12 Animated Features Selected for Fest Anča 2024
Now in its 17th year, the Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Žilina, Slovakia, from 25 to 30 June 2024) will screen 12 feature films in its programme, nine for adults and three for children.
This year's theme for the Academy Award-qualifying festival is Nightmare, and the features that will screen reflect this broad theme in some form. On the reasoning behind the theme, Fest Anča festival programme director Jakub Spevák says: "In light of developments in previous months, we sensitively perceive that our dream of a better world descends into a nightmare from which we can’t easily wake up."
Feature Films for Adults
Christiane Cegavske's 'Blood Tea and Red String', created over the course of 13 years, transports the audience into a mystical world. One screening will include the film's soundtrack performed live by Slovak sound artist Bolka, to take place outdoors at the Stanica Žilina-Záriečie. 'Aurora's Sunrise' by Inna Sahakyan tells the true story of the eponymous 14-year-old girl, who survived the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and escaped to New York. Fest Anča will also screen cult Japanese anime 'Perfect Blue' by Satoshi Kon, also known for 'Paprika'. This psychological thriller follows Mima, a rising pop star, as her collaborators turn up dead.
'Perfect Blue' by Satoshi Kon
'The Boy and the Heron' by master animator Hayao Miyazaki rounds out the festival's selection of feature anime. The Studio Ghibli film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film earlier this year at the 2024 Oscars. Set in a 19th-century Victorian village, Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride' follows Victor, who marries a mysterious dead bride while his real bride waits for him in the world of the living. Pop culture classic 'Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase' by Jim Stenstrum follows the Scooby Gang trapped in a video game as they fight against the "Phantom Virus".
'Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase" by Jim Stenstrum
'Unicorn Boy' by Matt Kiel lets audiences into an alternate world inhabited by unicorns, whom down-on-his-luck protagonist Matty must help save. The eco-forward, anti-war 'Unicorn Wars' by Alberto Vázquez follows an army of teddy bears that trains young recruits to fight against unicorns who threaten their existence. Dash Shaw's 'Cryptozoo' is set at a zoo that rescues and houses mythological creatures, where "cryptozookeepers" attempt to contain a dream-eating hybrid creature known as a Baku.
Feature Films for Children
The Czech-Slovak-Hungarian co-production 'Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light' by Filip Pošivač is a stop-motion tale following the adventures of Tony, an 11-year-old boy born with a unique characteristic: he can't stop glowing. 'Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia" by Julien Chheng and Jean-Christophe Roger features Ernest, a bear, and Celestine, a mouse, who work together to overturn a ban on music in the former's country. In coming-of-age feature 'Nina and the Hedgehog's Secret' by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, ten-year-old Nina embarks on a journey to bring back her father's love of storytelling after he lost his job.
'Nina and the Hedgehog's Secret' by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
The 17th Fest Anča International Animation Festival takes place between 25 and 30 June 2024.
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