• Armenian Wine Week: An Initiative Calling on Armenians Around the World to Become Ambassadors for Their National Winemaking Heritage

  From November 8 to 14, Armenia will celebrate Armenian Wine Week, an initiative inviting every Armenian to become an ambassador for the country's winemaking heritage...

• A Real Zebra, Black Caviar and Animal-Inspired Costumes: Donald Trump Hosts a “Wild Jungle” Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago

  Donald Trump went all out for Halloween this year...

• Artist Distracts Museum Security With Explicit Sounds to Secretly Hang Artwork Criticizing the Met Gala

  While celebrities dream of making it onto the Met Gala guest list, artist David Sabastian decided to make his mark on the event in a very different way...

• Trump-Signed Chocolate and a Flyover: What Made Halloween at the White House So Unusual

  At the White House, guests handed out chocolate bars bearing the Trumps' signatures, a presidential aircraft flew overhead, and among the young partygoers were a Soviet tank crewman and a rotten banana...

• Dubai to Open the World’s First Gold-Plated Pedestrian Walkway

  Dubai is preparing a new attraction for those who associate the city with luxury and record-breaking extravagance...

• 72-Year-Old American Great-Grandmother Finds an Unusual Way to Fund Her Retirement: She Creates Adult Content with Her Husband

  Eight great-grandchildren, 40 years of marriage and a rather unconventional retirement plan: 72-year-old DD White has decided to make money by creating adult content with her husband...

• Horns vs. the Cross, Young People vs. Adults: How Halloween in Armenia Became a Generational Battleground

  Righteous indignation or boring adults? Cringey kids or harmless fun? While some people put on horns and fake fangs, others remind them of Christian values and national identity. So why can a few costumes and jack-o’-lanterns turn an ordinary October evening into a debate over what Armenia should be?...

• A $89,000 Robot Learns to Interact with People in New York, with Hopes of Becoming a Nanny

  Parkgoers in New York were in for an unexpected encounter when they came across an unusual participant in their stroll: a humanoid robot worth $89,000 that sang to children, danced with visitors and learned how to interact with people...

The 18th ReA International Animation Film and Comics Art Festival (ReAnimania) will take place in Yerevan from November 7 to 14.

Audiences can look forward to another packed week featuring animated film screenings, internationally renowned industry professionals, exhibitions, meetings with leading figures in the field and a host of other new and exciting events.

The festival's grand opening ceremony will take place on November 7 at the House of Cinema. The opening film will be French director Sébastien Laudenbach's animated musical drama Viva Carmen!, also known as Carmen: The Rebel Bird.

Vrezh Kasuni, founder and director of the ReA International Animation Film and Comics Art Festival, noted that for the fourth consecutive year, the festival is organizing the National Comics Competition in cooperation with Armenia's Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. The initiative supports the funding of the three best projects, giving their creators an opportunity to develop their work. Next year, the festival will also publish the graphic novel by the competition's first-place winner.

Tigran Virabyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, chose to speak about ReA through numbers. He pointed out that when a festival held in your country attracts interest from more than 70 countries and 500 film producers worldwide, while only 100 of them are selected for the main program, it demonstrates that the event has established its own place on the global film map.

Gosh Sargsyan, Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism at Yerevan Municipality, emphasized that the municipality has supported the festival since its foundation and has shared an interesting journey with it.

David Banuchyan, Director of the National Cinema Center of Armenia, announced that the festival will feature a special screening program titled Animation Without Rules, showcasing animated film heritage from the 1970s and 1980s.

The competition program includes several of the world's outstanding animated feature films of 2026, among them The Iron Boy by French director Louis Clichy, Searching for Lucy by French director Olivier Clert, The Violinist by Erwin Hahn and Raul Garcia, From Different Worlds by Kohei Kadowaki, Knots by Leah Nelson, The Treasure of Barracuda by Adrià García, Decorado by Alberto Vázquez, and, of course, Sébastien Laudenbach's Viva Carmen!.

This year's official festival poster was created by renowned French animation director and illustrator Zaven Najjar, who is of Lebanese descent. Its central figure is one of the most magical characters in Armenian mythology: the winged dog Aralez. In Armenian legends, these spirits are known for their life-giving powers. They would descend onto battlefields and revive fallen warriors by licking their wounds.

For the first time, ReA has introduced a digital accreditation system in Armenia, following a format commonly used at international festivals. The new system offers a more convenient way for participants to join the event.

From the opening day, visitors will also be able to explore the ReAComics exhibition at the second-floor gallery of the Union of Artists of Armenia. The exhibition will feature graphic art by both established and emerging creators. This year's showcase will include works by participants in the fourth National ReA Comics Competition.

The program will also feature the presentation of Jasmine and Bimbim, a book by last year's competition winner Sofia Mirzoyan; an exhibition of graphic novel posters by Jordan Mechner, who will attend in person and offer a signing opportunity; the presentation of Paco Roca's book Wrinkles; an exhibition of posters from Art Spiegelman's Maus; and a showcase titled About Each Other, featuring graduation projects by students from the Comics Art course at the Academy of Fine Arts.

One of the festival's key components is the MarAni (Market of Animation) Forum, designed for professionals in the industry. It is the largest regional professional market and event dedicated to animation, comics, gaming and visual arts. The forum will take place from November 9 to 11 at the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU).

This year, the CoReAct co-production platform will present 12 projects by Armenian animation professionals. Participants will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to an international jury and take part in professional discussions focused on both creative concepts and practical development.

For the first time, ReA is also launching ReA Academy Lab with the support of the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation. The program is designed for producers, screenwriters and visual artists with intermediate experience who want to develop their skills to an international level. The lab aims to strengthen professional expertise, introduce participants to international production and co-production practices, and build connections between Armenia's creative community and the global animation industry.

ReA Academy Lab is supported by the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia, which seeks to involve Armenian professionals from the diaspora, share their expertise with local specialists and encourage collaboration. Another supporter is hosq, an international cultural foundation based in Yerevan that promotes the creative industries by bringing artists and talent together through laboratories, educational programs and professional networks.

The festival's new offerings do not end there. The National Cinema Center of Armenia, in collaboration with ReA, will present a retrospective series dedicated to the films of renowned French-Armenian director and actor Serge Avédikian. The opening ceremony will take place on November 9 at 5 p.m. at Nairi Cinema, with Avédikian himself in attendance.

From November 8 to 28, ReA, together with Rambalkoshe, will also present the ARCANE – League of Legends exhibition in Armenia for the first time. Visitors will have the opportunity to step into the creative universe of the acclaimed animated series.

Music lovers will also have something special to look forward to. On November 14, the House of Cinema will host JAZZ for KIDS, a concert organized by the ReA Festival and ReAct Production under the patronage of Yerevan Municipality and with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. Live musical performances will be accompanied by animated film projections on a large screen. The project, already beloved by young audiences, was created by jazz musician Karen Grigoryan.

This year's festival will also offer an extensive workshop program. Participants will be able to learn from illustrator, character concept artist and art director Igor Heras Fernandez; graphic novelist, illustrator, screenwriter and creator of the legendary Prince of Persia video game series Jordan Mechner; and animation artist Armin Tagdisirad. Animator Dan Franke will deliver a lecture, while artist Diana Yeghikyan will lead a masterclass.

The 18th ReA International Animation Film and Comics Art Festival is held under the main sponsorship of Yerevan Municipality and with the support of Armenia's Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. Additional supporters include the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia, the French Embassy in Armenia, the French Institute in Armenia, the Council of Europe's Eurimages fund, the Goethe-Institut in Yerevan, the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation, the Embassy of Spain in Armenia and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram