Ludwigsburg, Cannes, Annecy and Seminar for Newcomers

The program is available here. https://geect.org/4th-geect-leadership-symposium-ludwigsburg/

The symposium is free of charge and includes lunches and dinners. The participants are responsible for their travel and accommodation costs. 

Filmakademie Baden-Württenberg (FABK) is situated in Ludwigsburg, 38 km from Stuttgart Airport and 14 km from Stuttgart Main Train Station. Frankfurt airport is 180 km away. The address of the school is Akademiehof 10, D-71638 Ludwigsburg

Hotels
GEECT has reserved accommodation for symposium participants at two hotels, campuszwei and hotel Bergamo, situated in the 5 min walking distance from the film school:
https://www.campuszwei.com/en/index.html
http://hotel-ludwigsburg.de
The price is 139 e per night with breakfast. 
Please contact directly 
mail@campuszwei.com or 
mail@hotel-bergamo.de and mention GEECT symposium when making the reservation.

GEECT at the Festival de Cannes 2025

As part of the GEECT action plan agreed in Beijing, we decided to facilitate school meetings at European Film Festivals. With that in mind, I’m delighted to invite you to a cocktail reception we’re co-hosting with the CresCine project on May 15th, 17:00 – 18:30 as part of CresCine Producers Network with a theme of Greening & Sustainability Showcase + Cocktail. The location is the Producers Club in the Marché du Film. If you’re attending Cannes and have a market badge, please RSVP kirsi.rinne@aalto.fi so we can put you on the list and let you know if there are any changes to the plan. 

A little about CresCine. A Horizon Europe project seeks to enhance the competitiveness and cultural diversity of the European film industry. This will be achieved by understanding, engaging with, empowering, and ultimately transforming European small markets through original research and piloting the results in Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium (Flanders), Croatia, and Portugal. The consortium’s HEIs are mostly GEECT schools, so it would also be a good networking opportunity and an introduction to the possibilities of Horizon funding for schools who have not received funding from this EU instrument. 

GEECT member schools gathering at Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market – 11 June 09:30-12:30, Mifa Campus – Save the date

AI has rapidly evolved to become a game-changer in the animation industry. Tools powered by AI can generate realistic movements, automate labor-intensive tasks like in-betweening, and enhance visual effects production. However, integrating AI into animation education is not merely about adopting cutting-edge technology—it’s about rethinking how students are taught to harness these tools effectively while maintaining creativity and artistic integrity.

Taking advantage of the fact that Hungary will be the honorary guest of the Annecy Festival in 2025, the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) based in Budapest is initiating a panel discussion with the support of GEECT and participation of its member institutions to facilitate dialogue on these issues and subsequently create a space for sharing knowledge and good practices. 

This special GEECT animation schools’ gathering and panel discussion would be aimed at film schools with animation training, as first in a series of events. 

Programme (draft)

– 09:30-10:00 Welcome – Introduction to Hungarian Animation Industry and Higher Education

– 10:00-10:30 Keynote lecture – Hungarian Animation professional on talent management and integrating AI technology

– 10:30-11:00 coffee + lunch break/mingling/networking

– 11:00-12:30 Panel discussion with invited professional guests and representatives from member schools on the challenges of animation in higher education

Registration details will be available soon. 

Online seminar for new film school teachers: Ask Us Anything, March 27 at 12 (CET)

An online seminar for newcomers will be arranged online at Teams on March 27 at noon. Barry Dignam, Patrick Geeraerts, and Anna Heiskanen from Aalto University will host this informal event, which aims to connect with members who are new or maybe haven’t been as active over the last while. We’re particularly interested in meeting staff beyond CILECT reps, so we’d appreciate it if you could widely circulate.