2019 Festival Overview

There are two ways to enjoy NWAF’s Farewell Show. Buy an individual ticket and experience it as a stand-alone event… Or purchase a GLAS Animation pass, which encompasses BOTH the grand finale AND a full weekend of world-class animation screenings. Tickets on sale here:

NW Animation Fest will present its final show on May 24, 2019. Celebrate the end of an era at this spectacular one-night-only farewell screening!

Some of what you’ll see: Cosmonaut buddies compete for a chance to rocket into space, overcoming impossible odds to reach their childhood dream. An anxious vacationer wonders if she left the stove on, then imagines increasingly hilarious horrors transpiring back home. Within a mystical forest, two strange and star-crossed children meet for the first time — a girl of summer, a boy of winter. A sci fi secret agent must defeat a band of monsters who have been abducting goldfish to power their ultimate weapon. An artist desperately races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life. A housebound dog is eager to embark upon adventure — just as soon as he get can get past one obstacle: the front door.  (view full program)

Since our first event in 2011, NWAF has hosted 150 screenings — which showcased 1142 juried film selections. The festival has been an immersive animation holiday that superfans looked forward to year-round. It has been a family reunion that brought enthusiasts, creators, and industry all together in one place. We’ve watched young people grow up, spark with inspiration, and leave for college to become animators themselves. The festival has been an enormous labor of love… And it’s time to say goodbye.

But! The world of independent animation continues! On the weekend of May 25-26, NWAF and the Hollywood Theatre are pleased to introduce Portland audiences to GLAS Animation from Berkeley. Brainchild of director Jeanette Bonds, GLAS has quickly become the USA’s new premiere animation event.

For this special one-weekend event, the Bay Area’s GLAS Animation brings their world-class programming to Portland, with a curated selection of shorts drawn from their 2019 festival. Come see some of the most exciting animated shorts being made from around the world!

Pick and choose which topic interests you most out of six astonishing screening options — or revel in the total animation feast by purchasing a weekend pass. The three-day pass allows for entry to all of the GLAS Animation programs on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 & 26, as well as the NW Animation Fest Farewell Show on Friday, May 24.

NWAF hand-picked GLAS Animation to take up the mantle of presenting world-class animation at the Hollywood Theatre, so don’t miss this epic changing of the guards!