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We won!!
#AndGrannyWouldDance has won the award for Best Short Film at the lovely @cardiffanimfest 💕
Thank you to all the hardworking people that are a part of Cardiff animation festival . Thank you to the jury. Thank you to the audience for watching my film. Thank you and congratulations to the magic team 💕
#iranianwomen #iranianfamily #childhood #BFIBacked #NationalLottery @britishfilminstitute @animateprojectsuk #MaryamMohajer #artistsanimation #womeninanimation #experimentalanimation #britishanimation #shortfilm #femaledirector #womeninfilm
#FreeIran #WomanLifeFreedom #DigitalBlackoutIran

Stoked to have been selected for Berlinale Talents 2026. Am looking forward to spending an inspiring few days in February with many brilliant filmmakers from around the world.

I will also be participating in the Talent Project Market with @sammooreanimate and our development project ‘Fabric of Grief’ at the European Film Market - one of only ten Berlinale Talents alumni projects selected, and unsurprisingly the only animated documentary project and UK entry.

If you’re coming to the EFM, look out for Sam and me at the EFM Animation Days and VFF Talent Highlight Award Pitch.

@berlinaletalents #BerlinaleTalents2026 #CreatingConfusion
@efm_europeanfilmmarket #EFMAnimationDays #EFM2026 #berlinale

Stoked to have been selected for Berlinale Talents 2026. Am looking forward to spending an inspiring few days in February with many brilliant filmmakers from around the world.

I will also be participating in the Talent Project Market with @sammooreanimate and our development project ‘Fabric of Grief’ at the European Film Market - one of only ten Berlinale Talents alumni projects selected, and unsurprisingly the only animated documentary project and UK entry.

If you’re coming to the EFM, look out for Sam and me at the EFM Animation Days and VFF Talent Highlight Award Pitch.

@berlinaletalents #BerlinaleTalents2026 #CreatingConfusion
@efm_europeanfilmmarket #EFMAnimationDays #EFM2026 #berlinale

Join us for Figures in Focus: Skin Shows @liafanimation @barbicancentre
Saturday 29 November, 18:20 - live & online
BOOK YOUR TICKETS VIA THE LINK IN THE BIO

With this edition of Figures in Focus, the title ‘Skin Shows’ is a nod to @JackHalberstam ’s excellent book of the same name; a work that explores gothic horror, monstrousness, corporeality, otherness, and its representation in contemporary film. In this programme, the perception of the female body as grotesque, abject, and perverse is explored. These films show that getting under the skin of this conceit can be empowering rather than horrifying. Come delight at the myriad ways in which these animators lay bare sexuality, queerness and the body on screen.

The screening will be followed with a discussion with featured filmmakers: May Kindred Boothby, Lizzie Watts, and Dr Laura-Beth Crowley.

Films:
-La Fée des Roberts (The Boob Fairy), Léahn Vivier-Chapas, France, 14 min, 2021 @_.leahn._ @miyudistribution
-The Eating of an Orange, May Kindred-Boothby, UK, 7min, 2024@mkbanimation
-Hairy Legs, Andrea Dorfman, Canada, 17 min, 2024@dorfmanorama @onf_nfb
-The Gift, Laura-Beth Cowley, UK, 3, 2019@lbyellow
-Gakjil (Persona), Sujin Moon, South Korea, 6 min, 2022@_moonsujin_
-Summer’s Puke is Winter’s Delight, Sawako Kabuki, Japan, 3, 2016@sawako_kabuki
-Glazing, Lilli Carré, USA, 2 min, 2021@lillicarre
-FRIED!, Lizzie Watts, UK, 10, 2025 @lazywitts
-Y, Matea Kovač, Croatia, 7, 2023@wmouse.art @ZagrebFilmHR
-upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop, Rachel MacLean, UK, 12, 2021@rachel_maclean_studio

Content warning: Nudity, graphic sexual imagery, sexual assault, violence, blood, death, animal cruelty, vomiting, eating disorders, anxiety, needles, flashing imagery.

#liaf #animationfestival #independentanimation #figuresinfocus

I’m so pleased to share that I am working with artist Dominica Harrison @nicaharrison on an animated short that combines intaglio printmaking and digital animation.

Our collaborators include artist, musician and writer Cosey Fanni Tutti who voices the deity All-Mind and will be composing the score, and our scientist Al is voiced by BAFTA nominated actor Maxine Peake (Words of War, Say Nothing, The Bisexual). The script has been co-written with Jon Ware (The Silt Verses, I Am In Eskew).

