#AniFab Reviews - A Cooperative Partnership with Austin's Texas Media Maker Editor In Chief Gabriel Ponniah

Gabriel Ponniah, Editor In Chief "The ArchAngel of Austin" Austin Alternative Screen Scene

Animalis Fabula is taken from the latin for “animal story”

Over the American Thanksgiving weekend of 2021, The World Animal Awareness Society and WA2S Films put on a show for Austin, TX.

The Animalis Fabula Film Festival, a celebration of “the best filmed​ stories about or including animals,” screened dozens of films over the course of three days at the Galaxy Theatre. A diverse mix of shorts and features, animation and live action, narrative and doc, the breadth of approach of the festival fare was matched only by the equally diverse origins of their productions, including work submitted from South Korea, France, New Zealand, Croatia—the list goes on. At the festival’s conclusion, awards were presented to the cream of the crop, and audience members (myself included) left the event with three days worth of knowledge and inspiration in tow.

But who am I?

A fair question that I’m happy to answer. My name is Gabriel Ponniah, and I had the privilege of serving as #AniFab’s resident critic this year. Some of you reading this may remember me from the festival, lurking in the lower rows, notebook at the ready. I even had the privilege of speaking with many filmmakers in attendance, and I hope that those wonderful conversations will shine through in the reviews to come. But fear not, if you missed out on this year’s festivities, for it’s now my job to review the experience on the whole for both attendee and absentee alike. And who knows—maybe I’ll see a few more of your smiling faces when next we come together to watch more animal stories.

​Enjoy.

Gabriel Ponniah, Editor In Chief
"The ArchAngel of Austin"
ATX Screen Scene

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