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The Animation is Film Festival (AIF) in Los Angeles concluded its ninth edition at the Leah Nelson Festival. Tangles Winning the Grand Jury Prize for Painting and Don Herzfeldt paper trail Winning the Best Shorts Award.
Held October 16-19 at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese 6 Theater and the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater, this year’s event featured nine feature films and 18 short films in competition sections, along with special screenings, filmmaker talks and studio previews.
The 2026 animation is a winner in the film
- Grand Jury Prize: TanglesLeah Nelson
- Audience Award: iron boyLouis Clichy
- Fumi Kitahara Jury Special Prize: iron boyLouis Clichy
- Grand jury prize – shorts: paper trailDon Herzfeldt
- Jury’s special prize – shorts: pleaseAnna Mantsaris
Adapted from Sarah Levitt’s graphic novel, Tangles It impressed the jury with its fluid 2D animation and sensitive portrait of a family navigating their mother’s dementia. According to the jury:
We love the fluid 2D animation, which uses stark monochrome shots to bring to life a family’s personal story, influenced by a mother’s battle with dementia. We were particularly impressed with how director Leah Nelson and her accomplished voice team were able to keep Sarah Levitt’s graphic novel, which tackles serious, painful subject matter with great beauty, honesty and a gentle touch, while also offering a great throwback to 1990s San Francisco.
This year’s art competition was judged by producer and future Women in Animation President Jinko Gotoh, co-founder of Tonko House and dam guard Co-director Dietz Tsutsumi and Animation magazine Editor-in-Chief Ramin Zahed.
Louis Clichy iron boy Picked up both the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize for Fumi Kitahara, named in memory of the beloved publicist and champion of the AIF, who died in 2025. The jury praised the film’s watercolor-like and Chinese ink brush visuals, its portrayal of a boy’s physical disability and the strained relationship between French agriculture and his father.
iron boy There is pure beauty in the medium we all love. Louis Clichy’s Iron Man easily stood out thanks to its beautifully crafted watercolor-like and Chinese ink brush-style visuals and the way it tells a story inspired by the director’s own memories of growing up in rural France. We were also impressed that Cliché conveyed a world of emotion with his impressionistic visuals, as well as his portrayal of a young boy’s personal struggle with a physical disability and an honest portrayal of a strained father-son relationship that avoids sentimentality and the failings of a traditional coming-of-age story.
Herzfeldt in shorts competition paper trail It has earned unanimous praise for its distinctive visual language and approach to narrative and form. The jury called it “unique and deeply moving” and a film that “stayed with us”.
Anna Mantsaris please Awarded the Special Jury Prize for Shorts, the judges highlighted the stop-motion artistry, whimsy and characterization of his tech puppets. The jury described it as “a wonderfully crafted, funny and tender film that captures the absurd and the very human longing for connection”.
A jury of shorts was included ghost town Created by Elizabeth Ito, animation historian and Cartoon Brew Co-founder Jerry Beck and actress and director Rachel House, whose voice includes Moana and soul.
“Animation is a film festival, but it’s also an argument: animated films should never be lumped together under the broad heading of ‘animation,'” said festival director Matt Kaszanek after this year’s event. “Animation is drama and comedy, musical and horror; Feature and short, documentary and fiction, narrative and experimental.”
Beyond the pageant, highlights included Dana Terrace’s first big screen presentation Knights of GuinevereLaika special display Veldwood Take a behind-the-scenes look at Disney with Travis Knight Hexedand a presentation of Matt Braly’s work in progress Clara and below.
The festival also hosted A The Wolfmorians Screening with Cartoon Saloon founder Tom Moore, Nora Twomey and Paul Young and first live edition The Hollywood ReporterAnimation Round Table.
