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.
SEAF returns October 5-8, 2023!
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 is fully In-Person in 2023 with screenings at a variety of theatre venues in Baltimore, Maryland.
SCREENINGS FOR 2023
This year the festival will include multiple program of International animated short films, a Baltimore Showcase, a Young Audiences program, animator retrospectives, special screenings of independent feature films, workshops and more.
For the Baltimore Showcase, submissions must be a film produced within 50 miles of Baltimore City to qualify.
WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?
SEAF accepts animated shorts (under 20 minutes). DO NOT SUBMIT LIVE-ACTION FILMS. 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 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 Student-Made Film
Eye-Popper Prize - most unique, boundary pushing, and experimental
Best Baltimore Animation
Best Young Audiences Animation
The above prizes will be awarded based on votes by a jury of film/animation professionals. Jurors will be selected by the Festival Director of Programming.