This January, celebrate the eighth edition of Animation First, the biggest animation festival in the United States! This year’s festival will run from Tuesday, January 21, through Sunday, January 26. Experience an exciting lineup featuring seven feature-length films, five short film programs, and a special focus on Swiss animation. Join us for engaging talks, interactive workshops, and an impressive array of international guests. Plus, don’t miss our Student Short Film Competition and hands-on stop-motion activities in the Tinker Lounge!

Don’t wait-purchase your festival pass today and enjoy a 10% discount, available only until the end of this year!

Purchase Festival Pass

Program Highlights

OPENING NIGHT

The Most Precious of Cargoes

La Plus Précieuse Des Marchandises

East Coast Premiere

Tuesday, January 21, at 7:15 pm following Opening Night Party and Exhibition Opening Covering The New Yorker at 6:00 pm.

Dir. Michel Hazanavicius, 81min, in French with English subtitles, DCP, 2024, France, Belgium.

This touching drama by Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), based on the 2019 novel by Jean-Claude Grumberg, follows a poor Polish couple whose rescue of a baby thrown from a train en route to Auschwitz changes their lives forever.   

Followed by a Q&A with director Michel Hazanavicius

Buy Tickets

CENTERPIECE
Savages

Sauvages

US Premiere

Friday, January 24, 7:00 pm, followed by Centerpiece Party.

Dir. Claude Barras, 87min, In French with English subtitles, DCP, 2024, Switzerland, France and Belgium.

Director Claude Barras’ enchanting stop-motion ecological tale centers on Kéria, her adopted baby orangutan Oshi, and her cousin Selaï, who must fight back against the planned destruction of Borneo’s ancestral forest. Brought to life by Barras’ intricately crafted puppets, the story unfolds against the rich backdrops of the island’s tropical trees, plants, and rivers. 

Buy Tickets

CLOSING NIGHT

The Time Masters
Les Maîtres du temps  

Sunday, January 26, at 8:15 pm following Closing Night & Award Ceremony at 6:30 pm.

Dir. René Laloux, 79 min, in French with English subtitles, DCP, 1982, restored 2023, France. 

Directed by visionary science-fiction animator René Laloux (Fantastic Planet) and designed by the legendary Jean Giraud (Mœbius), The Time Masters is a visually fantastic foray into existentialist space adventure.

Preceded by:

The Machine-Men

Les Hommes Machines  

US Premiere

Dir. René Laloux, 7 min, Without commentary or dialogue, 1977, restored 2018, France.

This restored 7-minute short, rarely shown to audiences, serves as the pilot for the cult hit Gandahar, whose restored version was screened at last year’s Animation First. The film introduces the peaceful planet of Gandahar, where inhabitants lead tranquil lives focused on agriculture, reading, and leisure, unaware of the robotic threats from another world. 

Buy Tickets