Animate Projects

Here’s an excerpt from ‘a ROLE to PLAY’ by Esther Johnson @blanche_pictures , a film from the ‘WORK’ series which we are resharing to celebrate the launch of @work.records2026 . While ‘WORK Records’ follows historic working lives across the Midlands, the WORK project focused on contemporary working lives. ‘a ROLE to PLAY’ brought together the lived experiences and dreams of Bolsover residents, one of the most deprived towns in the middle of England. Working with Bolsover Freedom Community Project food bank users, volunteers, adult reading group members, and former Bolsover MP (1970-2019) Dennis Skinner, the film tells stories of the impact of economic changes in post-industrial Bolsover, a Derbyshire constituency where coal was once king. If you want to see more films on community, culture, and working life across the British midlands, you can follow along @work.records2026 for updates on the new project, and click the link in our bio to watch ‘a ROLE to PLAY’ and the rest of the ‘WORK’ films. ‘a ROLE to PLAY’ by Esther Johnson was commissioned by Animate and @vividprojects along with films by Adam Lewis Jacob, Jenny Holt, and Dryden Goodwin, in partnership with @junctionarts , @fermynwoods , and @derbyquad @quad_gallery #WORKproject was supported by @jerwoodarts @jerwood_foundation and using public funding by Arts Council England @acegrams Tags: #ACEmidlands #ACEsupported #NationalLottery #HeritageFund @adam_lewis_jacob @jenny_g_holt @drydengoodwin

To celebrate the launch of @work.records2026 we are taking another look at WORK; four films exploring contemporary working lives across the Midlands, which premiered online on 1 May 2020. This is an excerpt from ‘The Great Bear’ by Jenny Holt @jenny_g_holt , which explores narratives of labour and landscape in the English Midlands. Intensified by its focus on the young, activities and subjectivities of work entwine with patterns of seasonal change, the landscape both source and product of working life. “What really interested me about Northamptonshire was the interface between the rootedness of agriculture and the rural landscape, and a hugely important logistics industry. It’s instantly visual.” - Jenny Holt WORK Records is the follow on from WORK; a creative heritage project animating untold stories from three historic family firms across the East Midlands. Follow @work.records2026 for updates on the new project, and click the link in our bio to watch ‘The Great Bear’ and find out more about the WORK project. ‘The Great Bear’ by Jenny Holt was commissioned by Animate and @vividprojects along with films by Adam Lewis Jacob, Esther Johnson and Dryden Goodwin, in partnership with @junctionarts , @fermynwoods , and @derbyquad @quad_gallery #WORKproject was supported by @jerwoodarts @jerwood_foundation and using public funding by Arts Council England @acegrams Tags: #ACEmidlands #ACEsupported #NationalLottery #HeritageFund @adam_lewis_jacob @blanche_pictures @drydengoodwin

Thank you @folkestonefilmfest for awarding ‘Making It Fit’ as the Winner for Best Animated Film!! It was an absolute pleasure attending the festival and an honour screening the film amongst such impressive films! Big thank you as always to the production team at @animateprojectsuk , @nemiraet for the sound design and music and above all to all the participants that shared their stories with me to help make it! ‘Making It Fit’ is an Animate Projects commission supported using public funding by Arts Council England. #MortalAnimation #animateprojects #LetsCreate #acesupported #mortalproject deathpositive

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS: We are pleased to announce our collaboration with the Open Data Institute (ODI), a non-profit company that aims to build a world where data works for everyone, on ‘Transparent’, a development programme for early career animation artists. ‘Transparent’ will be an exciting opportunity for artists to engage with the research and activities of the ODI, and to converse with its experts on their work on what transparency means in relation to our data. We are inviting artists to submit expressions of interest via Curatorspace. Three artists will be chosen and then supported to create short, animated films that will be shared at a public event, online and on social media in 2027. You can read more about this project and how to apply through the Curatorspace link in our bio. The deadline for submissions is 10 June at midday. We will be holding a zoom webinar all about the project on 15 May at 11am, where we will set out the brief for this project as well as answering any questions from attendees. The webinar sign up link is in our bio. Image: ‘Constant Washing Machine’ by Blast Theory, launch event. Photo: Melanie Pollard. Constant Washing Machine is commissioned by Data as Culture at the ODI as part of the University of Sheffield FRAIM project, funded as part of the Bridging Responsible AI Divides programme under UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council. #OpenDataInstitute #AnimateProjects #Transparent #FilmMakersWanted #ArtistOpportunities @hannah_redlerhawes

Today is International Workers’ Day, and to celebrate we would like to announce the launch of our WORK Records instagram account @work.records2026 which will be posting updates about the project from now onwards. WORK Records is a creative heritage project exploring historic working lives across the East Midlands. The project will animate the untold stories of three family firms- bringing heritage to life in an accessible and engaging way. To highlight this project, during May we’re taking another look at WORK; four films exploring contemporary working lives across the Midlands, which premiered online on 1 May 2020. This video is an excerpt from ‘People Meeting in a Room’ by Adam Lewis Jacob, which reflects on collective filmmaking and workers’ activism. The film connects the histories of activists and filmmakers associated with the Birmingham Trade Union Resource Centre in the 1980s with a group of contemporary collaborators. The contributors interpret archival films and collective actions through animation, performance and conversation. ‘People Meeting in a Room’ by Adam Lewis Jacob was commissioned by Animate and @vividprojects along with films by Jenny Holt, Esther Johnson and Dryden Goodwin, in partnership with @junctionarts , @fermynwoods , and @derbyquad @quad_gallery Follow @work.records2026 for updates on the new project, and click the link in our bio to watch People Meeting in a Room and find out more about the WORK project. #WORKproject was supported by @jerwoodarts @jerwood_foundation and using public funding by Arts Council England @acegrams Tags: #ACEmidlands #ACEsupported #NationalLottery #HeritageFund @adam_lewis_jacob @blanche_pictures @jenny_g_holt @drydengoodwin

