Animation fans in Atlanta have a two-day window to catch a festival that will not return for another two years. The 5th ASIFAC Animation Festival & Conference takes over Georgia State University's Creative Media Industries Institute on August 21 and 22, bringing free screenings, studio tours, portfolio reviews and a 24-hour game jam to downtown Atlanta.
The event is organized by ASIFA-South, the Southeastern chapter of the international animation organization ASIFA, which was founded in France in 1960, according to the Guide to Georgia Film Festivals. As reported by Atlanta News First, the festival celebrates the imagination and play behind animation and games, with panels featuring professionals from Adult Swim and Bento Box among the offerings.
The scarcity of the event is part of the draw this year. After its 2022 edition, ASIFAC shifted to a biennial schedule, meaning this month's gathering will not happen again until 2028, per ASIFA-South. The festival was previously held in 2022 and 2024 before landing on the every-other-year format.
Three Floors of CMII, Plus a Theater Down the Street
This year's footprint spans all three floors of CMII at 25 Park Place NE, next to Woodruff Park, with film screenings held at the nearby Cinefest Theater, according to ARTS ATL. The same outlet reports that award-winning short films screened during the festival will receive WACOM tablets and handcrafted trophies, with top selections also earning a spot in an International Animation Day global exchange screening across ASIFA's international chapters. Screening blocks include All Ages, Southern Spotlight, and International Selects categories.
Keynote speaker Lauren Brown, an Emmy Award-winning illustrator and art director at Wizards of the Coast known for her work on Magic: The Gathering, will speak on creative resilience and navigating artistic doubt, ARTS ATL reports. Interactive sessions will also include a tour of CMII's 80,000-square-foot volumetric stage and a live motion-capture demonstration led by Laura Baptie, who worked on Disney's live-action Moana.
Gaming Takes Center Stage Under 'Pixel in Play' Theme
This year's theme, Pixel in Play, reflects a deliberate push to bridge animation and game design. The centerpiece is a 24-hour Epic Games Game Jam, where developers and students will build digital and tabletop games on-site at CMII, according to ARTS ATL. Atlanta News First notes the festival also includes a dedicated game room alongside its animation programming.
More than 20 exhibitors will fill the expo hall, including technology brands and regional organizations such as WACOM, Visual Effects Society Atlanta, MomoCon, Binders, Silver Comet Studio, and the Women in Animation Collective. The booths are expected to include software demonstrations, work from local artists, and advocacy group tables.
Free to Attend, With a Paid VIP Option
General admission is free with online pre-registration, while a $40 VIP pass adds priority seating, a gift bag, and dedicated networking opportunities, per ARTS ATL. Sponsorship is what allows the base event to remain free for the public.
The festival's return also lands amid a strong stretch for Georgia's entertainment industry. The state's film and television sector generated $2 billion in direct spending across 280 productions during Fiscal Year 2026, a period that saw an 83 percent surge in independent film productions, according to figures released by the Georgia Film Office and reported by Georgia Entertainment. For a festival built around connecting Southern animators and game developers to wider industry pipelines, that backdrop of growth adds weight to two days that will not come around again until 2028.
