The Montreal Stop-Motion Film Festival (MSMFF) will return for its seventh edition on the 25th, 26th and 27th of September 2015. The call for entries is now open and will end at midnight on June 28th, 2015.

Information on film submissions can be found on the MSMFF website. This year will be the first time the festival allows for object animation and pixilation, which is a technique where live actors can be used and shot frame-by-frame to create animation.

Last year’s festival was a huge success since featured talks with LAIKA creative supervisor Georgina Hayns and Robot Chicken animation director Alex Kamer. This year’s festival will be held at the J.A. de Sève Theater at Concordia University (1453 Mackay Street, Montreal, Canada). The official website explains how stop-motion animation “with its use in television and feature films … has recently experienced a resurgence. Despite this, getting their work screened can still be a huge struggle for many artists. The Montreal Stop-Motion Film Festival is working to change that.”

Since 2009 the festival has selected a winner every year in each of the three categories of competition: Academic, Independent, and Professional. Each winner receives an award called “The Little Henry”, which is a fully functional ball and socket armature, similar to the Marcel Delgado’s famous design for King Kong in 1933.