Award for young filmmakers

The Leeds Young Film Festival is calling on young creative animators throughout the country to enter their work for the Young Animator of the Year Award.

Part of Animation Central, the festival’s hub for animation workshops and masterclasses for young people and their families, the award showcases and celebrates the talent, imagination and drive youngsters pour into animated short films.

Martin Grund, programme manager, Leeds Young Film, said: “Animation Central is a celebration of everything animation so we have some of the top animators from the UK from film and television.

“The big thing we want to celebrate is the fact that there are so many children and young people making animated films themselves. So the competition is open to young animators up to the age of 14 years old anywhere in the UK.

“We are finding because the technology now is so accessible, younger and younger children are becoming more media literate and able to create animations using smartphones and tablets with the apps that are available on them.”

Animated short films produced by young individuals and groups of friends can be entered in one of two categories: up to nine year-olds and 10 to 14 year-olds. The deadline to submit films for the competition, which is supported by Leeds Beckett University, is March 20.

The Young Animator of the Year Award is the latest addition to Leeds Young Film’s line-up of competitions, which also include the Golden Owl Awards and the INDIs. Leeds Young Film Festival will return from April 10 to 20.