Animalis Fabula Film Festival

Overview

ANIMALIS FABULA FILM FESTIVAL #AniFab * Where "Animal Stories" Come To Life! San Antonio's Animalis Fabula Film Festival has Partnered with the historic Woodlawn Theater in the DECO District of San Antonio. Our Hotel is the Hotel Indigo alongside Texas's most visited tourist destination, the world famous Riverwalk. AniFab will feature awards for the most outstanding movies in their respective categories. Filmmakers winning Quarterly Semi Finalist Awards will have their films chosen to be presented at AniFab live in San Antonio during AniFab. You have to be a Monthly / Quarterly Semi Finalist Winner to be invited to the live festival in San Antonio November. Animalis Fabula Film Festival or AniFab is: "A Finely Curated Festival Of The Best Hand Selected Filmed​ Stories About Or Including Animals By Filmmakers From Around The World." Animalis Fabula Film Festival may be subject to various changes in the festival schedule and timeframe of the festival. All movies submitted through FilmFreeway for consideration must not be playing publicly anywhere, and must have been finished after January 1, 2024 See TOC below. ************************************************ Congratulations Shaunak Sen! The Animalis Fabula Film Festival was proud to be your Texas Premiere! Congratulations on all the accolades including Best Feature Documentary Oscar Nomination! You can read the entire Texas Screen Scene Review here: https://www.animalisfabula.org ************************************************ Mye Hoang, Award-Winning Director of Cat Daddies writes, "Animalis Fabula translates to animal story in Latin. If you have a film involving animals, this is a MUST fest to submit. Tom and his team are wonderful and passionate about what they do. They go out of their way to make filmmakers feel special. My film screened in person in a pandemic year which is challenging. But what a fun and powerful experience I had, being with like-minded compassionate people. I love details like my trailer playing in the theater lobby, festival signage and schedules in the hosting hotel, a dog in costume in the lobby and a guy in a bear suit. I would like to see this fest grow and get the attention it deserves. Again, a must if you have an animal film. And if you like a small film festival that feels like camp, this is it! I made great new friends here." Mye, thank you for summing up the spirit of AniFab! Read more reviews below. ************************************************ A huge issue in story telling through film, is how we include animals in the story. Animals are all around us, all the time. How do you represent them in the story? Are they represented? A good filmmaker will find ways to include the living universe that surrounds the world people live in every day. It makes the stories more authentic. We love movies, and animals, and people, and most of all, We love them all together! WHAT SORT OF FILMS IS ANIMALIS FABULA FILM FESTIVAL INTERESTED IN? Take a look at the films that were selected to showcase as a guide. https://www.animalisfabula.org First: Any movie that has a relationship to/with animals. Second: We are especially interested in films with strong connections to major issues involving animals. Third: We love films that can be change agents for animals. Some of the best examples have been animated features and SciFi styled narratives. Creativity and great story-telling are key. We appreciate movies that are not what you expect, being surprised by a story is like getting a gift. Like 2021's Hug Me, Hug Me Right! Not what we expected in the best possible way! Show us what you've got! Animalis Fabula Film Festival (AniFab) is The Animal Story Film Festival. You make movies about animals. You love animals. You made a movie about an artist making art to help animals. You love drawing animal animations. The song in your narrative about a bad guy is an allegory about an animal. you get the picture. You do, right? Animalis Fabula Film Festival is looking to review and present every conceivable movie being made today; from short subject cartoons, to feature length documentaries, and narratives that focus a lens on animals or people interacting with animals. Real stories, by real people, about animals real or imagined. Animalis Fabula Film Festival is committed to sharing the best “Animal Stories” with the world, beginning with the Animalis Fabula Film Festival every year! Animalis Fabula Film Festival was founded by Tom McPhee, Executive Director of the World Animal Awareness Society after a series of extraordinary experiences inspired Tom to share other people's and organizations' “Animal Stories” with the world. Tom was the creator and Director of FLIXtour in the late 90's, where Paul Feig wrote the cult classic TV series Freaks & Geeks, and Kevin Smith launched his highly successful College/Theater tours. Animalis Fabula Film Festival - AniFab is managed and hosted by the award-winning 501 (c) 3 media non-profit, World Animal Awareness Society and WA2S Films: https://www.WA2S.org #AniFab loves documentaries! We also welcome amateur films or videos from people that may lack technical knowledge but want to showcase a positive initiative, or event not getting enough attention - we may be able to help in certain cases! Our goal as an organization is to bring exposure to everyday stories about animals, raise money for worthy causes, and celebrate the beautiful art of filmmaking. No project can be publicly released prior to appearing at AniFab if selected. 1. Festival winners will have an opportunity to promote their films for their entire festival run on a 100,000 member social media page. 2. Festival winners and official selections will be invited to have their creations or parts of, licensed for broadcast TV. #AniFab is a service project Produced by the World Animal Awareness Society & WA2S Films an Award-Winning San Antonio, Texas based 501c3 Nonprofit AniFab, San Antonio's Animalis Fabula Film Festival was originally started as the Golden Doody Awards presented to video partners of the World Animal Awareness Society..

