[EXCLUSIVE!] SAC 2025, Animation Beyond Borders

The European Animation Journal attended the third edition of Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC), a B2B event that fosters connections between Arabian and African animation and the global scene.

We interviewed Pietro Pinetti, SAC’s Artistic Director, about the vision shaping the event and the goals of its next edition.

SAC is now in its third edition, and this year, the event was a huge success both in terms of content and numbers…

New projects always require time and effort to grow. We have steady goals for presence and content quality, and we are satisfied.

This year, we focused on Japan, offering a rich array of workshops, panels, screenings, and the usual evening concerts, fostering networking between industry players. We really did a great job in terms of promotion, and the numbers are really good, particularly in the Arab world.

What’s SAC’s original vision, and what direction is it taking now?

Our original goal was to encourage local broadcasters, governments, and institutions to invest in animation, highlighting the huge cultural value of this content, which will be shaping the next generations. This third edition finally succeeded in this intent: several local broadcasters attended the event to meet talents and producers, as well as professional visitors from all over the world.

The Sharjah Book Authority has supported us since the first year, and they firmly believe in our vision of cultural development encompassing audiovisual content. In the future, we would like other institutions from the Arabian world and the surrounding areas to be involved in what we do, and I think we are moving in the right direction.

Among many other interesting appointments, SAC hosted a panel about African animation. How is African animation evolving?

Africa is an amazing hub, with quality content, a huge creative spirit, and artistic talent. SAC is the perfect meeting point for these underestimated and sometimes forgotten worlds: many producers and artists from Africa or the Middle East consider Sharjah, particularly this year, a safe place to connect and talk, a place made of animation, illustration, and creativity. And it happens naturally, despite all the complexities of the Arabian world.

SAC 2025’s theme is Japan. What are the reasons behind this choice?

We wanted to bring here two iconic products of Japanese culture – anime and manga. We have always wanted to represent the variety of animation worlds: our first edition, for example, focused on the American world, with its giants and classic IPs making history.

Anime has a great public in the Arabian world, and this year we had the honor of hosting Cheiko Suda, the wife of the great animator Masami Suda, who received a posthumous prize at our Closing Ceremony. Also, Nobuyoshi Habara attended the event, as ComixWave, a really important animation studio considered the heir of Studio Ghibli, and Yomiuri Television Broadcasting, a partnering Japanese TV station. The AnimeTourism association actively collaborated with us in organizing our Focus on Japan.

The Japanese market is steadily growing, and we chose it because of its enormous potential. Recently, Japanese producers have been seeking new foreign collaborations and opportunities: it’s an extremely fruitful and curious market.

Can you share any insights into the upcoming developments for the event and why a foreign producer, particularly a European one, should attend the next edition of SAC?

For the next edition, we plan to expand the exhibition space while involving major international artists with whom we are already in contact. Our mission is to engage producers from Arab and African regions to foster the development of a truly local animation industry.

I believe the time has come, starting from the fourth year, to focus on building a real production market centered on Arab and African companies. This is precisely why a foreign producer should be present: there is an increasing struggle to find new production models, both financially and in terms of content, particularly inEurope. In contrast, the Arab market offers extraordinary creative energy, an incredible wealth of stories, and the means to tell them. Being in Sharjah means taking on the role of a pioneer in developing new business models, new content, and new worlds to explore.