With the support of the civic non-profit AddArt, a team of artists, illustrators, animators and graphic novelists, joined forces and in 2015 managed to create the 2nd largest animation film festival in Greece. The Thessaloniki Animation Festival (TAF) accepted over 1.400 applications for the contest, showing how much interest there was for a platform of this kind.
The TAF keeps expanding the size of its shows, labs, guests, kai partnerships, with the goal of supporting the creative presence of animation in Thessaloniki, as well as the rest of Greece. On the 5th of August, the TAF will be presenting short-films from 3 categories at the Santorini Arts Factory: Animation Short Film, Animation Student Film, Animation Film about Human Rights.
Free Entry
21:00-22:00 for the whole family
22:30-23:30 for adults
Dimitris Savvaidis:
Born on the 1st of January 1976 in Thessaloniki, he discovered from an early age that comics and animation were his favorite medium for narrating the stories he enjoyed writing so much. Particularly because they don’t restrict the imagination of the creator. His short-stories have been published in many Greek newspapers and magazines (BABEL, PARAPENTE, 9, GALERA, TA NEA, SPORT DAY KIDS, etc.), he has worked with foreign artists (Victor Cohen, Dorit Chrysler, Chuck Sperry, Alexander Zograf, Matt Brooker), while he has also published 2 comic albums so far.
He has participated in tens of group exhibitions and festivals for comics, animation, visual arts, both in Greece and abroad (Provlita 2006, Kare Kare, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Animart, AnimaFest, Busho Fest, Grrr Fest, etc.), while he also organizes and coordinates cultural events in Thessaloniki and elsewhere. These include the Thessaloniki Animation Festival, MystiCon (Thessaloniki Mystery Festival), and others. He has created 5 short animated films (which have participated in films in Greece and abroad), as well as documentaries and video scenery for theatrical plays in Thessaloniki.
Since 2003 he has been teaching Screenplay for comics and animation, while he has received 2 awards and 5 nominations from the Greek Comic Awards, and their predecessor ComicDom Awards. In 2014 he created AddArt, a beacon of culture and art.