Last updated Sep 6, 2026

Legitimacy Analysis

Trust Signals

Festival Details

FilmFreeway communityGold festival

• Filmmaker

  I am deeply grateful to AniFab25 for their recognition — my animated film "The Fiddler Crab" has won an award! Although it is unfortunate that we couldn't be there in person, this honor greatly encourages us to continue focusing on the issues of animals. Through film storytelling, we hope to raise awareness, help more people understand these creatures, and inspire them to care for the environment and protect wildlife. Throughout the communication process, the AniFab25 team has been incredibly proactive and professional, with a passionate and friendly attitude. Thank you so much to AniFab25 for everything you have done.

• Filmmaker

  This was an experience to remember. From the moment we first heard our film was selected right up to the festival itself, the organizers could not have been more helpful. Special thanks to Tom McPhee who even wrote a press release for us, which helped us to get us funding from my University (University of Bristol: thanks too!) to fly our director, Maddy Pull, out to San Antonio. The team also organized a Q&A panel in which Maddy Pull took part, and while there Maddy made a valuable contact with a production company. If you are thinking of submitting an animal-themed film to a festival, and you want feel that you and your work are valued, then this is the festival you want to submit to. Winning a prize was the icing on the cake, but the biggest prize was being part of Animalis Fabula!

• Filmmaker

  Thank you so much for this incredible news! It is truly a great honor for us to receive this award-winner at #AniFab25, San Antonio's Animalis Fabula Film Festival! We would have loved to share this special moment with you in Texas. We sincerely apologize for not being able to attend with our NGO Ailerons and our filmmakers from France. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the entire festival team. Your professionalism, dedication, and support throughout the selection process have been remarkable. Even from afar, we felt your passion and the care you put into celebrating each project. Knowing that our work was recognized by such a committed and thoughtful team makes this award even more meaningful to us. We are also deeply touched by the warmth and generosity you have shown us since the very first exchanges. Your attention to detail and your kindness truly reflect the spirit of your festival. It is rare to encounter such humanity and such a genuine desire to highlight the work of filmmakers from around the world, especially as the movie was in B.O. Please know that your recognition gives us strength and motivation to continue creating, exploring, and telling meaningful stories and fight for marine unprotected creatures such as the Mobula devil rays. We will always remember this honor, our first award, and we hope to have the opportunity to meet you in person in the future, in US or in Europe maybe, who knows? Thank you as well for giving a voice to projects like ours and for supporting independent creativity with so much heart. Your efforts, your passion, and your openness contribute to making this industry a better and more inspiring place. This is the very first winning-award of our career, and we are deeply grateful. Your message and your kind words touched us profoundly — both in heart and in spirit. We feel truly blessed. Thank you again for everything. Best regards, Mobula, The Devil’s Legend team Matthieu Lapinski William Travers Atlantine Boggio-Pascua Aurélien Guay Julien Gasc Corentin Sagnet Héloïse Lebras Stéphane Guaigant Stéphanie Peynaud Alec Magnan Pierre-Etienne Larrous Pierre Léo Paul

• Filmmaker

  Animalis Fabula is one of the best film festivals for animal lovers. Thoughtfully curated and impeccably organized, the festival brings together powerful films. The atmosphere is warm and engaged, the audiences are curious and generous, and the conversations around the films are genuinely enriching. The staff and volunteers are lovely - welcoming, attentive, and genuinely invested in both the filmmakers and the films. A rare festival that combines artistic rigor with real ethical and emotional depth. Highly recommended!

• Filmmaker

  Animalis was a wonderful experience to share my student film! I am honored to have participated in such a strong line up of film-makers. Thank you for letting me join a group of creatives with animal stories to tell.

FilmFreeway reviews are filmmaker opinions, not our score. Cross-check red flags before paying fees.

Related Festivals in United States