Now in its 12th year, annual visual content exhibition HelloFest is on the up and up with an increasing number of participants and rising public enthusiasm.

From a small-scale event held in a shop-house when it started in 2004, this year the exhibition will be held at the Plenary Hall and main lobby of the Jakarta Convention Center in Senayan, Central Jakarta, to accommodate the targeted 20,000 visitors on Sept. 24 and 25.

“It’s time to upgrade our presence in the development of creative talent and the industry,” said Hellofest founder and chairman for this year’s event, animation artist Wahyu Aditya, who established the HelloMotion animation course academy.

He was speaking at the recent press conference attended by Hari Santosa Sungkari, the Deputy of Creative Economy Infrastructure at the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf).

Dubbed the largest event of its type in Southeast Asia, the festival serves as a gauge of creativity for visual content appreciation in Indonesia.

Similarly to previous years, there would be work exhibitions from both local and international talents, including graphic design, art installations, as well as comics and animation videos.

A cosplay show called KostuMasa, performances from YouTube artists, a collaborative performance of musicians and visual content creators and talk shows on film and visual arts are among the list of events at the two-day festival.

However, the highlight of the festival will be a movie screening, where the audience can enjoy watching short films arranged as they would be in a music concert. Visitors can also enjoy the new cinematic experience of watching silent films through peep holes.

HelloFest 2016 is set to screen hundreds of local and foreign short films, including one directed by musician Eva Celia and the work of renowned Vine video creator Pinot.

“Besides the screenings, every year we also hold a short movie competition to find new talent in the creative industries and bring them to the bigger stage,” said Wahyu.

Since the submission period was announced in June, the organizer has received more than 500 works for three categories: animation and non-animation films with a maximum duration of eight minutes and the “8 detik pas!” category that sets a limit of eight seconds on the dot.

The latter category has attracted 244 submissions with the winners’ works to be screened at the festival.

The judges include filmmakers Angga Dwimas Sasongko, Ipang Wahid and visual director Motulz.

A member of Japan’s Asiagraph Committee, HelloFest has channeled the winning films to international short film festivals, which have so far collected 12 awards.

Angga, whose short film Strangely Beautiful won the competition in the second year of the festival in 2005, said a short movie was not only a stepping stone for filmmakers but also had potential economic value.

“The film industry needs re-generation, quality filmmakers, and for that purpose we need a platform and an event such as HelloFest to net them.”

Wahyu said that under the mission of developing young creators, HelloFest was also scouting for talent while providing workshops on creative videos such as a recent one held at the Tangerang Youth Correctional Institution. The works of several juvenile inmates produced as part of that workshop will also be exhibited at the festival.

For those with the determination to establish a profession in the visual content industry, the organizer will connect them with the government programs and send them overseas for capacity-building programs.

“Si Juki creator Faza Meonk was one of the HelloFest exhibitors we brought to Tokyo, which led him to a collaboration with a Japanese media company and triggered him to produce more since then,” said Wahyu.

Si Juki is the most popular comic character which currently has its own animation series and mobile games while expecting its debut animated film next year.

At the festival, HelloMotion Academy will launch its vocational high school HelloMotion School with a new academic year starting next year.

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Pre-sale tickets are available at hellofest.com with prices ranging from Rp 52,500 (US$3.99) to Rp 80,000.

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