On September 21st, the global animation industry will mark the online premiere of “To Gaza with Love: A Global Animjam,” an international initiative coordinated by AC4Pal (Animation Community for Palestine | @ac4pal). The project brings together 329 short films from over 50 countries, created by animators, students and studios in a collective act of solidarity with the people of Gaza. Among the voices speaking up through the art of animation are internationally known filmmakers including Oscar-nominated director Sam Fell (U.K.), Raman Djafari (Germany), Jin (Sonnye Lim; U.S.) and Mohammed Hosam (Gaza), as well as students from the Royal College of Art (U.K.).
Founded by Oscar-nominated British animator Joanna Quinn (Affairs of the Art, Famous Fred) and Canadian animators Thérèse Simard and Sam Decoste, AC4Pal was created to support the work of Haneen Koraz, an animator based in Gaza who has been running animation workshops with displaced children and women across the region. In the face of escalating violence, she has remained committed to her work in camps across Gaza, delivering 51 animation workshops and training a team of women to carry the work forward. To date, this creative lifeline has reached over 1,500 children and empowered more than 80 women and mothers.
“For me, the ‘To Gaza with Love’ films are a powerful act of solidarity. They show that artists around the world care deeply about Gaza — about our children, our art, and our future,” Koraz shared. “These films give us strength and remind us that we are not forgotten. The children feel this too. They told me, ‘These films are like gifts from the world to us. They make us feel seen, like people care, and that our love for art is shared by many others.’ Even in the midst of hardship, these stories spark hope. They remind us that through imagination and creativity, our voices can travel where we cannot.”
Quinn, who herself contributed a deeply personal piece to the Anijam, answered a few questions for Animation Magazine ahead of the showcase’s premiere. The interview was conducted by Ramin Zahed:
![Joanna Quinn [Photo: M. Rojas]](https://www.dev.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Joanna-Quinn_Photo-credit-M-Rojas.jpg)
Joanna Quinn: Well, we first came up with the idea for the Anijam back in March, shortly after we formed our AC4Pal group to support the work of Haneen Koraz in Gaza. We were trying to think of ways to increase awareness of Haneen’s animation work in Gaza and the wider horrors of what was happening. We thought that doing a global animation project would bring people together and allow all those who were feeling helpless to be able to do something. The original idea was to do a short intense Anijam over a long weekend, but we soon realized people needed longer to make pieces of significance and importance. We set the deadline to two months, starting on June 1 ending July 31.
Why did you think it was important to participate in it?
It was very important for me to take part, as I really wanted to send a personal message of support to the people of Gaza and particularly to Haneen, who I’ve built a strong relationship with over the last year. I wanted to give something back as a gift.
When did you begin work on your short and how long did it take to make?
I eventually started work on the film in mid-July, three weeks before the deadline — oops! It took me until then to finally decide on the idea. In fact, I was wandering around Annecy in mid-June wracking my brains for inspiration. To make it worse, I kept bumping into animators that were already stuck into their films.
I knew that I wanted to show the strength of the women of Gaza. And also, the intimate relationship between the Palestinian people to their land — their homeland. Once I knew what I was doing I knuckled down and drew. It probably only took me a week to animate once I had planned everything. All in all, with the laying it out, animation and compositing it probably took three to four weeks.
So, in true ‘Quinn’ style, I left everything until the last minute, and I admit I broke our own rules, and I was a bit late delivering my little film. Isn’t it funny that however experienced you are in filmmaking, everything always ends up much more complicated than originally planned!
Why do you think it’s important for artists to speak up about the atrocities of our times?
Politics affects all our lives and most of us are completely helpless to do anything about it apart from demonstrate or write to our political representatives. Artists, however, can use their art to protest — especially filmmakers. I had spoken to so many fellow animators who were feeling helpless with what was going on, so we wanted to galvanize these incredibly skilled people to make one big visual statement as a group. A collection of voices is much stronger than one lone voice. The reality is that an animated film does not change the world, but a collection of films can certainly change public opinion.
