MAF Announces 2026 Winners and New AI Policy for 2027 Competition

13th November 2026

In Waves, When the Sea is Calm and A Little Death take home top honours at this year’s festival

Manchester, UK – Friday 13th November 2026 – Manchester Animation Festival (MAF), the UK’s only Oscar® and BAFTA®‑qualifying animation festival, has unveiled the winners of its 2026 Film Competition, Industry Excellence Awards and MAFter Dark programme, recognising outstanding achievement across the international animation industry.

Presented at the Festival’s annual awards ceremony, hosted by writer, comedian and actor Molly McGuinness, the awards honoured excellence across British Film, Feature Film, Short Film, Student Film, Commissioned Film, Immersive Work, Children’s Shorts and the Audience Award. The ceremony also recognised exceptional contributions to the art and craft of animation through the Industry Excellence Awards, spanning writing, storyboarding, character design and character animation. Alongside these honours, MAF hosted the Young Animator of the Year Awards, celebrating emerging talent aged 11-22.

In a landmark move for the animation sector, Manchester Animation Festival has also announced today that films created using generative AI will no longer be accepted for submission from 2027 onwards. The new policy reflects the Festival’s commitment to celebrating human creativity and safeguarding the artistic skills that sit at the heart of animation.

Festival Director Steve Henderson said: “After a whirlwind week celebrating the international animation community with screenings, panels, masterclasses and more, our awards are a wonderful way to reflect on the skills and talent we champion at MAF. As we open our call for entries for MAF 2027 we wanted to stand by the creatives that make animation the incredible, human artform that it is. Our new Gen AI policy puts artists first and continues our mission to showcase the very best animation has to offer making it clear for audiences and artists where MAF stands on Gen AI.”

This year the Feature Film Award went to In Waves (Belgium, France, US), directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen. A Special Mention was awarded to We Are Aliens (Japan, France), directed by Kōhei Kadowaki. The Short Film Award was presented to When the Sea Was Calm (Georgia), directed by Mamuka Tkeshelashvili, with a Special Mention going to Anna Ginsburg’s Hag (UK). The Best British Short Award was awarded to A Little Death (UK, US), directed by Leto Meade and Jonathan Rockefeller. A Special Mention went to Daughters of the Late Colonel (UK, Germany), directed by Elizabeth Hobbs.

The Student Film Award went to To Kill a Velofahrer (Switzerland), directed by Helmi Korhonen, Ines Nungässer, Livio Frauendorf and Marvin Büeler. A Special Mention was awarded to Land of No Man (US, Taiwan), directed by Muling Tzai and Olivia Lin. The Immersive Film Award was presented to Mirage (Bangladesh, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia), directed by Naima Karim. The Commissioned Film Award went to Kikkoman: Unleash Legendary (US), directed by Mariano Fernández Russo of Clubcamping. A Special Mention was awarded to Should Have Gone to Specsavers: Garbologist (UK), directed by Sammy Lewis. The Children’s Award went to Singularity (Netherlands), directed by Andy Goralczyk. Special Mentions were awarded to Grounded (New Zealand), directed by Chris Cullus, and Into the Forest (Switzerland), directed by Antonin Niclass, with Into the Forest going on to win the Audience Award.

The Industry Excellence Awards recognise outstanding creative talent and achievement across the animation industry, celebrating excellence in scriptwriting, storyboarding, character animation and character design. The Scriptwriting Award went to Joe Wells for Pablo Next Level (BBC, RTÉ, Crayola Studios), with Bryony James receiving the Storyboarding Award for the same production. Sam Turner took home the Character Animation award for Do I Look Like I Care? (Genentech), while Kostas Firinidis was recognised for Character Design for How Smart are Crows? (TED-Ed).

The festival also celebrated three films as part of its MAFter Dark programme, showcasing distinctive and unconventional animated work from international filmmakers. The selection includes Andrew Ganvickton (UK), directed by Joseph Pelling; Wuthering Hearts (UK), directed by Laura Jayne Hodkin; and Gone Wrong (France), directed by Anne-Linh Jérôme, Ambre Butel, Roman Saunier, Maxime Arnould, Juliette Houël, Adrian Villeda, Alisson Colombe and Ylan Dinguidar.

The Festival, which ran from 8-12 November at HOME and venues across Manchester, marked its biggest and most ambitious edition to date, bringing together audiences, filmmakers, artists and studios from across the globe for five days of screenings, premieres, studio showcases, masterclasses and behind-the-scenes events. The 2026 programme featured major studio presentations, exclusive previews and world-class talent, alongside headline events including the world premiere of Mog’s Bad Thing, Channel 4’s new adaptation of Judith Kerr’s beloved picture book, the UK premiere of Xilam’s LUCY LOST and a special preview screening of Warner Bros. pictures Animation and DNEG Animation’s The Cat in the Hat.

This year’s festival welcomed its largest audience to date, with almost 12,000 admissions across the five-day event. Delegate numbers were also at a high and projected to increase by a total of 10% once MAF Online concludes, with the curated digital programme extending the festival experience beyond Manchester. Together, these figures further cement Manchester Animation Festival’s position as one of the world’s leading animation events.

Manchester Animation Festival is presented with the support of Higher Education Partner University of Salford, Festival Partner HOME, Industry Supporter Manchester City Council, and Festival Patrons BBC Children’s, Blue Zoo Animation Studio, Channel 4, DNEG, Epic Games, Industrial Light & Magic, Manchester Metropolitan University, Nottingham Trent University, Sue Terry Voices and Universal Pictures. Additional Event Supporters include Aardman Animations, Animation UK, BBC Studios, British Council, ICO, Leeds Arts University, Liquid Velvet, Locksmith Animation, ScreenSkills, Spud Gun Studios and TVPaint, alongside Marketplace Supporters Marks & Clerk, MOHO, Wacom and HUE. 

Tickets for the digital programme are available now with a MAF Online pass. Manchester Animation Festival will return 14-18 November 2027.

Read the AI Policy in full here.

Young Animator of the Year UK 2026 winners can be found here.