The International Festival of Animated Films Anifilm (5-10 May 2026, Liberec, Czech Republic) handed out its awards, which resonated with a deeply political stance (in both the narrow and broader senses).
Of course, the festival was more than films -and so, the six-day festival, which this year focused on Myths and Legends, had a blast on a wide variety of films and auteurs. From the Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon (Brendan and the Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers) to Slavic and Arab Mythology to Classics Rebooted, this is a rich and diverse programme that makes spectators discourse with the films on screen
Stills from the winning films
đ¶ Floating, Jelena Milunovic
đ¶ Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake, Ibene Iborra Rizo
đ¶ Winter In March, Natalia Mirzoyan
đ The full list at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
#anifilm #animationfestival #indieanimation #europeananimation #zippyframes
Hosted by Jane Mumford, the Award Ceremony of the 33rd Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS, 5-10 May 2026) took place on Saturday evening, 9 May.
The international festival, which this year welcomed around 30,000 guests to its cinemas, 300+ filmmakers internationally (and around 40,000 visitors to its Open Air programme at Schlossplatz), gave six film awards and one project award across the various competition categories.
A German/French film, 'With Tapes and Toasts in the Car' by Kiana Naghshineh (a Filmakademie Baden-WĂŒrttemberg @filmakademie_bw graduate) won the festival's Grand Prix and became Oscar-qualified. The film, which tells the story of a terminal cancer patient with much narrative inventiveness, also won the festival's Audience Award.
đ Find all the winners at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
Photos:
With Tapes and Toasts in the Car
A Story About Fire, Li Wenyu
The Naughty Seat, David Johnson
#animationfestival #indieanimation #itfs #itfsstuttgart #europeananimation #zippyframes
Accidentally caught in the middle of a new French Revolution with a bourgeois girlfriend? Thatâs the life of the titular 16-year-old in âBlaiseâ, a new feature by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue about an awkward teen with few social skills and two maladjusted parents to boot.
Produced by Franceâs KG Productions @kgproductions_fr âBlaiseâ is the only animated entry of this yearâs ACID sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival.
We talked to the director Dimitri Planchon on the occasion of the film's world premiere (the film also competes at the Annecy Festival)
The full story at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
@festivaldecannes
#indieanimation #featureanimation #europeananimation #animationfeature #zippyframes
"When I needed to depict the military threat of Russia attacking Ukraine in the film, I tried to draw an oil monster trampling the houses of civilians. But I eventually realized I couldn't come up with a more terrifying image than a real missile flying in the sky. Interpretation is good when it adds something to the plot and makes the situation more profound, but not here. I like that the film starts out as a stupid balls joke, then suddenly shifts and shocks the viewer with reality."
Ukrainian animation director Mykyta Lyskov talks to Zippy Frames about the Estonian-produced (@eesti_joonisfilm ) 'Kyiv Cake', a 22-minute animation film on a family who has to first to face an economic hardship and then an invasion.
The film screens (int'nl competition) of the upcoming Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (@itfs_festival_stuttgart )
đ The full interview at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
#indieanimation #ukraine #ukrainiananimation #estoniananimation #europeananimation #zippyframes
22 animation features in competition, 14 animation features in the 'Annecy Presents' section, and 5 animation features in the Midnight section.
Psychologists, influencers, kids and friends separated, and a gay hairdresser at the center stage this June.
đ The full list of the animation feature selection for the 2026 Annecy Festival at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
Stills:
Lucy Lost by Olivier Clert (France)
Decorado by AlbertoVĂĄzquez (Spain)
We Are Aliens by Kohei Kadowaki (Japan, France)
Welcome to Dolly's House by Seven Ych, Rady Fu, and Tree Muta (Taiwan)
#animationfeature #indieanimation #europeananimation #annecyfestival #zippyframes
The winners of the 15th Animocje Festival (21-26 April 2026, Bydgoszcz, Poland) have been announced.
After a highly successful run with 'Miserable Miracle'. Japanese animation artist Ryo Orikasa fuses Japanese literature (a prose poem by Makoto Takayanagi) and animation again in his 'Graffiti' animation short, and won the festival's Grand Prix.
