The Animation Is Film festival is opening with a series for the first time in its nine-year history.

Dana Terrace’s Knights of Guinevere, from Glitch Productions, gets a world-first theatrical premiere when AIF kicks off October 16 in Los Angeles. The first two episodes screen at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, following the show’s online debut.

Nine features compete for awards, including Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy, which won the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at Cannes and both jury and audience awards at Annecy. Leah Nelson’s Tangles brings a star-studded voice cast including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, and Seth Rogen. Cartoon Saloon adapts the beloved picture book Julián Is a Mermaid with director Louise Bagnall.

Other competition titles include Sébastien Laudenbach’s Viva Carmen!, his follow-up to 2023 AIF winner Chicken for Linda!, and The Violinist, which took home the 2026 Annecy Cristal.

Special events include a 25th anniversary conversation with Cartoon Saloon’s founders, a behind-the-scenes look at Disney Animation’s upcoming Hexed, and a work-in-progress presentation of Matt Braly’s independently funded Clara and the Below.

The festival runs through October 19 with five short film programs, retrospective screenings, and industry panels. Tickets are available now at AnimationIsFilm.com.

For a festival built around celebrating animation as cinema, leading with a series signals how the lines keep blurring.