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| Location | Hiroshima, Japan |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Language | Japanese |
The International Animation Festival Hiroshima is a biennial animation festival hosted in Hiroshima, Japan. The festival was founded in 1985 by Association International du Film d'Animation or ASIFA as International Animation Festival for the World Peace. The city of Hiroshima was one of the sites of nuclear bombings in 1945 at the end of World War II and it was chosen to inspire thoughts of unity through the arts. The festival was considered one of the most respected animated film festival, along with Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films.[1]
The first two festivals were held in odd years: 1985 and 1987. Since 1990, the festival has been held biennially in even years. In 2008, the 12th Festival took place for 5 days (August 7–11). The city of Hiroshima co-hosts the festival, which takes place in JMS Aster Plaza near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park at the center of Hiroshima city.
The founding of the festival is largely credited to Sayoko Kinoshita and her late husband Renzo Kinoshita. The married couple were renowned figures in the independent animation world and also founders of ASIFA's Japan chapter.[2] Sayoko Kinoshita has been the festival director since the first festival and is now also the president of ASIFA.
In the festival's first year in 1985, the Grand Prize was awarded to Broken Down Film by Osamu Tezuka.[3] Tezuka became one of the members of the jury for the following festival. This cycle has often repeated and many of the grand prize winners have become judges for the following festival.
In 2010, the Festival had nearly 1,937 entries from 58 countries and regions, and had more than 34,516 participants.[4]
In November 2020, the city of Hiroshima announced ending its partnership with ASIFA, and plans to replace the festival.[5]