A special mention went to the Berlinale-premiered, 11-minute Hungarian film, 'Wish You Were Ear' by Mirjana Balogh. The film is a fictional story of ex-partners who still carry visible marks of their former partners on their bodies.
Two other special mentions were awarded to the immigrant-themed film 'Can you hear me?' by Anastazja Naumenko and the Aesopian fable 'The Sycamore' by Jared D. Wess.
đ All the winners at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
Stills:
Graffiti, Ryo Orikasa
Wish You Were Ear, dir. Mirjana Balogh @mirjna
The Sycamore @jdweiss25
#indieanimation #animationfestival #europeananimation #zippyframes
StopTrik International Film Festival launches its call for entries for its September edition (23-27 September, Maribor, Slovenia)
The festival looks for stop motion and experimental animated shorts which are fresh in style, innovative in storytelling, outstanding in visual form, playful or dramatic, politically engaged, philosophically contemplative, purely abstract, or simply hilarious.
Categories:
Competitive programmes:
- Stop Motion;
- Borderlands - for experimental works;
- Stop Motion for Children
Non-competitive section:
- Panorama.
Submit your films by 10 July 2026
đ Full call for entries at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
#animationfestival #stopmotionanimation #experimentalanimation #zippyframes
Nienke Deutz @nienke_deutz masterclass 3 curated programmes on "Strange",
a Sawaki Kabuko exhibition
98 animation shorts
animation features (in a non-competitive section).
Workshops on scriptwriting and stop-motion
The 15th edition of Animocje Festival (21-26 April, Bydgoszcz, Poland) is underway.
đ Find all the highlights at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
Photos: Animocje festival poster
Nienke Deutz on set
Endless Cookie feature animation
#animationfestival #indieanimation #poland #bydgoszcz #nienkedeutz europeananimaiton zippyframes
"I wouldnât be surprised if Nadavâs story were something teenagers still experience today. Itâs one thing to live in a society thatâs more open to queer existence and more people coming out, but itâs another thing to be confident in yourself and the kind of person you want to present. [...] I think fantasy will always play a role for people of all ages."
Daniel Sterlin-Altman won both the Annecy Cristal for Best Graduation Film and the Animafest Zagreb Best Student Award for his queer stop-motion animation 'Carrotica' in 2024.
The film of three characters, two humans and a carrot, is now online.
He talked to Zippy Frames about everything queer and stop-motion.
đ Full story at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
#indieanimation #queeranimation #carrot #shortanimation #europeananimation #zippyframes
"Dear Beryl, your first visit to Animafest Zagreb was in 1992, when you completely charmed the audience â full of infectious laughter, fearless and entirely your own â and you continued to prove this over the years, from Body Beautiful to Dreams and Desires, sweeping everything".
Two-time Oscar nominee, four-time BAFTA winner, 3-time EMMY winner, UK animation director and artist Joanna Quinn gets Animafest Zagreb 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award during the June festival edition.
đ The full story at zippyframes.com (link in bio)
#indieanimation #ukanimation #joannaquinn #animationfestival #zippyframes
!["I wouldnât be surprised if Nadavâs story were something teenagers still experience today. Itâs one thing to live in a society thatâs more open to queer existence and more people coming out, but itâs another thing to be confident in yourself and the kind of person you want to present. [...] I think fantasy will always play a role for people of all ages."Daniel Sterlin-Altman won both the Annecy Cristal for Best Graduation Film and the Animafest Zagreb Best Student Award for his queer stop-motion animation 'Carrotica' in 2024.The film of three characters, two humans and a carrot, is now online.He talked to Zippy Frames about everything queer and stop-motion. Full story at zippyframes.com (link in bio)#indieanimation #queeranimation #carrot #shortanimation #europeananimation #zippyframes](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6739515313285067473842_0_0d4c9f45cff023cd3db5b93e42a6384b.jpg?o=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&h=59517d6dc5f200bfaf203918dea885ab)
