Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma (She/They) is a Spanish-American animator, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist from New York City. They received a BFA in Film/Animation/Video from the Rhode Island School of Design and are currently based in Brooklyn.
Pilar often makes her own independent animated films, while also collaborating on a range of film projects primarily as an animation director, art director, and lead animator. Outside of indie film, they work as a freelance animator and artist for clients creating shorts, music videos, educational content, gifs, cel animation, concept art and character designs. Her practice encompasses both digital and traditional techniques, typically using an interplay of the two to give a mixed-media feel to her work. Pilar's storytelling often draws inspiration from ecological systems and their symbolic qualities, and uses folk horror, magical realism, and nature to examine the emotional and psychological self through a poetic and metaphorical lens. .
Pilar is a Student Academy Award Gold medalist, a Jerome Hill Production Grant awardee, and a Glas Animation Grant recipient. Her films have been shown in Oscar-qualifying festivals such as Annecy, Slamdance, Cinanima, Animafest Cyprus, Animafest Zagreb, Animest, The Norwegian Short Film Festival, and the Brooklyn Film Festival. She has also worked on films and new media projects that have gone on to premiere at Tribeca and SXSW, win Emmys, and be shown at other prominent festivals.
Some of her clients include Adult Swim, PBS Frontline, MTV, Giphy, Buck, Ado Ato, Cartuna, and Mighty Oak.
Pilar is currently an Adjunct Professor at the School of Visual Arts BFA Animation program.
CONTACT
Thank you!
Filmography
"Pajarito" 2026, 14:35
"Colony" 2022, 13:22
"Ciervo" 2020, 10:15
“Margarita La Del Río” 2019, 4:39
Commissioned Shorts
"Sorry Not Sorry" 2023, 3:18 (Demi Lovato AMV for MTV VMAs)
"Midnight Ash" 2022, 1:49 (Adult Swim Off The Air)
"BRB I'm on my Break 01" 2021, 2:49 (Adult Swim Smalls)
"BRB I'm on my Break 02" 2021, 2:47 (Adult Swim Smalls)
Other Indie Projects
"Tell Me When You Get Home" 2026 (lead animator)
"My Black is Cracking" 2025 (animation director)
"Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire" 2024 (assistant animator)
"Super High" 2023 (animation director)
"Inner Wound Real" 2022 (lead animator and art director)
"Christopher at Sea" 2022 (colorscript and colorstyling)
"Un(Re)solved" PBS Frontline, 2020 (lead animator/compositor)
Press:
AsifaEast "The future of animation is already here and it's human"
Short of the Week Colony ReviewJerome 2023 Production Grant Recipients
RIIFF Filmmaker Spotlight Series: “Ciervo
WIA SPOTLIGHT STORIES: Class of 2020 Showcase Winners
Variety Women in Animation Unveils Class of 2020 Best Short Film Winners
IndieWire 2020 Student Academy Award Winners Are the Most Diverse Class Ever
Animation Magazine Medalists Revealed for the 2020 Student Academy Awards
El Diario "España, México and Bolivia triumph in 'The Student Oscars'”
ArtTribune "The theme of domestic violence in a new animated short"
Frizzifrizzi Mag "Ciervo: A Powerful Animated Short About Domestic Violence"
MacGuffin007 "Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma 'I Wanted to Capture the Beauty of Rural Spain'"
Animacion Para Adultos "2020: Ciervo"
Lectures and Speaking Engagements
Parsons 2025 | SAIC 2021 | SVA 2021, 2022, 2025
NFFTY SUMMIT 2021
"Animation Masterclass" lecturer: 'Indie Short Awards New York' 2022, 2023
Independent Screenings/Showcases
Gutter Show #8: Nov 14th, 2024
Loose Frames: July 6th, 2024
Malt Adult #19 : Feb 27th, 2021
Residencies/Fellowships
Djerassi Fellow 2023
Hambidge Center Fellow 2020
Awards and Grants
2023 Jerome Hill Production Grant
Glas Animation Grant 2020
Student Academy Award 2020- Animation Gold Medal
Film Festival Programming/Juries
Slamdance Doc Shorts Programmer 2021-present
Indie Short Awards Cannes Juror 2026
Indie Short Awards New York Juror 2023, 2024, 2025
Drunken Film Fest Oakland Juror 2024
NFFTY Animation Juror 2023
Installations/Galleries
"Hombres De Musgo' Djerassi Ranch hiking trail
Woodside, CA, 2023