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Anibar: Animation Festival Giving Life to More than just Fictional Characters
The Anibar Animation Festival held in Pejë/Peć from 14th to 20th August hosted many animators and showed more than 270 animated movies. As the only animation festival in Kosovo, youth were able to watch different animated movies and cartoons and participate in different activities where they were able to learn more about creating animations.
Each day of the festival, organizers held a Coffee and Talks event where different activities and workshops were presented in an unmoderated and relaxing environment. On Saturday, 19 August, the Coffee and Talks topic was “Meet the Filmmakers” where visitors were given the opportunity to talk with Laurene Braibant and Arvan Berisha.
French film director, Laurene Braibant, produced the film, “The Ogre,” a short movie that was shown at the Festival on 17 August. During the Coffee and Talks event Braibant took the time to describe the process of creating her film and how she found her inspiration.
Arvan Berisha, a young Kosovar, introduced visitors to the production process behind his movie “Magneti,” which will be released soon. He explained to young people the difficulties he experienced during the film’s production. Berisha noted: “We had different obstacles and we have changed our idea that we had at the beginning but in the end, we have managed to create an interesting animation movie that we are really proud of.” The event provided young audience members with the opportunity to engage with and learn more about how original ideas make it to the big screen.
After Coffee and Talks, participants continued to a Youth Center where they were presented with the Sustainable Development Goals. After short presentation of the goals, they watched four movies related to Sustainable Development Goals chosen by UNKT Staff. They had an opportunity to watch “Mr. Bean” and the “Global Goals” TED Talk, “How we can make the world a better place by 2030,” “Sustainable Development Goals: Improve Life All Around the Globe,” and “Global Goals promo animation from Kosovo.”
The movies were shown to participants between ages of 8 and 15. Following the screening of the films, audience members were given the opportunity to ask questions or give comments.
A 9-year-old boy noted, “we need to raise awareness if we want to achieve these goals and the movies you have shown are really helpful.” He continued by saying that “children need to know from the beginning about the importance of these goals because once they grow up it is too late to change their behaviour.”
A young girl expressed her optimism in fulfilling all the goals – “I do believe that we can fulfill all the goals by 2030, especially if we work hard. I truly loved your videos and I am sure that the world will be a better place by 2030.”
The Anibar Animation Festival gives life to more than just fictional characters; it gives more life to the city of Pejë/Peć and Kosovo as a whole, and to the Sustainable Development Goals among the youth of Kosovo.
Gentiana Fana, Communications Intern
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
