An international animated film festival began on Monday in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

Golden Kuker, taking place in the National Academy for Film and Theater Art and Culture Institute Iskar (23 Krastyo Pastuhov Str, Sofia), started with a carnival parade on Rakovski Str in central Sofia on Monday evening.

Animated films from around the globe will be screened, with dozens of films shortlisted out of 935 titles received for the official competition.

As many as 34 films within the selection have been submitted by Bulgarian authors, organizers say.

Golden Kuker's seventh edition will also include exhibitions by Bulgarian artists and film workshops organized "on the sidelines".

The 2016 edition is taking place under the slogan "Sofia - Creative Cinema City of UNESCO" and is themed "Man of the Future."

A bilingual (Bulgarian-English) catalog of the event can be downloaded as a PDF here.

The festival is named after the "kukeri", or mummers - practitioners of a beloved Bulgarian folklore tradition with roots from Ancient Thrace who walk around towns and cities in special costumes with animal masks between Christmas and Lent to scare away the evil spirits and to provide a good harvest, health, fertility, and happiness.

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