BIRMINGHAM'S CHAOTIC ANIMATION NIGHT OVERLAP RETURNS THIS MONTH WITH GORILLAZ DIRECTOR JONATHAN DJOB NKONDO

17 September 2026 | The Crossing, Digbeth, Birmingham Birmingham's brilliantly chaotic celebration of animation, Overlap, returns to Digbeth on Thursday 17 September 2026, bringing together some of the most exciting names in animation alongside emerging filmmakers, questionable costumes, live performances, samosas and plenty of creative mayhem. Headlining the night is acclaimed French animator and director Jonathan Djob Nkondo, an artist whose distinctive work spans animation, illustration, sculpture, graffiti and film. Raised in Paris and trained at renowned animation school Gobelins, Jonathan has developed a recognisable visual language of dreamlike, introspective narratives where organic characters collide with bold geometric forms. His work has appeared across television and feature film, including Adult Swim's Scavengers Reign, Netflix's Love, Death & Robots, and most recently Gorillaz, directing his own segment, The Mountain, the Moon Cave and the Sad God. Jonathan will explore how his different artistic outlets overlap with one another. Graffiti and logos informing sculptural design. Comic book frames manipulating space in film. Dreams finding their way into narrative. The September event will also feature work from AJ Jefferies, a previous Overlap guest returning from Norfolk, alongside Lewis Barr, whose animation credits include Nintendo and Adult Swim. Also screening work will be Nikolaos Finizio, an Italian VFX artist whose credits include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Netflix phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters. Each event has an optional creative prompt to encourage people to make something new. September's is suitably unhinged: FERAL. FROM 30 PEOPLE TO A NEW HOME IN DIGBETH Overlap began during Birmingham's Flatpack Festival in May 2019 as a small event for around 30 people. Seven years later, after surviving Covid as an online creative hub and steadily becoming bigger, bolder and considerably stranger, Overlap is moving into a new home at The Crossing in Digbeth. Normally reserved for gigs, the venue gives Overlap an enormous screen and sound system while allowing the team to retain the deliberately informal atmosphere that has made the event what it is. Previous guests have included BAFTA and Oscar-winning animator Peter Baynton, Oscar-nominated director Nina Gantz, Cartoon Saloon Head of Story Giovanna Ferrari, Golden Wolf, Moth and Tim Burton collaborator Chris Tichborne. 'Overlap is really a social engineering project in the form of play,' explains founder Louis Hudson. 'I wanted to give animators a reason to keep developing as artists and professionals. 'There aren't many big studios around Birmingham. It's largely a cottage industry made up of people getting on with it in isolation. That's really hard to crack into, and I've seen loads of great talent move away or give up. 'The playful nature of Overlap breaks down that cringy expectation of 'networking'. People relax, experienced professionals share advice, new connections happen and, most importantly, people keep making things.' Overlap was founded by Birmingham animator Louis Hudson in May 2019 during Flatpack Festival. The quarterly animation show and tell brings together professional, emerging and first-time animators to screen work, share ideas and develop Birmingham's animation community. Each event combines submitted animation with an industry headline guest, live performance and an optional creative prompt designed to encourage participants to produce new work. The September 2026 event marks Overlap's move to The Crossing in Digbeth, providing the event with its largest screen and venue to date. overlapsocial.com Social media links Instagram BlueSky Discord