The Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI) is calling all budding and professional animators from across the country to participate and submit their animated works to Animahenasyon 2010: 4th Philippine Animation Festival, as it formally opens and accepts entries to this year’s festival. Entry forms may be downloaded from the ACPI web site at <http://www.animationcouncil.org>. The deadline for submission of entries is on September 15.

Animahenasyon 2010 is co-presented by Ateneo de Naga University and will be held in this premier 3D animation school from November 23 to 26 in Naga City, Philippines. Holding the animation festival in Naga is part of ACPI’s thrusts to strengthen the regional animation of the country, and is also part of the Council’s year long 10th anniversary celebration.

In an effort to build an audience, awareness and development of original contents, ACPI puts together its flagship project through an annual animation festival called Animahenasyon that showcases original animated works of both aspiring and professional animators in the country through a competition.

 The festival is composed of the professional and the student/amateur divisions that will have different running time categories: 1 to 5 minutes; 6 to 20 minutes, 21 to 60 minutes, and the full-animated feature (more than 60 minutes). There are also categories for music video, title sequence, public information, demo reel, and TV series. There will also be animated works in exhibition (full-length, special citation, and past Animahenasyon winners).

 Last year’s grand prize winner of Animahenasyon was Mutya (Muse) by Nelson “Blog” Caliguia, Jr. It is a touching tale of an unlikely friendship between the forest spirits or “anitos” and a one-of-a-kind girl who can see them. It also tackles the timely issue of environmental degradation and the dire consequences of industrialization to the environment. “Mutya” also won the best animated short (6-20 minutes) in the professional division and was awarded the Hero TV’s choice for best capturing the theme “finding the hero within.”

 Coming from a family of animators, Blog produced “Mutya” as a tribute for his late mother, Mina, who passed away in 2008. It is also largely based on the original story that his mom wrote. This is the second time that Blog won the grand prize in Animahenasyon. He first received this recognition in the very first Animahenasyon festival in 2007 for his entries “Inday Wanda,” and “Doodle of Doom” that he co-directed with Jason Confessor.

 Animahenasyon serves as a venue for Filipino animators to present their world-class ideas, and opens doors of opportunities for them to meet with and be inspired by the finest names in the industry. It also aims to create greater awareness of the Philippine animation industry and its contributions to the global entertainment business, while tapping locally produced content for promotion in animation markets here and abroad.

 ACPI's vision is to make Philippines as the prime provider of animation and content creation services to the global marketplace. On the other hand, ACPI's mission is to be the center of excellence for animation and content creation services through building more efficient and effective collaborative business practices that will elevate the country’s economy and culture.

 As an organized body, ACPI aims to promote the Filipino talent both locally and internationally. With the cooperation of its members as well as the Philippine government, it is envisioned that the member studios and schools will be considered competitive both creatively and technologically.

 ACPI is a non-stock and non-profit organization whose member companies specialize mainly in, but not limited to, 2D, Flash or 3D animation. It aims to promote the animation industry globally with the intention of creating an identity for the Philippines to be considered amongst the preferred countries that service the animation industry.

 For more information about Animahenasyon 2010, please call 483-9501, 8172727 local 108 or email the secretariat at animationcouncil@gmail.com, or visit www.animationcouncil.org.