The Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) has seen a record number of animations apply for the festival to compete in the competition category this year. A total of 1,204 animations from 53 nations were submitted to the SICAF, a 41 percent increase from last year's 848.
The SICAF organizing committee said Wednesday that they received 12 entries in the feature animation category from 13 nations, 322 in the professional short animation category from 42 nations, 659 student short animations from 32 nations, 84 TV animations from 21 nations, 72 commissioned animations from 22 nations and 53 internet animations from 14 nations.
It seems evident that the festival is drawing significant interest from all over the world, especially from Europe and North America, with 130 entries from France, 79 from Britain, 80 from Canada and 65 from the U.S. Entries from Korea also almost doubled from 157 last year to 290 this year, with six of them produced jointly with foreigners.
The preliminary selection of the entries for the festival, which continued to arrive until Feb. 20, has been underway since March 6. The jury includes ASIFA India president Bill Dennis and TongcomAnimation president Cho Chan-se for the features, TV, and commissioned film sections, Prof. Kim Il-tae of Chosun University and film critic Mo Eun-young for the professional short film section, and director Kim Hong-jung, Japanese director Kiyoshi Nishimoto, and DreamFunny president Seo Sang-il.
The results of the preliminary selection will be announced on March 20 on the festival's website ( Open the link ), and selected animations will be shown at the CGV cinema complex in Yongsan, Seoul from May 24 through 28.
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