The International Animated Film Association (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) announced the election of its new executive board for the next three years. Popularly known as ASIFA, the association — founded in France in 1960 and chartered under UNESCO — is the world’s oldest and largest international animation association. The election among the 40-member organization’s international board was held recently. ASIFA represents more than 5,000 members in the field of animated films around the world.
The new executive board is broadly international. It includes Deanna Morse, president, US; Mohamed Ghazala, vice president, Egypt; Johnchill Lee, vice president, China; Anastasia Dimitra, vice president, Greece; Annegret Richter, vice president, Germany; Stefan Stratil, treasurer, Austria; and Thomas Renoldner, secretary-general, Austria. Morse, the new president of the association, is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in Hollywood.
For the second time in a row, Ghazala has been reelected vice president for a three-year term. He is professor of animation and chair of the School of Cinematic Arts at Effat University in Jeddah, the first school of its kind in the Kingdom to teach film production and animation.
Ghazala has won several awards for his films, including the prize for Best Animation at the African Movie Academy Awards in Nigeria 2010 for his film “Honyan’s Shoe.” Recently, his latest film “The Pyramid,” which premiered at the Red Sea International Film Festival, won the prize for the Best Animation at the 24th National Egyptian Film Festival. The prize was presented by Egypt’s Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem, in a ceremony at the Cairo Opera House last May.
With Norman McLaren as the first president, the association founders envisioned a world of peace and dialogue to settle differences, using the art of animation as a bridge between different cultures and ideologies.
The association was founded in 1960 in Annecy, France, as an association of individual animation artists, headed by McLaren, a Scottish-Canadian animator, director and producer; and Paul Grimoult, a French animator. Since its founding, the association has promoted the art of animation through a variety of activities including supporting festivals, organizing training and educational workshops, creating archives, presenting annual awards such as the Annie Award in Hollywood, and celebrating World Animation Day on Oct. 28 each year.
The association has more than 40 branches around the world. The Arab and African branch, ASIFA Egypt, was established in Alexandria in 2008 and has had a series of local and regional initiatives since its establishment.
