If you hadn’t already heard, 2018 is the year where the BFI will be “celebrating animation in all its guises, from puppetry and stop-motion to anime and CGI”. Animation 2018 – the name of the programme season – will see feature and short films, Q&As, rarely seen British animation from the beginning of the 20th century… and a free exhibition on British Animation!
Entering BFI Southbank via the Lightbox entrance, right in front of you (and up some stairs) you will find the Mezzanine Gallery and inside it, some real gems from British animation studios and and industry talents.
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- Mezzanine Gallery (up the stairs
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- Aaron looking at frames from ‘The Kings Of Siam’
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- BFI shop stocked with Halas & Batchelor items
Dating back to cut-out animated puppets from WWI, it also includes a rich range of material from Britain’s first animated feature Animal Farm. We also highlight the work of Lotte Reingier, Yellow Submarine director George Dunning and Captain Pugwash creator John Ryan. (The archive material from Halas and Batchelor’s Animal Farm holds a special place in our heart, as we both worked with the collection during our days at the Animation Archive in Farnham.)
Between meetings, we had a chance to head down to Southbank and peruse the exhibition, but be quick! You won’t have much longer, as it is only on display until Sunday 8th April.
Away from the exhibition, there has already been a number of great events in January and February – the history of British animations screenings, Animal Farm Q&A, Nick Park presenting Early Man, and many more.
For April, and the remainder of March, you can look forward to events on The Quay Brothers, Watership Down, David Sproxton Q&A with the Wallace and Gromit shorts, plus more British history with BFI curator Jez Stewart.
For dates, tickets and more information, view the Animation 2018 events page.
