Kecskemét Animation Film Festival


Kecskemét Animation Film Festival is an animated film festival held biennially during the month of June in Kecskemét, Hungary. Although the bulk of the festival is oriented toward efforts in Hungarian animation, the associated KAFF-sponsored Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials has opened the festival to international works as well. The festival was first held in 1985 and was opened to international works of animation in 1996.

History

The history of Hungarian animation has been tied to the city of Kecskemét since 1971 when the Budapest-based state-run monopoly, Pannónia Film Studio, was granted the right to form a subsidiary studio named Kecskeméti Animációs Filmstúdió. For the next two decades Hungarian animation would be produced exclusively in these two cities as well as at a smaller affiliated studio located in Pécs. When state funding evaporated in 1990 and the Pannónia animation monopoly came to an end, the former state-run animation studios found themselves in prime position to become independent commercial entities and in 1991 Kecskeméti Animációs Filmstúdió became Kecskemétfilm Kft under the leadership of Ferenc Mikulás.
The first Kecskemét Animation Film Festival was held in 1985 during the peak of Hungarian animation efforts. The festival was initially intended as a tri-annual event that would highlight the most notable works of Hungarian animators. Between 1985 and 2005 the event followed this timetable with the only exception being that the festival scheduled for 1991 suffered organization problems related to the fall of Communism in the country and the establishment of the Third Republic, and so the 1991 festival was rescheduled for 1993. From 2005 onward, however, the festival has occurred biennially. In addition, while the main KAFF event remains focused on the works of Hungarian animators, the festival expanded in 1996 to simultaneously coordinate an affiliated event, the Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials. The two festivals are part of the same event and are considered synonymous.

Jury members

Each festival has two kinds of juries. The preselection jury consists of 3 people who screen the possible submissions to come up with the initial quality lineup for the festival. The selection jury consists of a 3 to 5 person team who are charged with determining which of these films is to be awarded prizes. Since the 5th International Festival of Animated Feature Films and TV Specials in 2007, a separate set of jurymen have been used to select films and award prizes for the international portion of the event. Appointment of all jury members is done by KAFF staff and until 2005 both juries may have had a president/chairperson. This position was usually given to guests as a form of high honor. Since the 4th KAFF in 1996, the composition of the jury has been decidedly international with guests since then hailing from Russia, Japan, Canada, USA, South Korea, and over a dozen other countries from all over Europe.
Former jury presidents/chairpeople have included:
KAFF and Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials prizes are generally of 2 types—Special Awards and Category Awards. Top Prizes are also awarded as well as Memorial Awards and a variety of other miscellaneous prizes. For top prizes, recipients may also be entitled to monetary prizes. The number of prizes awarded has gradually risen from 11 prizes in 1985 to over 25 in the late 2000s. Commonly awarded prizes include:

KAFF Grand Prix (Hungarian)

1st Prize (International)

Kecskemét City Prize