| Komikazen International Reality Comics Festival | |
|---|---|
| Status | active |
| Genre | Comics |
| Venue | MAR (Ravenna Museum of Art) and other venues |
| Location(s) | Ravenna Rimini |
| Country | Italy |
| Inaugurated | 2005 |
| Most recent | 2016 |
| Organized by | Mirada Cultural Association |
| Website | KomikazenFestival.org[dead link] |
The Komikazen International Reality Comics Festival (Italian: Komikazen festival internazionale del fumetto di realtà) was an annual festival focusing on non-fiction comics. It occurred every year between 2005 and 2016 in Ravenna, Italy, usually in the month of October. Komikazen was sponsored by the Mirada Association and organized by Elettra Stamboulis and Gianluca Costantini.
"Created with the aim of researching and investigating the relationships between the presentation of reality and graphic literature,"[1] the festival was intended to promote and celebrate Ravenna as the capital of "reality-based" comics. The festival had no commercial areas, but instead focused on exhibitions, workshops, and discussions.
As in the French city of Angoulême during the Angoulême International Comics Festival, shops in Ravenna often customized their window displays with comics themes during the festival period. Related exhibitions in various venues in the Ravenna area generally remained on display for at least a month after the festival.