President
Welcome to the Second International Animation Festival, Animacor 2006, a competitive showcase
for the thriving local animation industry which, at the same time, is just one example of Córdoba’s drive to provide
the backing, the tools and the support needed to foster employment, economic prosperity and social welfare not just in
the province of Córdoba but also at regional and even national level. The animation industry is set to become a key
contributor to these aims all across Europe and the Mediterranean area: animation is rapidly becoming the star of the
audiovisual sector, stretching beyond the classical cartoons into the world of advertising and video games. Animation is
also a source of employment for qualified and enterprising young people with an interest in the arts. This is particularly
fitting, since Córdoba is hoping to be chosen as European Cultural Capital in 2016. For that reason, the Provincial
Council and the Andalusian Film Institute have been selected as venues for Animacor 2006.
Animacor 2006 represents a firm strategic decision to support the animation industry, as a cultural enterprise, by providing backing for production, training and promotion. The festival has been built up on the basis of a solid long-term development plan, designed to foster the enthusiastic support of local people, and to ensure the backing and involvement of professionals in the animation sector; this could not have been achieved by a series of one-off, temporary operations. In this respect, I would like to pay tribute to the unstinting effort, steadfastness and success of the Association for the Development of the Animation Industry (ANIMACOR), whose ability to bring public and private bodies together, as well as to recruit the talents and backing of creators, directors and various associations, including AEPA, the Andalusia Audiovisual Foundation, Andalusian Radio and Television, the Instituto Cervantes, the Cartoon Forum, Extenda and the Andalusian Technology Park Network (RETA), has been crucial to the pasty and present success of this exciting long-term animation venture in Córdoba.
I would like, therefore, to invite you to experience the eager excitement of Animacor 2006. The people of Córdoba will once again be major players in this Festival, which marks a solid long-term contribution to Córdoba’s ambition to be Cultural Capital in 2016. As the lights go down for the tribute to Mickey Mouse, the power of animation has never been so dazzling. It is able to breathe life into beings who live in the hearts of thousands of people. Here, in the ancient Al-Andalus, it is our fervent wish that a character like Disney’s Mouse, a character of universal appeal, beloved of children and adults over a whole range of cultures, may lead us towards new symbols, shared symbols through which we can work together to build peace and the alliance of civilisations, seeking respect for cultural diversity and for human rights in the 21st century.
FRANCISCO PULIDO MUÑOZ,
President of the Córdoba Provincial Council and of the Association for the Development of the Animation Industry (ANIMACOR).