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.
2020 programming included multiple Academy Award nominees; animated music videos commissioned for the festival, animator virtual studio tours, student work, and more.
SEAF returns November 12-19, 2021.
We remain dedicated to the search for innovative storytelling and craft, and we are working to create meaningful connections across geographic and stylistic divides. The festival will be a hybrid model in 2021 with all screenings available to view online in a virtual theatre as well as in person at the SNF Parkway Theatre in Baltimore at reduced capacity.
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. We are looking for work that is appropriate for any age range and this year there is a special category for young audiences animation (ages 3-12).
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
Best Young Audiences Film
Best Student-Made 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.
