The animation festival Kingstoon is getting a reboot. First held in 2013, Kingstoon appeared to be a great boon to the fledgeling Jamaican animation sector. Yet, at the end of the festival, it was still unclear where it would make a comeback and after two years of silence, its return seemed unlikely.
Yet Kingstoon 2016 is promising even greater impact than the inaugural event. The festival has expanded to three competitions and now accepts feature and short film animation from across the world.
Kingstoon now comprises an Emerging Animated Content Competition, a Pitch Competition and the Kingstoon International Film Festival. The first two are restricted to Caribbean nationals only, and registrants for the Pitch competition must be a part of the Emerging Animated Content Competition. Additionally, studios and commercial entities are eligible to enter.
The Emerging Animated Content segment will offer prizes in four categories: Best Storyboard, Best Character Design, Best Caribbean Short Film and Best Concept. Interestingly, in the previous edition, a category for best script had been included.
The Kingstoon International Film Festival category, open to producers of animated content anywhere in the world will also accept entries of feature films. The KIFF will award films in the following categories: Best Special Effects, Best Student Film, Best International Short Film, Best International Feature Film and the People’s Choice Film.
The festival began accepting submissions November 30, 2015, and submissions will close on January 31, 2016. Finalists will be announced February 8, 2016.
The date of the festival has not yet been announced.