Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF)

Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) Mark your calendar for the 50th Ottawa International Animation Festival.

North America's longest-running animation event returns to Canada's capital from September 23 to September 27, 2026. Every September, more than 30,000 film buffs, art lovers, producers, and cartoon fans from around the world descend on the Nation’s capital for the world-renowned Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF).

📣 OPEN CALL FOR FILM SUBMISSIONS!animatex is accepting animation films from Egypt and around the world for its upcoming ...
10/13/2026

📣 OPEN CALL FOR FILM SUBMISSIONS!

animatex is accepting animation films from Egypt and around the world for its upcoming 7th edition in February 2027.

Learn about the festival's categories and rules, and apply through their FilmFreeway link by the October 15 deadline!

👉 https://filmfreeway.com/animatexegypt

10/06/2026

Who’s cutting onions right now? 🥹

OIAF legend Frank Taylor had one word to describe this year’s 50th Anniversary: Gathering 🫂

And the winners are...🥁🎉 Congratulations to Dongfang Li for winning 50% of the net sale proceeds plus a TVPaint Développ...
10/01/2026

And the winners are...🥁

🎉 Congratulations to Dongfang Li for winning 50% of the net sale proceeds plus a TVPaint Développement Animation license.

Two additional draws were made for TVPaint Standard licenses. The winners are:
🦉 Cecilia Bleszynski
🦉 Ashley Fajardo

💗 The remaining proceeds from this year's 50/50 directly fund OIAF's free youth outreach initiatives that provide young people with access to festival screenings, workshops, filmmaker talks, and hands-on animation experiences.

🦉 a couple of night owls at Night OwlWacom Optimal Show Experience Adult Swim ASIFA-Hollywood
09/28/2026

🦉 a couple of night owls at Night Owl
Wacom Optimal Show Experience Adult Swim ASIFA-Hollywood

09/28/2026

50 is GOLDEN 💛

A night of award winners and recordbreakers at OIAF’s 50th anniversary

🏆 Short Animation: PRAYING MANTIS (dir. Joe Hsieh)

🏆 Animated Feature: WE ARE ALIENS (dir. Kohei Kadowaki)
🦉 Honorable Mention: MAGIC ATLAS (dir. Sun Xun)
🦉 Honorable Mention: TANGLES (dir. Leah Nelson)

🏆 Public Prize: BALL FACE (dir. Laurence Thérien)
🦉 Honorable Mention: WHEN THE SEA WAS CALM (dir. Mamuka Tkeshelashvili)

🏆 Canada Media Fund Award for Best Canadian Animation: LA COMÈTE (THE COMET) (dir. Julie Charette)
🦉 Honorable Mention: BISOU SAUVAGE (dir. Bahji Jaroudi)
🦉 Honorable Mention: KNOWING GAZE (dir. Dylan Glynn)

🏆 Hélène Tanguay Award for Humour: BALL FACE (dir. Laurence Thérien)

🏆 Best Animated Short: ERI (dir. Honami Yano)

🏆 Best Commissioned Animation: JUANA MOLINA “DESINHUMANO” (dir. Dante Zaballa)

🏆 Bento Box Entertainmentntoboxent Award for Best Student Animation: BALL FACE (dir. Laurence Thérien)

🏆 Canadian Student Award: BALL FACE (dir. Laurence Thérien)
🦉 Honorable Mention: MORTAL LACE (dir. Lucas Piperias)
🦉 Honorable Mention: EXPO INFERNO (dir. A. John Yates)

🏆 Animation for Teen Audiences 13+: BLUE FLAVORED (dir. Jett Ulysses)
🦉 Honorable Mention: LA COMÈTE (THE COMET) (dir. Julie Charette)

🏆 Animation for Young Audiences 7+: CANDY CARIES (dir. Tomoki Misato)
🦉 Honorable Mention: BATS AND BUGS (dir. Lena von Döhren)

🏆 Platform Animation Competition: Adult Swim THE ELEPHANT (dirs. Pendleton Ward, Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, Patrick McHale, Mike L. Mayfield, Humberto Irigoyen, Remus Buznea, and Kyriaki Kyriakou)

