The Extraordinary Week of Animated Festivals (LESMA, acronym for La Extraordinária Semana de Mostras Animadas, in portuguese) is the one-week Brazilian animation event that happens inside the University of Campinas (Unicamp) dedicated to outstanding independent and experimental animation, specially curated by festivals around the world.
The event was created in 2016 by Samuel Mariani and Camila Kater and it has already completed 3 successful editions. The idea to create LESMA was to bring International Animation Festivals to a place where students, amateurs and animation professionals could have access to different curatorships from other parts of the world.
Activities and Main Achievements
Every year, LESMA intends to reach out to animation professionals and enthusiasts, in order to encourage them to share their work and interests in the event’s friendly environment, one that provides opportunity for young Brazilians to get in touch with contemporary national production and international curatorship of animation.
During its run, LESMA hosted screenings, workshops and masterclasses provided by the gratifying partnerships of many International festivals, amongst them the International Animation Festival of Pernambuco (ANIMAGE), the Lisbon Animated Film Festival (MONSTRA) and the StopTrik International Film Festival. The artistic director of MONSTRA Fernando Galrito and legendary Brazilian animators Chico Liberato and Alba Liberato figured amongst LESMA’s guest speakers, alongside with many Brazilian animators from the most active studios in the country.
LESMA is also an event that believes in showcasing young, new research and experiments in its laboratory for incipient projects of animation, which also understands itself as a place where university ideas meet studio practice. The participants get feedback from guests, professionals and the general public, whilst allowing themselves to breath animation during the activities fp the Animated Week.
Prior to it’s forth run, LESMA intends to strengthen ties with partner festivals, driven by the perspective of a globally connected network of animation research and production. Sharing the same values of innovative-leading festivals like the Polish-Slovenian StopTrik Intl. Film Festival, we plan to develop the experience of culture exchange by sharing curatorship choices from Latin-America, hoping to start new conversations around the world.
Camila Kater 