‘Re-Mind’ is a film by Dominica Harrison, co-written with Jon Ware, produced by Animate Projects, made with the support of the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding.

Image: ‘Re-Mind’ concept artwork by Dominica Harrison.

#remindanimation #bfibacked #nationallottery

I’m so pleased to share that the short film I worked on with @qianhui_yuu ‘Statue in the Garden’ will have its premiere at Bolton Film Festival, where it screens in competition.

It then travels to Bucheon International Animation Festival in South Korea, CRAFT International Animation Festival in Indonesia, then Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York.

On 30 October, I’ll be in conversation with Qianhui at a special behind-the-scenes event at Artcore in Derby.

‘Statue in the Garden’ is a film by Qianhui Yu, produced by Animate Projects, with the support of Film Hub Midlands as part of the BFI NETWORK, awarding funds from the National Lottery.

@BoltonFilmFest
@biaf.ani
@craftanimfest
@ASFFestival
@filmhubmidlands
@bfinetwork

#QianhuiYu #StatueintheGarden #2Danimation #BFINETWORK #NationalLottery #BackedbyBFI #AnimateProjects #artistsanimation #shortfilm #filmfestivals

Thrilled to share this collaboration with @misskrishofmann

Repost: “Two years in the making, I’m really happy that my very first VR film will premiere at Venice Immersive @labiennale in late August. ❤️

Out of Nowhere is about a subject close to my heart—how preserving natural river ecosystems, riparian forests and wetlands can help protect us from the worst effects of an ever more unpredictable climate.

The experience began development at the Biennale College Cinema VR Lab, which I attended with producer @abbabaddison of @animateprojectsuk in 2023. The technical framework behind the project was created by Andreas Wuthe (one of the smartest and most patient developers I know) and financed by the @wirtschaftsagentur_wien . Written by Ira Wedel, co-production by spec.studio in Dachau, support from @fffbayern and @apossible and finally (and maybe most importantly) amazing sound and music by @max_thomasberger and Elizabeth Purnell.

Hope to see some familiar faces in Venice in a few weeks time.”

#veniceimmersive #outofnowherevr

Read Maryam Mohajer’s lovely interview with Kévin Giraud at Cartoon Brew about our Oscar contending & BFI backed short, And Granny Would Dance.

Find the interview at the link in my bio.

#andgrannywoulddance #maryammohajer #iranianwomen #iranianfamily #childhood #BFIBacked #NationalLottery #AnimateProjects #MaryamMohajer #artistsanimation #womeninanimation #experimentalanimation #britishanimation #shortfilm #femaledirector #womeninfilm #TaneraDawkins #foryourconsideration #oscar2025 @cartoonbrew

Glad to be back at @liafanimation this year with ‘Figures in Focus - Wanderlust’. Time to go on an adventure.

The selected films examine the urge to explore the world, to travel, to feel the delight to roam. Hand in hand with this sense of wanderlust is the restlessness felt by some, the need to escape their situation, or to return to places in their memories. Our daring explorers find the courage to take a leap into the unknown and to seek something better.

The artists featured in this programme and who will speak to the theme and their process in the post-screening discussion will be @jessica_a_ashman @efabm and @silvanimation

Programme:
💥Childhood Memories, @marymartinsart UK, 4 min, 2018
💥In Her Boots, @kathrin_steinbacher UK, 6 min, 2019
💥Takie cuda się zdarzają / Such Miracles Do Happen, @barbara_rupik Poland, 14 min, 2023
💥Waldeinsamkeit, Silvana Roth, UK, 4, 2023
💥Via Dolorosa, @r.gutgarts @miyudistribution France, 11 min, 2023
💥Our Bed is Green, @maggiemaybrennan USA, 7 min, 2021
💥Utopia Portals, Jessica Ashman, UK, 4 min, 2022
💥Cwch Deilin / Leaf Boat, Efa Blosse-Mason, UK, 8, 2020
💥La Mujer Ilustrada / The Illustrated Woman, Isabel Herguera, @sultana.films Spain, 8 min, 2023
💥Maybe Elephants, Torrill Kove, @onf_nfb Norway/Canada, 17 min, 2024

Content warning: Flashing imagery, strong language, nudity, ableism, mental illness, drug use, racism, misogyny

#liaf2024 #artistsanimation #womeninanimation #wanderlust #independentanimation

If you’re at EIFF @edfilmfest this week, on Saturday 17 August, 7pm, catch the animated shorts programme at Inspace, as selected by yours truly.

