About Animation Nation
Animation Nation is the longest-running animation film festival in Singapore; started in 2004 by the Singapore Film Society. 2024 was the 20th anniversary of Animation Nation. Now in its 21st edition in 2025, it promises to become even grander in ambition.
Its past programming and award-winning guests make it arguably the premier animation festival in Southeast Asia.
The festival has shown several diverse award-winning animated films including those from Aardman Animation, Oscar-nominee Tal Kantor, Satoshi Kon, Pixar Animation Studio and Bill Plympton over past editions.
Recent festival guests have been Academy Award®-winner Domee Shi, who directed ‘Turning Red’; Vice-President, Creative of Pixar Animation Studios and Academy Award®-winner Adam Elliot, who directed ‘Mary and Max’ and ‘Harvey Krumpet’.
The festival has been supported by the U.S. Embassy, High Commission of Canada, Embassy of Italy, Embassy of Brazil and other consulates in Singapore. Various programme and venue partners have also included The Walt Disney Company, The Projector, ArtScience Museum, Golden Village and *SCAPE, alongside leading industry players and school communities.
Meet our Festival Director
Michael Lim is the Festival Director of Animation Nation, organised by the Singapore Film Society since 2016. He is also the founder of the Singapore Visual Effects and Animation group which has over 4000 members online.
A qualified film archivist from the George Eastman Museum, he has been a pre-selection jury member of SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, and a judge for Heroes International Film Festival in Rome in 2023. He was also on the judging panel for the Global Entertainment Awards in 2024.
He has worked tirelessly in the international Film and TV industry since 1999 for a variety of companies, film festivals and media projects including Oscar-nominated Best Picture 'Moulin Rouge' and also 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. He was previously a board member of the Singapore International Film Festival and played a key role in its relaunch in 2014 where he still remains as a company member.
As a Film Director he has worked with international superstar Jackie Chan for a global Unicef PSA on Avian Flu. He is the co-founder of the first Australian chapter of ACM Siggraph in Sydney and has worked at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Asia as the Assistant Director for its Animation and Digital Arts MFA program in Singapore.
