Would you be interested in submitting your animated short to a festival that spans two continents, and will screen your work to a diverse international audience in two of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in the world?

I am an independent stop motion animator and PhD Film Studies student based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and I am currently organizing a new festival for animated short films (with an emphasis on stop motion). The films selected by the festival will screen in two cities: Edinburgh, Scotland and Luxor, Egypt.

With such high-profile events as the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Fringe, Edinburgh is already a major international cultural centre attracting audiences from around the world. The current plan is to synchronize the Edinburgh section of the festival with the end of the Fringe.

Home to such famous ancient monuments as Tomb of Tutankhamun Luxor, Egypt has long been recognized for its remarkable historical value and hosts millions of tourists from all over the world every year. Now however, with the successful African Film Festival organized by the local government and the newly launched Luxor Egyptian and European Film Festival, Luxor is emerging as a modern cultural landmark as well.

The goal of this festival is to stimulate an exchange of ideas and visions between emerging Egyptian and international filmmakers. This would be the only stop motion animation themed festival in Edinburgh and the first international animation festival in Egypt.

I am of course especially interested in stop motion films, and hope that such mythologically and historically rich screening locations as Edinburgh and Luxor may encourage submissions in the following directions:

Mythology

Folktales

Legends

Fantasy

Gothic

Silent Film

Expressionism

Symbolism

Ancient/Medieval Period Film

I am still in the early planning stages, but I am already in touch with the Filmhouse in Edinburgh and the new Governor of Luxor about my ideas for the festival. What I need now is to hear from you – the international animation community. I need to gauge how much interest I can raise and how many submissions I can encourage now and whether it will be possible for me to launch the festival as soon as next summer.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to get more information or has a film that they might like to submit!

You can email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or send me a message to my animateclay.com inbox.