The Bradford Animation Festival gets under way next week... and organisers have pulled out all the stops for the event’s 20th birthday bash.

Running from Tuesday until Saturday, next week at the National Media Museum, the BAF, as it is fondly known, is one of the highlights of the movie festival calendar and attracts guests from across the globe.

And this year is no exception, with headliners including TV comedian, writer and actor Adam Buxton, British animation superstar Cyriak Harris, graphic novelist Dave McKean and Czech director Michaela Pavlatova.

The stars behind animation – and that includes video games, for which BAF features a special strand – aren’t necessarily recognise-in-the-street famous, which is why it’s all the more special to have them coming out from behind the cameras, drawing boards and computer monitors for the festival.

One of those guests is an Oscar winner, too – Australian stop-motion animation director and writer Adam Elliot, creator of the short film Harvie Krumpet which scooped an Academy Award, as well as the feature film Mary and Max, which won top industry honour the Annecy Cristal in 2009.

It’s a return visit for comedian Adam Buxton, who will host an exclusive festival edition of his show BUG next Thursday, the British Film Institute’s live comedy and music video show. Adam brought BUG to the Bradford International Film Festival 2013 in April, and it was a sell-out performance.

BUG promises a set of awe-inspiring animated music videos and astounding online nuggets. This unique show for BAF 2013 will also feature a live interview with British animation superstar, Cyriak Harris. Cyriak began spreading his surreal animations across the internet in 2004. Commissions have included music videos, viral campaigns, TV adverts, titles and channel idents, with clients ranging from Coca Cola to the BBC.

Deb Singleton, director of Bradford Animation Festival at the National Media Museum, says: “We’re delighted to be celebrating our 20th BAF birthday with such a fantastic and varied line-up of screenings and guests, including globally renowned animators.

“We will be delving into all aspects of the creative process at this year’s festival, revealing the very latest cutting edge techniques in masterclasses suitable for professional animators and students, along with retrospectives and practical workshops aimed at younger animation fans.

“We’ll also be screening 124 short films in competition and panorama from 29 countries, along with some of the most acclaimed feature animations to delight audiences of all ages.’’ On Wednesday Visionary UK artist and filmmaker Dave McKean will demonstrate his work and creative achievement as a globally-acclaimed comic book artist, illustrator, graphic designer, filmmaker and animator.

A frequent collaborator with writer Neil Gaiman, McKean has brought his distinctive vision to a range of fields, illustrating Gaiman’s Violent Cases, Black Orchid, The Sandman, Signal to Noise and Mr Punch, as well as the children’s picture books, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls. His own celebrated graphic narrative, Cages, addresses the creative process itself. His feature films include Mirrormask and Luna.

McKean has also worked as a conceptual artist on two Harry Potter movies; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban & Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, produced books of photography, book covers and album sleeve art, and has proven adept in all aspects of visualisation.

Widely recognised as one of the leading contemporary women animators, Czech director Michaela Pavlatova joins BAF 2013 for a masterclass and selective retrospective. Her films, often dealing with relationships and using ironic black humour, have won many prizes in festivals around the world, including an Oscar nomination for Words, Words, Words and the Golden Bear in Berlin for Repete. Her latest short film Tram was awarded the Annecy Cristal in 2012 and screened in competition at BAF 2012.

There will also be a special screentalk with Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders, premiering a unique documentary recounting the history of their company – Mackinnon and Saunders – which is one of the most prestigious puppet and animation companies in the world, with their CV including Bob the Builder, Postman Pat and Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie as well as Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox.

BAF Game 2013 takes place as part of the Bradford Animation Festival this year from on Wednesday and Thursday. Headline speakers include industry legend Warren Spector, who has worked on seminal titles such as the magnificent sci-fi horror System Shock, future-noir role-playing game Deus Ex and more recently Disney Epic Mickey. Other headline guests announced to date include Crystal Dynamics’ Brian Horton, Senior Art Director on the critically acclaimed Tomb Raider video game and ZeniMax Media's Viktor Antonov, Visual Design Director on the BAFTA Best Game 2013 award-winner Dishonored.