Animation Block Party Comes to BAM This Weekend

Summer is the time for block parties throughout Brooklyn, but the most animated one of them all is coming to Fort Greene this weekend.

BAMcinematek will be host for the final two days of the , an event dedicated to showing all genres of the world’s best independent, professional and student animation.

“We wanted to do something different from other festivals, so opening night has always been outdoors for us [at Automotive High School in Williamsburg], but BAM has really become our staple venue,” said founder Casey Safron.

The first ABP took place in September 2004 at now-shuttered Bushwick coffee shop The Archive. What was supposed to be a small showing amongst friends and art acquaintances quickly became one of the most talked about festivals in the city.

“New York Magazine found out about us and it took off from there,” Safron said. “Once they published their write-up, we had about 300 people attend.”

Since then, the event has morphed into an international affair. In addition to partnering with BAM and Rooftop Films, the festival has since opened itself up to submissions from across the globe. 

Several new events have also added to the festival. ABP’s first ever animation trade show and art gallery exhibition will take place on Saturday from noon to 8 p.m., and special screenings of animation for kids will be held at noon on Saturday and Sunday. There are also additional perks for movie ticket buyers throughout the weekend, including access to an after party each night with free beer. 

It’s perhaps no surprise that attendance is expected to multiply tenfold this year from the original ABP, with 3,000 people anticipated to show up, an increase of 500 from the previous year.

Safron said the biggest challenge with putting on the event is narrowing down the entries for selection. The 654 entries for submission, which included films from almost every art and film school in the U.S. and international entries from countries including Brazil and the United Kingdom, were ultimately whittled down to 97.

“I ended up watching every single one of them since they’re generally in the four minute range,” Safron said. “Once you get down the final 125 or so, you’re looking at things like running time and the region the film is from because they’re all good.”

Winning films at ABP are selected a panel of four jury members who make the picks on the festival’s 10 categories, including best in show, best student film and best experimental film. The winner for the student film category also gets a production grant to create a public service announcement for ABP, which will open the festival next year.

Safron said that many of the animators shown at ABP have gone on to great heights in their field. Perhaps most noticeably, Ben Meinhardt had an animated show on MTV in 2008 called PerfectLand, an adaptation of the film he showed at ABP, "Binge and Purge."

“It’s a leaping off point for a lot of the animators,” said Safron. “We’ve had people go on to work with all of the big networks or get commissioned to do commercials.”

A full schedule of events for the weekend can be found on the ABP's website.