

The workshop will take place from August 5 to 8, led by Dr Nikoleta Dimitriou, ethnomusicologist and director of the Cyprus Music Archive (oral history collection), and Elena Alonefti, director and producer, member of the Cyprus Film Advisory Committee.

Participants will be able to learn about pinhole cameras in a workshop by Haris Pellapaisiotis and handmade animation techniques where all ages will enjoy fascinating methods. Five concerts will also take place in the evenings by the Cypriot artists Monsieur Doumani, Vasilis Philippou Trio, Aloni Quartet and Whitehound while late-night audiovisual performances by young Cypriot musicians and artists will also entertain guests.

Back again this year is the 3rd Animation Film Camp. The first of its kind in Cyprus, the camp is the latest development programme of Animafest Cyprus, the only professional animation development programme in the country. Launched in 2023 with an international focus, it offers networking opportunities for emerging artists and students.

This year, the festival will host two distinguished mentors at the camp: Serbian visual artist and animation filmmaker Milos Tomic and Cypriot musician Vasilis Philippou. The workshops will focus on mixed stop-motion and direct animation techniques, as well as soundscape music composition, cultivating the next generation of animation filmmakers.

24th Countryside Animafest Cyprus – Views of the World

Annual festival with outdoor animation screenings, workshops, concerts and exhibitions. August 8-10. Salamiou village, Paphos district. €5 per night. https://animafest.com.cy/