🏆 Best Script: UKA-UKA (dir. Henri Veermäe)

🏆 The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 Craft Award for Best Design: WHEN THE SEA WAS CALM (dir. Mamuka Tkeshelashvili)

🏆 XPPen Craft Award for Best Animation Technique: DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE COLONEL (dir. Elizabeth Hobbs)

🏆 Best Sound Design: PAPER TRAIL (dir. Don Hertzfeldt)

🏆 50 In 50 – Our Favourite Canadian Animated Shorts OIAF Team Choice: THE BIG SNIT (dir. Richard Condie)

🏆 50 In 50 – Our Favourite Canadian Animated Shorts Public Prize: Meneath: THE HIDDEN ISLAND OF ETHICS (dir. Terril Calder)

🎥 Daisy Thang

Record breaker 🏆Last night at the OIAF Awards Ceremony, Laurence Thérien's claymation short BALL FACE became the first f...
09/27/2026

Record breaker 🏆

Last night at the OIAF Awards Ceremony, Laurence Thérien's claymation short BALL FACE became the first film in OIAF history to win four awards in a single year:

🏆 Public Prize
🏆 Hélène Tanguay Award for Humour
🏆 Bento Box Entertainment Award for Best Student Animation
🏆 Canadian Student Award

Congratulations, Laurence!

📸 Maya Meloche

Keep animation accessible and support the next generation of animators 🫶This year's 50/50 Raffle supports OIAF's free yo...
09/27/2026

Keep animation accessible and support the next generation of animators 🫶

This year's 50/50 Raffle supports OIAF's free youth outreach initiatives, including Kids @ OIAF, Teens @ OIAF, All Ages Day, and complimentary Teen Passes that provide young people with access to festival screenings, workshops, filmmaker talks, and hands-on animation experiences.

💗 Your support helps inspire creativity, remove barriers to participation, and ensure animation remains accessible to audiences of all ages.

💰 The grand prize winner receives 50% of the net sale proceeds plus a TVPaint Animation license.

Enter before the 50/50 Raffles ends on September 30.
👉 https://ow.ly/fkBG50ZS17m

Award winners and crowd pleasers 🏆Celebrate 's 50th Anniversary at today's Best Of: Animated Shorts screenings:🎥 Septem...
09/27/2026

Award winners and crowd pleasers 🏆

Celebrate 's 50th Anniversary at today's Best Of: Animated Shorts screenings:

🎥 September 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the ByTowne Cinema
🎥 September 27 at 9:00 p.m. at the ByTowne Cinema

Order your tickets for the last screenings of this year's festival.
🎟 https://ow.ly/pNJ750ZS0VJ

🎥 PRAYING MANTIS (dir. Joe Hsieh)

Who else feels like they lived 5 lives in 5 days? 🙋On this final day of OIAF 2026, round out your festival experience wi...
09/27/2026

Who else feels like they lived 5 lives in 5 days? 🙋

On this final day of OIAF 2026, round out your festival experience with a Best Of screening at the ByTowne Cinema to catch the award winners and audience favourites!

Plan your Day 5 schedule
👉 https://www.animationfestival.ca/festival/schedule/

Journey to Forgotten Island 🌴Today at Animation Exposé, the DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures’ creative team b...
09/26/2026

Journey to Forgotten Island 🌴

Today at Animation Exposé, the DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures’ creative team behind FORGOTTEN ISLAND brought audiences into the making of Nakali, a fantastical island shaped by Filipino mythology and animation magic.

🔎 Januel P. Mercado (Writer/Director), Sean Sexton (Head of Character Animation), Ryan Carlson (Production Designer), and Scott Cullen (Head of Cinematography & Layout), joined moderator Ramin Zahed (Editor in Chief/Author, Animation Magazine) to unpack how they built Nakali’s vibrant world, shaped its characters, and captured the relationship at the heart of the story: two lifelong best friends fighting to hold onto their memories and each other.

📸 Ming Wu

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Ottawa, ON
K1N6E2

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