A Letter From the Festival Director

Dear Friends of Scotland Loves Anime,

In recent weeks many of you have been asking about our plans for Scotland Loves Anime in 2020, in light of the extraordinary times in which we’re living. After careful consideration and discussion, you won’t be surprised to hear that Scotland Loves Anime is changing its formula this year. Here's what we plan to do:

1. Physical event

Cinemas are currently re-opening under government guidance and face enormous struggles to stay afloat, as do many physical businesses. We debated for a long time about this and our comfort level at holding physical screenings.

After discussion and consultation, we will be hosting two films in our usual venues - the Glasgow Film Theatre and the Filmhouse – provided venues are open at that time.

Capacity will be greatly reduced and no guests will be present. Due to the nature of the titles in question, online screenings of these films may not be possible, but we'll make the films available again next year for you to watch at SLA 2021 if you miss the chance this year.

We strongly recommend these screenings only for people living in the local areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and only if you feel comfortable attending… and please wear a mask if you do. It’s a sad moment for us too, but we'll be aiming to return to normal operations next year all being well.

2. Online event

There are many reasons for not attending a physical event this year (especially one executed on such a reduced scale). We fully understand that, and are working on a way to avoid you missing out on the festival experience this year.

Thus, we'll have a fuller online package of Scotland Loves Anime online, partnering with our friends at Screen Anime. There will be several different packages offered online for streaming, some also including physical goods delivered to your door. Additionally, 1/3rd of all revenue from this online event will go directly to the Glasgow Film Theatre, with and 1/3rd also going to the Filmhouse.

More information on this event will follow in the run-up to the launch of our programme later in September, so stay tuned!

3. This year's programme

To allow us the necessary time to craft this new-look festival for 2020, we'll be running things a little later this year, starting on October 25th. We'll be announcing our line-up in mid to late September, so stay tuned to our social media channels for more information!

4. A word from the Festival Director

This is an incredibly unusual year, and we held off as long as we could before making a call until the situation was clear. We debated not running physical screenings at all - but with cinemas reopening we want to support our long-term venue partners and fans who do want to go to the cinema.

Our personal choice at Scotland Loves Anime is to stay safe and operate online, but we also do not want to dictate what you should and should not feel comfortable doing. Independent cinemas are spending a lot of time, money and effort on making their spaces safe for you and you can help them by wearing a mask if you do feel comfortable going.

Please know that even if you support us online instead of at a physical venue this year, you will still be supporting the cinemas that are so vital to the festival’s operations each year. We love both the Glasgow Film Theatre as well as the Filmhouse, and we know you do too.

We really appreciate all of your support, and we hope you'll join us for this somewhat different version of Scotland Loves Anime 2020, and that we’ll be able to see you all again in a more normal capacity for the 2021 edition of the festival.

Very best,

Andrew Partridge

Festival Director