Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) is ready to turn the animation spotlight up a notch, with a programme packed with premieres, exclusive previews, studio showcases and creative conversations. From Laika’s stop-motion spectacle Wildwood to Brad Bird’s sci-fi adventure Ray Gunn, the festival is bringing animation’s big guns to the big screen from 8 to 12 November 2026.
The UK’s largest animation festival, which is both Oscar and Bafta-qualifying, will return to Home, an arts centre, theatre, and cinema complex located at First Street in Manchester, England, and venues across Manchester, bringing together animation enthusiasts, industry professionals and emerging talent for five days of animated action.
Laika will make its festival debut with a special screening of Wildwood, accompanied by an exclusive behind-the-scenes session exploring the craft behind the stop-motion feature. Directed by Travis Knight, the film marks the studio’s first feature since Missing Link.
Meanwhile, passholders will get an early glimpse of Brad Bird’s retro-futuristic sci-fi feature Ray Gunn, ahead of its December Netflix debut. DreamWorks Animation’s adventure comedy Forgotten Island will also receive a special out-of-competition preview, giving audiences another reason to keep their animation calendars firmly booked.
The programme will further feature the UK premiere of Lupus Films’ Mog’s Bad Thing, with the creative team unpacking the process of adapting Judith Kerr’s beloved picture book for the screen. Cartoon Saloon will bring its hand-drawn mermaid tale Julián, while French adult animated comedy Jim Queen adds another distinctive voice to the international line-up.
Adding a century-old touch of animation magic, MAF will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lotte Reiniger’s pioneering silhouette-animated feature The Adventures of Prince Achmed with a special screening.
The festival’s international feature competition will bring five titles into the spotlight: In Waves by Phuong Mai Nguyen, Blaise by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue, We Are Aliens by Kohei Kadowaki, Viva Carmen by Sébastien Laudenbach, and Brave Cat by Gabriel Osorio Vargas.
From coming-of-age storytelling and contemporary musicals to science fiction and action comedy, the selection promises a colourful cross-section of animation from across the globe.
This year’s country focus, Mexico in Motion, a special country-in-focus animation program and spotlight, presented in association with the British Council, will shine a light on Mexico’s animation ecosystem. Stop-motion animation studio El Taller del Chucho Mexican producer, cultural manager, head of studio Angélica Lares, will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the stop-motion studio known for its work on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, alongside insights from the directors and craftspeople shaping its productions.
Marking its 50th anniversary, Aardman co-founder Peter Lord will join director and animator Will Becher and creative director of IP development Nat McKay for a conversation looking towards the studio’s next half-century of clay-powered storytelling.
Industrial Light & Magic will return with a session exploring the future of video content, while BBC Studios Kids & Family will take audiences behind the scenes of Vanishing Point, its first animated episodic drama for Children’s BBC (CBBC) is a British free-to-air public television channel and brand owned by the BBC that makes shows for children aged 6 to 12.
The industry programme will also tackle the evolving relationship between animation and artificial intelligence, examining how creators can navigate technological change while keeping human creativity in the frame. Krygon Studios’ Bradley Harris leads a session on real-time filmmaking and animation supported by Epic Games, performance-driven facial animation technology for video games, film, and entertainment, supporting sessions on real-time filmmaking and animation.
Artist talks will feature Sweden-based filmmaker Ida Melum, known for Ovary Acting and Night of the Living Dread, and AJ Jeffries, following his MAFter Dark, a late-night, adult-oriented event and screening program featured at the MAF, win for the dark comedy Ducks. The festival will also bring back adult animation specialist Mark Taynton’s live drawing challenge, alongside immersive VR showcases and networking events.
MAF’s industry programme will see the return of the Animation Nation Forum (ANF), the UK’s leading industry summit and B2B conference for international animation leaders, studios, innovators, and freelancers, supported by Manchester City Council, a local government authority, with discussions addressing key developments and challenges across the animation sector.
The free-to-attend Bridgewater Hall, an international award-winning concert venue located in Manchester, England, marketplace will connect studios, recruiters and animation professionals, while the Young Animator of the Year Awards (Yay), the UK’s largest free-to-enter animation competition for young creatives aged 11 to 22, will spotlight emerging 2D, 3D and stop-motion talent. A special session with Aardman’s animations director and designer Gavin Strange will add another creative spark to the programme.
A dedicated family day will round out the festival experience with hands-on activities, interactive sessions and screenings for younger audiences and their families.
The festival will conclude on 12 November with its awards ceremony, hosted by writer, comedian and actor Molly McGuinness. Categories span British film, feature film, short film, student film, commissioned film, immersive work, children’s shorts and the Audience Award, alongside Industry Excellence Awards recognising writing, storyboarding, character design and character animation.
With handmade storytelling, global perspectives and industry conversations sharing the same stage, Manchester Animation Festival’s 2026 edition is shaping up to be five days of animated brilliance, proof that when creativity takes the wheel, the possibilities are anything but still.
