Animation is Film 2025 Lineup is here!

My favorite film festival, LA's Animation is Film, announced their lineup for 2025 today. It is expectedly great, and has a good mix of US Premieres, West Coast Premieres, and LA Premieres. We've got big studio movies represented, and lots of smaller, international fare, which is the bread-and-butter of the fest.

This year, far more than any other year, I'm actually a bit ahead of the game. This is definitely because I have been blogging all this year, so I've been keeping up more as we've gone along. In the lineup below, I've linked to the movies I've already reviewed. (My review for Lesbian Space Princess, which I loved, will be up closer to the film's theatrical release in late October.)

For me, the most exciting title is Nobody, a hand-drawn Chinese movie that has been making bank in China, and looks so cool. Definitely the one I'm most excited to see (and it was my biggest wish for the fest)!

Check out the full lineup below, and pop over to Animation is Film's site to buy tickets. The fest runs October 17 - 19 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Competition Section
“All You Need Is Kill” (dir. Ken’ichiro Akimoto / Japan / West Coast Premiere)
“Arco” (dir. Ugo Bienvenu / France-United States / Los Angeles Premiere)
“Chao” (dir. Yasuhiro Aoki / Japan / USA Premiere)
“Decorado” (dir. Alberto Vázquez / Spain / West Coast Premiere)
“I Am Frankelda” (dirs. Arturo & Roy Ambriz / Mexico / USA Premiere)
“Lesbian Space Princess” (dirs. Emma Hough Hobbs & Leela Varghese / Australia / Los Angeles Premiere)
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” (dirs. Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han / Belgium-France / USA Premiere)
“Nobody”  (dir. Shui Yu / China / US Premiere)
“Scarlet” (dir. Mamoru Hosoda / Japan / West Coast Premiere)
“A Story About Fire” (dir. Wenyu Li / China / West Coast Premiere)

Special Screenings and Studio Events 
“Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” (dir. Tatsuya Yoshihara / Japan / West Coast Premiere)
Special 13th Anniversary Screening: “Paranorman” paired with short film “Paranorman: The Thrifting”
Filmmaker Panel: “Kpop Demon Hunters”
Work-in-Progress Panel: “Zootopia 2”
Work-in-Progress Panel: “Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl”
Pre-Festival Preview: “The Twits” (dir. Phil Johnston / USA)

Shorts Presentations
“Éiru” (Ireland / Giovanna Ferrari)
“Forevergreen” (USA / Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears)
“Cardboard” (United Kingdom / J.P. Vine)
“Versa” (USA / Malcoln Pierce)
“Snow Bear” (USA / Aaron Blaise)
“Autokar” (Poland, Belgium / Sylwia Szkiłądź)
“Como Si La Tierra Se Las Hubiera Tragado” (Mexico, France / Natalia Leon)
“Gigi” (France / Cynthia Calvi)
“Playing God” (Italy, France / Matteo Burani)
“Retirement Plan” (Ireland / John Kelly)
“Shadows” (France, Jordan / Rand Beiruty)
“Afterglow” (Hungary / Sophia Belleli, Lazarine Biaud, Joyanne Marquetant, Sarah Remane, Yann Tournois)
“Hairy Legs” (Canada / Andrea Dorfman)
“Ovary Acting” (Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom / Ida Melum)
“Safo” (Brazil / Rosana Urbes)“Vinnie” (France / Vinnie Ann Bose)
“Zwerman ❊ Murmuration” (Belgium, The Netherlands / Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger)