Colombia. Four animation studios from Bogotá (Caballo Loco Estudios, Dinamita Animación, Piragna and Cánido Estudios) participated in Pixelatl as part of the internationalization strategy of Gente Convergente bet of the Mayor's Office of Bogotá through the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation and Sports of Bogotá, in alliance with Proimágenes Colombia.
In a space for conversation with Mario Suárez, Director of Economics, Studies and Policy of the SCRD, this program was presented, which seeks to position the city as a hub for digital creation in Latin America. The panel made it possible to make visible the transformation of Bogotá and open a dialogue on how animation, video games and virtual reality are consolidated as engines of cultural and creative growth, highlighting the work of the district in strengthening these commitments.
Eleven animation and video game companies were also part of the delegation, arriving in Guadalajara with the support of ProColombia and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) through the ColombiaTECH initiative. The Colombians participated in various spaces of the festival: Luisa Fernanda Velásquez and Felipe Rodríguez, from Caballo Loco Studio, gave the workshop Development and production of animated short films; Rodríguez also led, together with Sebastián García, an analogous workshop on character creation.
Velásquez was also part of Pixelatl Exempla Notabilia, a sample of the best pitches from the Shortway and Ideatoon calls. The illustrator Carolina R. Fuenmayor was in charge of the talk From illustration to the publishing market and the practical activity The ABC of an editorial illustration portfolio.
For his part, Julián Sánchez from Dinamita Animation, participated in the panel When animation becomes resistance and accompanied the feature film Mu-ki-ra that was presented in WIP format together with its director, Estefanía Piñeres, who also participated in a discussion with Julián Sánchez and Karla Velásquez about the challenges and possibilities of co-producing an animated film.
"Pixelatl is always an amazing, fun and inspiring experience. The audience is generous, sensitive and open to different narratives, which makes it very special to show a work in progress like Mu-ki-ra there. The room was almost full and those who accompanied us were deeply generous with a process that requires a great exercise of imagination. We also gave a masterclass on how to make a beautiful film in Latin America, highlighting how collective and collaborative animation cinema is, and the audience was deeply receptive. I believe that the young audience of this festival, with the passion and questions it brings, will be a fundamental part of cinema in the future; listening to them gives me back my faith in humanity," said Estefanía Piñeres, Director and screenwriter of Mu-ki-ra.
Finally, the meeting of the Colombian delegation in a space promoted by Comfama, which contributed to the strengthening of alliances for animation, was highlighted, with the participation of María Cecilia Cardona, director of ELPAUER and the Animation Festival of El Retiro, Antioquia.
