The Animation Journal has released a special edition entirely dedicated to the Sharjah Animation and Comics Conference (SACC), which returns from 22 to 25 October 2026 for its fourth edition. The 60-page issue explores the talents, studios and stories behind one of the fastest-growing meeting points in international animation. It is available to read online now.
A conference that grows in every direction
SACC is an initiative of the Sharjah Book Authority. Its third edition in 2025 welcomed more than 5,600 visitors and creative professionals from 18 countries. This year the event opens to comics and aims to develop a dedicated Animation and Comics Market, designed to turn creative encounters into concrete business.
The programme runs across four themed days, devoted in turn to feature films, TV series, short films and Animation Next, the technologies and business models redefining the medium. Talks and panels sit alongside hands-on workshops, screenings, a business track and evening concerts with the Florence Pops Orchestra.
“SACC brings together creators, producers, publishers and broadcasters from the Arab world, Asia, Africa and Europe at the same table,” says Cristina Angelucci, Editor-in-Chief of The Animation Journal. “The future of animation will not be written in a single capital, but in many places and many languages. Sharjah is one of them.”
Inside the issue
The special edition opens with two exclusive interviews. SACC Executive Director Khoula Al Mujaini argues that animation’s evolution “must remain grounded in human creativity.” Artistic Director Pietro Pinetti describes Sharjah as the place where animation meets the world.
The rest of the issue is organised as a journey across regions and disciplines:
- Pixar Life. Doug Sweetland and Andrew Gordon look back on Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Presto, and discuss what will make a great animator in the age of AI.
- Spotlight on Japan. Shuzo John Shiota retraces four decades of Polygon Pictures.
- Spotlight on MENA. The issue examines how the region is moving from consumer market to producer and IP owner. It covers public incentives, new co-productions with Asia, and two emerging models for regional IP from Blink Studios and Giraffics. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Zümrüt Pakoy also explains what makes a local hit travel.
- Spotlight on South Korea and Africa. Park Chang-ha explains how webtoons are reinventing comics. Ali Rguigue and Ferdy Adimefe explore new frontiers between Africa and the Arab world, and Kawtar Waddi makes the case for independent animation.
- Talents. Usman Riaz talks about the ten years it took to make The Glassworker. Ashish Thapar takes readers inside Netflix’s Kurukshetra, and Sofia El Khyari describes how she turns poems into storyboards.
- Focus on Shorts. The section covers funding strategies, scaling an idea from short to long-form, and the routes from student films to studio careers.
- AI and Animation. EyeTell, Sinai.ai, KidsAI, Akil Wade and Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East discuss how technology can enhance creativity without replacing it.
- Techniques. Adham Sayed and Tala Tourgane reveal how international characters learn to speak Arabic, and Valeria Korotina outlines YouTube as a distribution strategy for animated IP.
A meeting point the industry cannot afford to miss
Taken together, the issue portrays a region that is no longer content to import and adapt content and is ready to originate, co-produce and export it. In Pinetti’s words: “The real measure of success is not how many people meet in Sharjah, but what they go on to create together.”
Read the SACC/26 Special Edition: https://www.flipsnack.com/CFDBFAF7C6F/the-animation-journal-sacc-edition
