The International Animated Film Association ASIFA, (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) announced the election of its new executive board for the next three years. The new elected president of the board is Deanna Morse, USA.
ASIFA, founded in France in 1960, chartered under UNESCO, is the world’s oldest and largest international animation association. With Norman McLaren as the first president, the founders envisioned a world of peace and dialogue to settle our differences, using the art of animation as a bridge between different cultures and ideologies.
The new executive board members are:
President- Deanna Morse, USA
Vice president- Anastasia Dimitra, Greece
Vice president- Mohamed Ghazala, Egypt
Vice president- Johnchill Lee, China
Vice president- Annegret Richter, Germany
Treasurer- Stefan Stratil, Austria
Secretary general- Thomas Renoldner, Austria
Here are some details of the newly elected members:
Deanna Morse, with MFA in art and technology, is an independent experimental animation artist, with films for Sesame Street, and pieces in permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and an emerita faculty member, Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA. A former ASIFA VP, she currently lives in Southern Oregon, USA.
Anastasia Dimitra, Ph.D in animation, is an animation professor and director, with many awards and international screenings. She has written books and papers concerning the art of animation, and has been a jury member on several international animation festivals. She is very active in ASIFA Hellas, and has served ASIFA International as the 60th Anniversary celebration coordinator and treasurer.
Mohamed Ghazala, with a Ph.D in animation, is currently the chair of Cinematic Arts school in Effat University, KSA. He is also an award-winning animation director. His main research interest is in documenting the animated practices in Africa. He has served ASIFA International as a vice president.
Johnchill Lee with a PhD. in Digital Media Communications, has a diverse background in animation, education, new technologies, and the industry of animation. He is the Beijing Digital Creativity Industry Association president, the ASIFA China secretary general, and a former ASIFA VP.
Annegret Richter, with a Ph.D in animated documentary, has a solid background in Communication and Media Studies. She was a festival director at the International Short Film Festival in Dresden, and International Leipzig Festival of Documentary and Animated Films. She has worked as a director in the Communication department for ASIFA.
Stefan Stratil is the current treasurer of ASIFA, and president of ASIFA Austria since 2004. A curator and lecturer, with an education in experimental design/animation, he has created comic strips and short commercials for TV and cinema.
Thomas Renoldner is an artist, curator, lecturer, ASIFA communication vice president for the last six years, he has served as a juror and presenter at many international film festivals and is a multiple award-winning filmmaker.
One of the major goals of the new board is to encourage more communication and connections between chapters internationally. ASIFA has several long-standing projects including the International Animation Day, (IAD, global celebration each October), the annual ASIFA Prize, (honouring a person central to the art of animation), ASIFA Magazine, ASIFA Workshop Group, (artist animators work with children around the globe each year to make a film around a common theme), and international communication tools, including their website.
But primarily, ASIFA International is an umbrella organisation that links the many vibrant chapters around the world who have their own activities, festivals, workshops, meetings, projects and support for animators in their own countries or regions. The main goal of ASIFA is to celebrate the art of animation, through various forms. As we do that, we promote cultural understanding through the art of animation, and, hopefully, make our world a smaller, more peaceful, place.