Encounter exceptional, animated shorts that ponder the absurdity of life. Fragile bodies and fragile emotions are presented here with wit and wonder. Films that speak of heartache and delight, trauma and healing, and death and rebirth. They have been crafted with an assortment of techniques, including paint on glass, paper cut out, charcoal, and cels. Prepare to plunge into an enthralling medley of shorts.

·SILENT PANORAMA (Nicolas Piret, Belgium 5’) @nicolas_piret_
·TAKO TSUBO (Sorgo Fanny, Pedroza Eva, Austria/Germany 6’) @fieldcommander_sorgo @eva__pedroza
·ON HOLD (Delia Hess, Switzerland 7’) @delia__hess
·BUNNYHOOD (Mansi Maheshwari, UK 9’) @manc_m
·THE BLEACHER (Adam Wilder, Nicole Daddona, US 9’)
·LIMINAL ROOTS (Aliyah Harfoot, UK 4’) @aliyahharfoot
·PLUNGE (Ellie Land, UK 8’) @land.ellie
·THREE BIRDS (Zarja Menart, Slovenia 8’) @zarja_menart
·FAIRGROUND FEVER (Linda Hughes, Scotland 6’)
·BUG DINER (Phoebe Jane Hart, US 7’) @phoebe.jane.hart
·EXTREMELY SHORT (Koji Yamamura, Japan 5’) @yamamura_koji_

CW: ableism, fatphobia, eating disorders, mental illness, suicide, self-harm, blood, death/dying, surgery, smoking, sexual content, strong language.

So delighted to share the trailer for Maryam Mohajer’s #BFIBacked short ‘And Granny Would Dance’. Maryam and I began developing this back in 2018 and now we can finally share this touching animation, made with a stellar cast & crew.

The film will have its world premiere at Palm Springs International ShortFest @psfilmfest one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America. Catch the film in ‘The History of Us’ programme on Friday 21 June at 3pm. Writer-Director Maryam Mohajer @maryam_mohajervapesaran will be in attendance.

The film also has the honour of being nominated for both the Best Animated Short Award and the Bridging the Borders Award, which will be awarded by Cinema Without Borders to the film they feel is most successful in connecting the people of our world closer together.

In celebration of this excellent news, we are now launching the trailer online. Link in bio.

‘And Granny Would Dance’ is a film by Maryam Mohajer, produced by Animate Projects @animateprojectsuk, with the support of the BFI @britishfilminstitute, awarding funds from the National Lottery.

#andgrannywoulddance #AGWDfilm #BFIBacked #NationalLottery #AnimateProjects #MaryamMohajer #artistsanimation #womeninanimation #experimentalanimation #britishanimation #shortfilm #femaledirector #womeninfilm #palmspringsshortfest #shortfest2024 #palmsprings

Pleased to be able to share this amazing, uplifting, AV project I worked on with @jessica_a_ashman

Repost @animateprojectsuk - Jessica Ashman’s ‘Dawta’ is now available to watch online. Join Dawta as she takes you on an interdimensional, time travelling journey to imagine better futures for the Black diaspora.

The live performance of ‘Dawta’ by @jessica_a_ashman and @bimpealliu had its premiere at the Flatpack Festival Autumn Edition on 25 September 2021 and was presented at Cafe OTO in London in February 2022. The single-screen work has screened at Cardiff Animation Festival, British Shorts, London International Animation Festival, Tricky Women, Aesthetica Short Film Festival, and Encounters Festival, amongst others.

Dawta is an audio-visual work by Jessica Ashman, produced by Animate Projects, and supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Watch the premiere of ‘Dawta’ and the audio visual performance on @vimeo now via the link in my bio.

#DawtaFilm #JessicaAshman #BimpeAlliu #artistsanimation #womeninanimation #experimentalanimation #britishanimation #shortfilm #femaledirector #womeninfilm #blackness #OctaviaButler

📯📯📯 At long last ‘The Debutante’ has arrived. Behold her debut on @vimeo now as a #VimeoStaffPick Premiere. Tip-top!

Find the link in the bio 👀 🎥

Crafted by the incredible @hobbslizzy thanks to the support of #bfibacked #nationallottery

#vimeostaffpick #vimeostaffpickpremiere #vimeo #TheDebutanteFilm #TheDebutante #ElizabethHobbs #LeonoraCarrington #surrealism #painting #collage #artistsanimation #womeninanimation #experimentalanimation #AnimateProjects #britishanimation #shortfilm #femaledirector #womeninfilm #debutantes #Britishsociety #HutchDemouilpied