PROMOTION OF THE BOOK BY NANCY DENNEY-PHELPS
"ON THE ANIMATION TRAIL: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION FESTIVAL HISTORY"

WHERE: Academy of Fine Arts - Lecture Hall 1, plac Jana Matejki 13, 31-157 Kraków
WHEN: October 25, 2024 (Friday), 12 PM
GUEST: Nancy-Denney Phelps

"So you want to write a book"

This book charts the history of the last 20 years of animation festivals. From Annecy, the oldest animation festival in the world, to Beirut, or the founding of the festival in Peja, Kosovo, Nancy-Denney Phelps has recorded not just the films screened but also the people and what makes each festival unique.

What is it like to travel to China, Beirut, or Kosovo for an animation festival? Spend a week on a boat with 200 animators from around the world or be thrown off a train in Belarus. All of this and much, much more has happened to Nancy Denney-Phelps in her many years as an animation journalist.

Documenting over 20 years of travels, this book will appeal to all those with an interest in animation. If you are a young animator and want to know what festival life is like, this is the book for you. If you are a seasoned veteran and want to bring back some memories of festival past this book should bring some smiles to your face.

Nancy Denney-Phelps - she is a journalist living in Belgium who writes about European animation and festivals as well as a producer of music for animation.  Along with her composer/musician husband Nik Phelps, she co-founded the Sprocket Ensemble, dedicated to presenting live performances of original music with screenings of contemporary animation from around the world. Nancy’s writings have appeared in such publications as CARTOON and ANIMATOON as well as on her regular blog for AWN (Animation World Network).  She is also a regular correspondent for ASIFA/San Francisco and a member of the ASIFA International Board of Directors as well as an Ambassador At Large for the Emile Awards. Nancy has served on numerous International Animation Festival juries and taught time management for animators at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School of Art and Design. She is the pitching coach at ANIMARKT in Łódź, Poland as well as a member of their Brain Trust Advisory Board.  She also awards the annual Nancy Award at the Kaboom Animation Festival in Amsterdam and is a member of the ANIMASYROS Festival Team. Her strong interest in the history of animation has led her to present programs on the history of animation traced through music at many animation festivals and conferences worldwide. She also works as advisor to several animation festivals and in 2019 was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ANIMAKOM Animation Festival in Bilbao, Spain. In 2022 Nancy received the Giannalberto Bendazzi Award from the Paris International Animation Film Festival.

Her strong interest in the history of animation has led her to present programs on the history of animation traced through music at many animation festivals and conferences worldwide. In 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Animakom Festival. In 2022, she received the Giannalberto Bendazzi Award at the Paris International Animation Film Festival.