Romanian Award-Winning Filmmaker Anca Damian, Guest of Honor at Animation First Festival

Romanian film director, writer and producer Anca Damian will premiere her most recent film, the mixed media animated feature "The Island", at the Animation First Festival in New York on Sunday, January 29. The special screening will be followed by a Q&A. Also as part of the Festival program, the acclaimed filmmaker will present an augmented reality exhibition, entitled "In Search of Paradise", an immersive entry into the universe of Anca Damian’s film "The Island", depicting major themes such as migration, ecology, alienation, and tech addiction. 

Animation First 2023 is produced by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and is supported by Focus Entertainment, Pôle Image Magelis (Angoulême), School of Visual Arts (SVA), Sofitel New York, UniFrance, Villa Albertine, and the Romanian Cultural Institute.

Our collaboration with FIAF and Animation First Festival 2023 marks the anniversary of 30 years since Romania joined the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

"The institute’s Animation First festival includes exhibitions and English-language discussions — all free — as well as screenings requiring tickets. Most films are in French with English subtitles, but a few are in English, like Anca Damian’s feature “The Island” (Sunday), which brings contemporary twists to the Robinson Crusoe tale. And four of the films in the program Best of Annecy Kids 2022 Shorts (Saturday) have no dialogue or narration."  - The New York Times, January 26, 2023

Program:

January 29, 1:45 pm, "The Island", feature film, New York premiere

Dir. Anca Damian, 2021, Romania, France, Belgium, color,  84 min. In English  

FIAF Florence Gould Hall, 22 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022

January 29, 3:45 pm, Conversation with Anca Damian, 60 min. In English

FIAF Skyroom, 22 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022

January 28 & 29, 11 am – 6 pm, "In Search of Paradise", augmented reality exhibition

FIAF Tinker Auditorium, 22 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022

Learn more about the Festival, see full program and buy tickets/festival passes HERE.

Anca Damian is a Romanian film director, writer, and producer. Known for her inventive mixing of animation techniques and creative story-telling, Damian has produced an expansive body of work without ever shying away from controversial narratives. "Crulic: The Path to Beyond" (2011), her second animated feature, about a Romanian citizen who died in a Polish prison while on a hunger strike, premiered at Locarno Film Festival and went on to win 35 awards, including the Crystal Award at the 2012 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Other directorial credits in animation include "The Magic Mountain" (2015), for which she received the 2016 Audentia Award for Best Female Director from Eurimages, and "The Call" (2018), selections at the Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals. "Marona’s Fantastic Tale" (2019) premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and went on to screen at many others, including Rotterdam IFF as well as Tokyo IFF. It received prizes at Los Angeles’s Animation is Film, Bucheon IAF, and Tokyo Anime Award. In New York, it premiered at Animation First 2020. Damian recently finished "The Island", which premiered at Rotterdam IFF in Big Screen Competition and in the Competition at Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and is currently working on her next feature, "Starseed".