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

We’re very sad to hear that Alistair Gentry has died. Alistair made Hypnomart, in collaboration with Joe Magee, for AnimateTV in 2001 as commissioned by Arts Council England and Channel 4. It’s a colour saturated dystopian dance of surveillance that feels as fresh and disturbing as the day it was made. The description for the film is as follows: “It’s a digital day out and the mall just got madder. Repeat to fade and trance away the heartache in a mirror world of mass production. I’m not a human being, I’m a number. Whitewashed? Absolutely. (Colour) saturated? Sure. See you tomorrow.” You can view Hypnomart and find out more about this incredible, provocative, passionate, and political artist via the link in our bio. Hypnomart, collaboration with Joe Magee, Channel 4 Television and Arts Council England (Animate!), 2001. #alistairgentry #alistairgentryartist #hypnomart

Today is Earth Day, a day to bring awareness to the climate crisis and stand in solidarity to protect the natural world. To commemorate this, we are sharing a clip from the 2008 short film ‘Early Birds’ by Suky Best @sukybest . Made with rotoscoped animation of wildlife footage, it features interviews with people talking about their memories and experience of the dawn chorus. One in every five bird species in Europe is threatened by extinction, and since 1980 one in every six birds in the UK has been lost. ‘Early Birds’ reflects on what this decline means for our experience of bird song and changes in the dawn chorus. You can watch the full video on Vimeo, link in bio. ‘Early Birds’ was commissioned by Animate Projects and funded by Arts Council England and Channel 4. #EarthDay #EarthDay2026 #AnimateProjects #Animation #AnimatedShort @acegrams

Drawn from Life screening at Kollective Folkestone @kollectivfolkestone featuring a Q&A with Marcus Armitage @marcusanimation and Jessica Ashman @Jessica_a_ashman Thursday 14 May, 6:30 doors for 7pm screening. This programme of short films celebrates the intimate and the epic - reflecting the lives of the people around us. Thought provoking and inspiring, using a variety of animation styles, the works shine a light on the creativity of filmmaking in the UK today. Some of the Animate Projects films screening include ‘Visible Mending’ by Samantha Moore @sammooreanimate , ‘On Hannah Fields’ by Lewis Heriz @lewisheriz and ‘Green Lung’ by Simon Hamlyn @simon.hamlyn from the ‘Planting’ project, as well as ‘Cesspit of Freedom’ directed by our Trainee Production Coordinator Oran O’Sullivan @oranroseo . Other upcoming screenings include: Warwick Arts Centre: 25 & 26 April @warwickarts King Street Cinema, Ipswich: 6 May @kingstreetcinema Kollectiv, Folkestone: 14 May @kollectivfolkestone You can find out more about ‘Drawn From Life’ and book tickets for the upcoming screenings through the link in our bio. This special compilation of short, animated documentary and semi-autobiographical works is presented by MediaActive Projects @mediaactiveprojects in partnership with Animate Projects and Film Hub Midlands. @filmhubmidlands PLEASE NOTE: a number of the works deal with challenging moments in life. These experiences are represented with care and consideration towards the contributors and audiences. We consider this programme is suitable for those aged 15 years and over.

Have you watched Tad’s Nest’ by Petra Freeman? A tad’s nest, tad being another word for an eel, is a place further inland where young eels grow up before returning to the sea as adults using only memories of sensations to guide them. The film takes on synaesthetic qualities, examining the way memories are held as sensations as well as the compulsion to return, replay, and revisit. ‘Tad’s Nest’ was animated using a paint-on-glass technique - a traditional method of animation that requires all frames to be painted freehand. Oil paint is added to a glass frame with a lightbox beneath it and photographed as it is pushed around the glass for each image. This technique lends to the film’s flowing qualities as each frame merges into the next. Released in 2009, Tad’s Nest was commissioned by Animate Projects and funded by Arts Council England and Channel 4. Watch the full film and read more about Petra Freeman via the links in our bio. #ExperimentalAnimation #ArtistsAnimation #Channel4 #AnimateProjects #WomenInAnimation @acegrams

I’m excited to share that my new film ‘Daughters of the Late Colonel’ will have it’s world premiere at Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Cannes, France (13 – 23 May, 2026) Here’s a brand new trailer to celebrate edited by the brilliant Mark Jenkins. The film was produced by Animate Projects, Fabian&Fred, and Phil Davies Films. Writer, Director, Animator: @hobbslizzy Josephine (Jug): @mslouisebrealey Constanzia (Con): @ltrodd Colonel Pinner & Parson Farolles: Simon Kunz @simonkunz1 Producer: @animateprojectsuk @abbabaddison Producer: @fabianfred @fabiandriehorst Producer: Phil Davies Editor: Mark Jenkins @kolektocreative Composer: Hutch Demouilpied Voice Record: @Fonicpost Audio Post Production: @Zeigermann_Audio @_simonbastian_ Distributor: @squareeyesfilm_ #daughtersofthelatecolonel #lizzyhobbs #paintedanimation #artistsanimation

Calling all short film fans! 🚨 Don't miss this incredible compilation, Drawn From Life, to experience beautiful animation and thought provoking storytelling showcasing the creativity of filmmaking the UK today. This special compilation of short animated documentary, and semi-autobiographical works, is presented by @mediaactiveprojects in partnership with @animateprojectsuk and @filmhubmidlands . Special thanks go to our in our community curators, and to Dr Sally Pearce and the BFI's Animation Curator Jez Stewart, who offered additional advice on the selection. Check out the link in bio to see the list of films included and how to get tickets 🎟️