The Sharjah International Animation Conference concluded the activities of its first session, which was organized for the first time in the region over a period of three days, recording the attendance of more than 5,000 visitors from 15 Arab and foreign countries, for its main sessions, specialized courses, film screenings and concerts, and the participation of more than 1,500 trainees in workshops. Artistic and technical, organizing 150 meetings between publishers and producers.
Khawla Al-Mujaini, Executive Director of the conference, said: “The Sharjah Book Authority, which organized this event, the first of its kind in the region, is looking forward to paving the way for the future of Arab knowledge industries, and strengthening Sharjah’s leadership and ambitious vision to produce world-class Arab animation over the next few years. We seek to build the next generation.” Artists, illustrators and creative content makers in the Arab world.
She added, “The conference provided a platform for publishers, producers, and specialists in the book and animation industry from around the world to cooperate and conclude strategic partnerships to transform content written in Arabic into animated films and introduce the world to rich literary productions, while at the same time contributing to strengthening the scene of the animation industry at the global level.” By enriching it with meaningful content that expresses our authentic identity and culture.
While the technical director of the conference, Pietro Benetti, affirmed that «the Sharjah Book Authority plays a pivotal role in providing an incubating environment for the advancement of the animation industry in the Arab region, whose history includes many stories and many human talents, which makes it possess all the capabilities necessary to advance the animation industry. ».
The conference audience got acquainted with a summary of the rich experiences of elite animation figures, and listened to their life stories from childhood, their perseverance and determination to succeed, and benefited from their rich experiences spanning many decades, and the participants learned about the basics, methods and techniques of animation industry from the giants of this art from Japan and the Kingdom United States, Italy, Brazil, the United States and other countries of the world.