Raoul Servais (ASIFA president, 1988-93)

International without fuss

Many international associations began as local organisations which grew first to a national level and then, when their activities and reputations flowed across their national borders, to their legally constituted international identities. ASIFA, however was founded without these developmental steps. It was born in France, but from the very beginning, artists from east and west, from America, Europe and Asia were involved in this first attempt to create a organisation dedicated to the art of the animated film. It was not a kind of academic society with high-brow members but rather a group of enthusiastic animation filmmakers gathering together to create the possibilities for mutual understanding, for sharing experiences and exchanging information, for possible collaboration and for coming up with the formulae which could promote the art of animation around the world.

Raoul Servais