Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival (SEAF) celebrates the world’s most boundary-pushing, mind-blowing animation. This annual festival is focused on supporting unique, experimental and diverse voices in the field of animation, with a lean toward off-the-wall humor and energy.
2019 programming included multiple Academy Award nominees and a Cesar Award winner; animated shorts paired with live musical performance, guest curators, animator retrospectives, student work, and more.
SEAF returns October 23-30, 2020.
We remain dedicated to the search for innovative storytelling and craft, and we are working to create meaningful connections across geographic and stylistic divides even -- and especially -- as we temporarily transition to an online screening platform for this year.
WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?
SEAF accepts primarily animated shorts (under 20 minutes). We look for contemporary animated work from across the globe which best highlights the expressive potential of the medium, and pushes limits of what animation means.
WHO ARE WE?
Sweaty Eyeballs began in 2012 as the brainchild of animator and Towson University professor Phil Davis as a way to bring unique voices in international and independent animation to Baltimore audiences. The festival was a single night invitational screening from 2012-2018 with a diverse array of animated narrative, documentary, music video, and experimental work pushing the boundaries of art, craft, and technology. In 2017 the programming of Sweaty Eyeballs expanded to include a monthly animation screening series in collaboration with the Maryland Film Festival and the SNF Parkway Theatre, and in 2019, our first full festival was held, with roaring success.
Golden Eyeball Grand Prize
Silver Eyeball Honorable Mention
Best Student Film
Eye-Popper Prize - most unique, boundary pushing, and experimental
Best Baltimore Animation
The above prizes will be awarded based on votes by a jury of five film/animation professionals. Jurors will be selected by the Festival Director of Programming.