Animatex 2026 Edition Brings Global & Local Animators to Cairo

Animatex is Egypt’s annual animation event, founded in 2020 to bring together artists working across the country’s animation industry. Established by Youhanna Nasif and co-founded by Samaka Studio, the festival has grown into a key meeting point for local practitioners, students and international guests. With its sixth edition, Animatex marks 90 years of animation in Egypt and presents its most extensive programme to date.

This year’s edition brings a mix of Egyptian and international creatives to Cairo, with a programme that spans talks, workshops and film screenings. The focus remains on practice, process and exchange, offering audiences a closer look at how animation is made across different contexts and industries.

The talks and discussions feature figures working across television, film and independent animation, including Mike Hollingsworth, supervising director of ‘BoJack Horseman’; Sara Matta, an Egyptian animator who worked on the award-winning ‘Arcane’; and Meena Ibrahim, a three-time Annie Award–winning Egyptian director whose credits include ‘Hotel Transylvania’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Together, the programme highlights both local experience and international production pipelines.

Animatex continues to position itself as a space for learning and connection, whether for students exploring career paths, professionals exchanging expertise, or audiences interested in animation as a medium. Below is a selection of talks, workshops and screenings taking place during this year’s edition.

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS:

From Cairo to Hollywood: A Journey Through Character Animation

🎤 Meena Ibrahim | Animation supervisor & Director
📍 Garden Stage
🗓️ February 13th
⏱️ 2:30 PM
Annie Award nominee and winner Meena Ibrahim discusses his career path from Egypt to international studios, drawing on his work across major productions including ‘Hotel Transylvania’, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. The session focuses on character animation, industry expectations and professional development.

Storytelling Through Video and Audio

🎤 Ahmed Gamal Arafa | Visual Designer & Art Director and Adham Sayed | Writer, Director & Voice Artist
📍 Garden Stage
🗓️ February 12th
⏱️ 11:30 AM
This discussion explores how sound, dialogue and visual design function as narrative tools in animation. Arafa, art director of ‘El Da7ee7’ and director of ‘The Last Da7ee7 on Earth’, and Sayed, who wrote and directed the Arabic voice cast for the Oscar-shortlisted ‘The 21’, share insights from their collaborative work.

A Peek Into Mike’s Shorts

🎤 Mike Hollingsworth | Animator, Director & Producer
📍 Garden Stage
🗓️ February 12th
⏱️ 8:45 PM
Hollingsworth reflects on the creation of several of his animated short films, discussing creative decision-making, production constraints and lessons drawn from working in short-form animation.

BoJack Horseman’s “Fish Out of Water”

🎤 Mike Hollingsworth | Animator, Director & Producer
📍 Garden Stage
🗓️ February 13th
⏱️ 7:15 PM
Hollingsworth examines the production of ‘BoJack Horseman’, including the episode ‘Fish Out of Water’, and reflects on his early work at Netflix and the development of long-running animated series.

About ‘Between Women Filmmakers’ Caravan

🎤 Neda Hegazi | Filmmaker & Film Workshop Curator and Basma Ahmed | Visual Identity Designer
📍 Garden Stage
🗓️ February 12th
⏱️ 2:00 PM
Hegazi and Ahmed discuss the ‘Between Women Filmmakers Caravan’, addressing collaboration, authorship and the realities of working as women filmmakers in the MENA region.

Children’s Song Production

🎤 Tarek Al arabi Tourgane | Composer & Singer and Tala Tourgane | Singer, Songwriter & Voice Actress
📍 Garden Stage
🗓️ February 13th
⏱️ 4:45 PM
In a joint conversation, Tarek Al Arabi Tourgane and his daughter Tala discuss the creative process behind children’s songs, drawing on Tourgane’s extensive work on Spacetoon productions.

WORKSHOPS:

Developing Your Visual Style Workshop | Shadab Shayegan

📍 Hill House 602
🗓️ February 13th & 14th
⏱️ 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
This workshop focuses on experimentation as a method for developing a personal visual language, covering mark-making, colour, texture and reinterpretation of reference material.

Facial Animation Shot Review | Sara Matta

📍 Hill House 603
🗓️ February 15th
⏱️ 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Drawing on her experience on ‘Arcane’, Sara Matta presents her approach to facial performance in animation, followed by a group review of participants’ submitted shots.

Storyboard Review | Michael Hollingsworth

📍 Hill House 603
🗓️ February 14th
⏱️ 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Hollingsworth shares materials from one of the series he has worked on before reviewing participants’ storyboards, with a focus on professional standards and clarity of visual storytelling.

Writing Without Writing: From Script to Beatmatic | Ferdinand Ehrhardt
📍 Hill House 603
🗓️ February 14th & 15th
⏱️ 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Drawing on his experience creating 'Detlev' and his current projects, Ehrhardt's workshop examines alternative approaches to script development, exploring how restructuring the creative process can clarify story and character after a first draft.

Short Film Distribution 101 | Laure Goasguen
📍 Hill House 603
🗓️ February 12th & 13th
⏱️ 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
An introduction to animated short film distribution, covering circulation strategies, common pitfalls and practical planning for filmmakers entering the festival circuit.

FILM SCREENINGS:

Decorado (2025) | Dir. Alberto Vásquez
📍 Zawya Cinema
🗓️ February 12th 
⏱️ 10:00 PM
A mouse experiencing a midlife crisis begins to suspect the world around him is an artificial construct, prompting a search for authenticity.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) | Dir. Lotte Reiniger

📍 Ewart Memorial Hall
🗓️ February 11th 
⏱️ 6:00 PM
A pioneering animated feature following a prince on a fantastical journey involving flying horses, a meeting with Aladdin, demons and romance.

Maya, Give Me a Title (2024) | Dir. Michel Gondry

📍 Ewart Memorial Hall
🗓️ February 12th 
⏱️ 3:15 PM
A father and daughter maintain their relationship through a shared creative ritual, as the father produces short animated films inspired by titles suggested by his daughter.

Tales From the Magic Garden (2025) | Dir. Patrik Pašš, David Súkup, Jean-Claude Rozec, Leon Vidmar

📍 Ewart Memorial Hall
🗓️ February 13th 
⏱️ 4:00 PM
Three kids spend the night at their grandpa’s house. To fill the silence after losing their grandma — the family’s storyteller — they begin creating their own stories and discover the power of imagination.

The Last Blossom (2025) | Dir. Baku Kinoshita

📍 Ewart Memorial Hall
🗓️ February 14th 
⏱️ 12:45 PM
A dying prisoner reflects on his final summer of freedom in 1986, when he lived with a woman and her son, surrounded by housenka flowers. As death approaches, one of these flowers guides him through memories of his past as a yakuza.