FOUR times Oscar winner Peter Lord, co-founder of Aardman Animations Ltd, opens the 21st Bradford Animation Festival next month at the National Media Museum.

It will be his second visit to the festival since 2005, the year Aardman won its fourth Oscar for the Wallace and Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Mr Lord will be giving a 90-minute screen talk at Pictureville Cinema starting at 4.30pm on Monday, November 17.

Festival director Deb Singleton said: “Normally we get about 800 delegates. Some come for the whole time, others for particular events. It’s the nature of animation festivals perhaps that they attract people in the business or who hope to get into animation.

“What sets us apart I think is the quality of guests and the fact that we screen about 150 films during the festival, so people can watch films and ask questions of people in the industry.

“People like Peter Lord are inspirational speakers. He’ll talk about the Aardman studio and what they’re doing in the future. It’s great for our audiences, predominantly students, to have that opportunity.”

While the bulk of the festival is aimed at people involved in animation, the public has not been left out. On November 22, for example, there is a families and children day with screenings of sing-along Frozen and Kirikou and the Sorceress.

This day concludes with an awards ceremony in the Cubby Broccoli cinema for the Young Animator of the Year – films made by children of 16 and under.

This year 65 films were submitted in that category. They will be screened and judged throughout the festival, with the announcement of the winner on the evening of the final day.

For the first time the festival is hosting the AISFA Award, as Deb Singleton explained: “The Association for International Animated Film was founded in France in the 1960s. Each year a different animation festival is asked to host it. We know who the winner is, but all I can say is that it is a UK-based animator – not from Bradford.

“The award is given in recognition of creative excellence and the contribution made to the art of animation,” she said.

The recipient of the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award is world renowned animation producer Claire Jennings, who does the behind-the-scenes work to ensure that films are made. She is being honoured on November 19, starting at 11.30am in Pictureville.

Claire Jennings began her career in 1989 in London. In the 25 years since then, her work, which includes Coraline, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Father and Daughter, has won her Academy Awards and British Baftas.

The 21st Animation Festival is at the National Media Museum from November 17 to 22. The box office number is 0844 8563797.