A master of puppetry is the Czech Jiří Trnka – universal artist, who would have celebrated 100.anniversary this year.  AniFest will screen his films from original 35 mm copies, the selection of them curated by the historian Michaela Mertová from Czech National Film Archive and accompanied by various presentations.

 Within a different tradition, a stop-motion British programme has been arranged by the animation theorist Paul Wells, to include works from 1908 till today. The Oscar-nominated Barry Purves (read interview at Zippyframes.com) will be honorary president of animfest, and Purves will reveal the secrets of his work with puppets.

 Will Vinton (Academy Award for „Closed Mondays", clay animation),  the contemporary Czech director  Michal Žabka, and Špela Čadež from Slovenia (Lovesick) will also talk about her non-traditionally designed puppets.

The well-known Polish studio  SE-MA-FOR (where films of brothers Quay, Suzie Templeton or Marek Skrobecki are produced),  the British MacKinnon & Saunders (puppet creators for Tim Buton's, Barry Purves' or Wes Anderson), and representatives of Laika Studio (Coraline), as well as  French company Sophie Roze will attend the festival.

The 11th AniFest takes place from 26/4 - 01/05/2012. Visit their official page