Recently I received a press release with interesting news about an animation festival that will take place for the first time in Puerto Rico next weekend. Here are the details: The Karibukai Animation Festival will take place from May 27th to the 30th at the Puerto Rico National Filmotheque in the north wing of the Cuartel Ballajá, near the San Felipe del Morro Castle in Old San Juan. Karibukai will feature full-length animated films along with a contest for local animated shorts. According to their website, Karibukai is the Japanese word for Caribbean.
Some guests attending:
- Carlos Goméz Nicolás (Nikodemo)- creator of the animated series from Spain Cálico Electrónico
- Panel discussing the challenges of local animators with:
- José Luis Collazo (Wewex)- Boricuas Beyond series
- Reynaldo León- Guabamán series
- Tommy González- Manny el Manatí series
International productions that will be shown include:
- Japan: Vexille, Evangelion 1.01, Robotech: Shadow Chronicles
- United States: Halo: Legends; Justice League: Crisis on 2 Earths; Tales from the Black Freighter; documentaries Comic Book Literacy and Dig Comics
- Israel: Waltz with Bashir
Karibukai is organized by Paquines, a nonprofit organization bringing animation, comics, and film fans together in Puerto Rico. Check out the Karibukai official website for more details, film listings, and contest info. I’m looking forward to checking the festival out so if you can’t be in beautiful Old San Juan next weekend, I’ll let you know what went down.
