What is Womanimation!? As the name implies, it's a festival showcasing acclaimed animated film stories created by women from around the world.
From satire to drama, from the everyday to the surreal - in styles from traditional 2-d to stop-motion to computer animation - the festival showcases wide-ranging visual styles.
The inaugural festival was held in conjunction with the second international SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now), an event designed to highlight the contributions of women artists for Women’s History Month in March.
Since then, it has played around New England in late spring or early summer, and is one of the premiere showcases of women's animated shorts in North America.
Womanimation! News
Womanimation! is scheduled to return to MassArt in April 2026.
This will be the main festival itself, not an Encore presentation.
More details will be posted in early 2026, at which time we will accept start accepting submissions. Please do not submit films before then.
Touch here to find out more on previous versions of the festival.
MassArt Encore Edition
A special 2025 MassArt Encore Edition of the festival took place at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design on Saturday April 5th.
DJ Madame B wove soundscapes from women around the world before and after the special screening, and audience voted for their favorite three films to determine the winner.
Co-sponsored by the MassArt Animation Department, this educational screening was free and open to the public.
Audience Voting
The screening was enthusiastically received by an audience of both MassArt community and broader Boston animation aficionados.
The winner was Becarias (Interns) , directed by Marina Donderis, Núria Poveda, Marina Cortón, from Spain. The film also won the audience award in the original festival screening in Hamden, CT.
Runners-up were Nuits blanches (Sleepless Nights) from French animator Janis Aussel, and Chicken
from Berlin-based Anna Benner.
Thanks to Steve, Alice, Dylan, and everyone at MassArt for making the event a success!
Festival Films
The festival screened fourteen films from twelve countries on four continents, with styles from stop-motion to 3D to traditional 2D and computer/2D hybrids.
With running times between two and twelve minutes, the films combine well-developed narratives with visual experimentation, exploring themes including gender roles, culture clashes, family bonds, and the fragility of life.
Touch here for a list of the films.
Festival Herstory
The inaugural festival was held in conjunction with the second international SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now), an event designed to highlight the contributions of women artists for Women’s History Month in March.
Since then, it has played around New England in late spring or early summer, and is one of the premiere showcases of women's animated shorts in North America.
To find out more about previous editions of the festival, click here.