Wellington Animation Film Festival to Return March 2026
The Wellington Animation Film Festival (WAFF) returns from 19 - 22 March 2026 at the Roxy Cinema, celebrating the artistry, innovation, and storytelling of animation from around the world.
Now in its third edition, WAFF offers an international programme of nine feature films, five short film collections and a series of industry-focused panels, showcasing the variety and creative possibilities of film at a local and international scale for Wellingtonians and festival-goers.
International Programme
WAFF 2026 brings international prestige and diversity, screening films from France, Japan, China, South Korea, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, the UK, and New Zealand. The programme spans a broad range of genres - from ecological adventures and musical animation to dramatic works - appealing to children, teens and adults alike.Notable creators include Belgium’s Amélie Nothomb, French playwright Jean-Claude Grumberg, British author Guy Bass, and Canadian multidisciplinary artist Kid Koala
Highlights include:
- Dandelion’s Odyssey - Cannes Film Festival winner, which follows four dandelion seeds propelled into the cosmos after Earth’s destruction
- The Square - Annecy award-winning drama set in North Korea
- ChaO - Annecy 2025 Jury Award-winning romantic fantasy, where an ordinary office worker receives an unexpected marriage proposal from a mermaid princess
- Little Amélie and the Character of Rain - Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated film focusing on life’s simple pleasures as Amélie discovers the world one taste of chocolate at a time
Mosley features the voices of veteran Kiwi actors Lucy Lawless, Rhys Darby and Temuera Morrison.
Shorts and Student Showcase
The festival will also present the Annecy Best of 2025 collections, award-winning shorts for audiences of all ages that showcase poetic, funny, and deeply moving animated films from around the globe.
Emerging international and local talent will be on show with French student films presenting fresh European perspectives, while New Zealand student films compete for prestigious prizes in Aotearoa.
The festival also features a curated programme highlighting women’s voices in animation:
Female Landscape: Animation, a collection of shorts by talented female filmmakers from around the world - an initiative from UNESCO Creative Cities of Film and Nic Marshall, who curated this collection from Screen Wellington.
Industry Dayz
In addition to screenings, WAFF will host Industry Dayz for the first time in a standalone venue, in partnership with the VFX Guild and led by Bree Loverich.
The programme, titled From Dream to Reality, will explore how creative ideas become viable projects, the development of trust and collaboration across teams, and pathways for sustainable production in animation, VFX, and creative technology.
Sessions will also be available online, extending access to practitioners beyond Wellington.
WAFF 2026 promises a celebration of animation in all its glorious diversity. From poetic shorts and epic features to pioneering industry insights, this is Wellington’s dedicated showcase for the animated world.
The Wellington Animation Film Festival website can be viewed HERE.
Confirmed programme and screening times are available HERE.
Further information on the Industry Dayz Programme can be found HERE.
Tickets are on sale now via the Roxy Wellington