I think we underestimate the effect that so much hatred and violence in the world have on our mental health. It just makes us feel so helpless, frustrated and irrelevant. The creative act makes us feel good, so making these films as a collective is not only good for the cause but also helps our mental health.
As an artist, you are able to balance two different sides of the coin, deliver very hilarious art, as well as thought-provoking serious examinations of the human condition. Can you talk about how you manage to do both?
I think I have a bit of a split personality in terms of funny and serious. In fact, when I was first introduced to animation in my first year at Middlesex University, I decided to make two films instead of one. One was a funny ‘cartoony’ film about a boy dog and a feminist girl dog, but the other film was a serious film just based on my enjoyment of drawing the human figure. Not a laugh in sight, just an enjoyment of drawing.
I also quite like it when both humor and serious thought come into our films and create a sort of pathos. This is evident in the character of Beryl [a regular character in Quinn’s shorts] — she’s sometimes funny and boisterous but then has this very relatable self-doubt and sometimes sadness. I like to play with the fact we are all multi-faceted and have complex emotions.
I am naturally a political animal, and exploring this through humor gives me an extra tool. My film Britannia explores the evils of British imperialism but there is still humor in the character of the bulldog, with his little insecure glances to the left or escaping off screen on his tippy-toes. However, it never occurred to me to do something funny for my Anijam film because it’s a comment on an unfolding genocide that we are witnessing in real time.
What are your thoughts on the other portions of the Anijam? Will it be screening at festivals or online?
I was astounded at the quality of the films we have received. From Oscar nominees like British Sam Fell and German animation star Raman Djafari, to school kids from Colombia! 329 films from all walks of life and from over 50 countries. One of the films that is doing extremely well, is a group film from the Experimental students at the Royal College Art in London which has had over 4 million views and received thousands of wonderful comments. That’s a lot of hearts being touched by a 30 second animated film that was made in a one day workshop. That’s the power of animation!
We will be having a 24-hour online premiere on the AC4Pal YouTube channel. It’ll start at 12 midday Gaza time and all time zones get a chance to participate. The total compilation lasts over three hours, so we’re putting the films on loop which will then be repeated, alongside there will be a live chat so people can cheer each other on. After the premiere all the films will be up and available to watch at any time and we will be highlighting several individual films each week until every film has had their moment.
The films will also be available on an interactive world map at togazawith.love. This is a beautiful archive of all the films which allows the viewer to navigate the map by tapping a particular watermelon dot in a particular country and watch the films made there. It looks super impressive. The page will be hidden until the launch on Sunday 21.
On a very exciting note — we’re having a lot of interest from film festivals for both Haneen’s films and our Anijam films. We have a neat package of all the films ready for distribution if anyone is interested!
What will you be working on next?
I will make more, tiny films I think. If I could make the Anijam film in four weeks, then I have no excuse not to make more. We have created a great community doing this project and I’ve met so many talented animators full of enthusiasm and great ideas. In fact, over a 100 of them have recently taken part in another Anijam for the Sumud Flotilla. Some of the activists on the boats provided voice clips and the animator animated them! You can see the results on @ac4pal Instagram and will be uploaded to our AC4PAL YouTube channel soon.
On a completely different note, I will be launching our new book called BERYL next week, at the Animasyros Animation Festival on the beautiful Greek island of Syros. The book is about the character of Beryl, but also the characters of me and Les Mills, her creators! We are very happy with the result as it does look rather gorgeous and feels lovely to hold. There are lots of illustrations and animated sequences some of which come to life using an AR phone app. A perfect Christmas gift for animators and Beryl types all over the world!
You can watch the online premiere of To Gaza with Love: A Global Anijam via the official YouTube channel on Sunday, September 21 from 12 p.m. Gaza Time / 9 a.m. GMT. As part of the Anijam launch, audiences can explore an interactive map designed by Bristol-based Australian animator Jane Abernethy.
Watch Joanna Quinn’s short here:
