4  feature animation films screen at Animocje International Animated Film Festival this year (8-13 April 2025, Bydgoszcz, Poland): the Oscar-nominated 'Memoir of a Snail' by Adam Elliot is gracing the festival with its adult, quirky stop-motion vibes. 'Sultana's Dream' by Isabel Herguera, a European Film Award-nominated film, tells the story of a Spanish artist stumbling in a 1905 Indian science fiction story (in which women rule the country while men live in seclusion).

The coming-of-age 'Boys Go to Jupiter' by Julian Glander (US) and 'Living Large' by Kristina Dufkova (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France) complete the feature film lineup.

95 animation short films (out of 3000+ films submitted) made it into the festival's competition categories.  Browsing through the main Animocje Festival competition, we check the Oscar-nominated 'Beautiful Men' by Nicolas Keppens; the somehow under-appreciated horror story 'Matta and Matto' by Swiss directors  Bianca Caderas and Kerstin Zemp; the French queer animation doc 'Gigi' by Synthia Calvi, the story of a gender transition; and the Oscar-awarded stop-motion film 'Wander to Wonder' by Nina Gantz.   (Jury members / Main Competition: Daria Kashcheeva, Katarzyna Kijek, Stephen Vuillemin).

Oscar-nominee Daria Kashcheeva (Daughter, Electra) has her own masterclass during Animocje Festival; in the talk Behind the Scenes of Emotions: Daughter & Electra, she will talk about the development, production and post-production process of her two films -she will also give a brief glimpse into her the currently developed project, the feature film film 'They/Them'. 

Electra

Stephen Vullemin (A Kind of A Testament) has his own exhibition, 'Stolen Pictures'.

I gathered images from all corners of the internet online shopping stores, private photos, Instagram reels, painting reproductions, and more and attempted to replicate them. The common thread between these images was that I was drawn to them, each for different reasons. All my renderings were hand-drawn using the same technique, aiming to replicate the originals as closely as my drawing skills allowed - Stephen Vullemin

Stephen Vullemin exhibition / Stolen Pictures

Be sure to check the Wild Child tribute (curated by Katarzyna Kijek), a programme on 'wild people discovered' by Europeans, that includes 'Oh, Willy...' (Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels), and 'Feral' by Daniel Sousa.

In the 'Anima. Masters of Polish animation' a meeting with Jerzy Armata, author of the eponymous book and Eugeniusz Gordziejuk the publisher of the book, is being organized (hosted by Piotr Zwierzchowski simultaneous translation into English). This is a comprehensive publication that explores the legacy of Polish auteur animation, both in a historical and thematic context to the present day.

Another book presentation: The Social Worlds of the Studio of Small Film Forms "Se-Ma-For" in Łódź by Ewa Ciszewska, Agata Hofelmajer-Roś, Michał Pabiś-Orzeszyna, and Szymon Szul

Stop-motion studio Se-Ma-For (1946-1999) now gets its book-length treatment (and Animocje Festival presentation). From the event description: Rather than focusing solely on the interpretation of canonical works, the book shifts attention to the non-aesthetic aspects of film production, uncovering previously unknown dimensions of animation studio operations.

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Peter and the Wolf, dir. Suzie Templeton (Se-Ma-For)

Annecy Festival programmer Sebastien Sperer has his own programme of 'Roots Bloody Roots' , a set of nine animated works, directed by experienced authors and rising star students, considered (or not) as "'funny, freaky, tricky, crazy, loony and many other words that end with the phonetic sound [I]".

Katarzyna Łaska, winner of the festival's Special Achievement Award for Dubbing, has lent her voice to numerous animated films and TV series. In the Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Disney film Frozen (performed as Elsa, singing the Polish version of 'Let It Go'). She will discuss her work in a special festival event.

Check also the Anibattle – concert by Artur Maćkowiak & Szymon Szwarc featuring a Visual Animation battle between the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and the University of Arts in Poznań.

The full list of animation short films selected for Animocje Festival 2025:

Main Competition

Almost Forgotten / Quase Me Lembro, Dimitri Mihajlovic, Miguel Lima, Portugal 2023, 9’06’’
Autopsy of a meal, Hugo Usai, France 2023, 5’37’’
Beautiful Men, Nicolas Keppens, Belgium 2023, 18’35’’
Duck Broth / Rosół z kaczki, Maria Dakszewicz, Poland 2024, 4’41’’ 
Don't give them room to grow, Karine Bille, France 2024, 13’09’’
Extremely Short, Koji Yamamura, Japan 2024, 5’18’’
Familes' Albums / Albums de familles, Moïa Jobin-Paré, Canada 2023, 8’28’’
Gigi, Cynthia Calvi, France 2023, 13’55’’
Girls are made to make love / Les filles c’est fait pour faire l’amour, Jeanne Paturle, Cécile Rousset, Jeanne Drouet, France 2024, 15’49’’
Martyr’s Guidebook / Jak być męczennikiem, Maksymilian Rzontkowski, Poland 2023, 8’51’’
Matta and Matto, Bianca Caderas, Kerstin Zemp, Switzerland 2023, 10’16’’
Mr. Professor! / Panie Profesorze!, Dominika Tkaczyk, Poland 2023, 15’01’’
Peeping Mom / Le sexe de ma mère, Francis Canitrot, France 2023, 14’53’’
Skroll, Marten Visser, Netherlands 2024, 6’29’’
Smell Of The Ground / Zapach ziemi, Olivia Rosa, Poland 2023, 7’47’’
Supersilly, Veronica Martiradonna, France 2024, 9’30’’
Tako Tsubo, Fanny Sorgo, Eva Pedroza, Austria, Germany 2024, 6’04’’
The Car that came back from the Sea, Jadwiga Kowalska, Poland 2023, 10’48’’
The Forest is on Fire / Het Bos staat in Brand, Louise Rogiers, Belgium 2024, 5’16’’
The Roe Deer / Le Chevreuil, Delphine Priet-Mahéo, France 2024, 9’22’’
The Shyness of Trees, Bingqing Shu, Maud Le Bras, Jiaxin Huang, Simin He, Lina Han, Loïck Du Plessis D’argentré, Sofiia Chuikovska, France 2024, 8’56’’
There will be no other end / Innego końca nie będzie, Piotr Milczarek, Poland 2024, 8’04’’
Volcelest, Éric Briche, France 2024, 14’33’’
Wander to Wonder, Nina Gantz, Belgium 2023, 13’50’’
When it comes (it will have your eyes) / Etorriko da (eta zure begiak izango ditu), Izibene Oñederra, Spain 2024, 12’46’’
Why Don't You Touch Me? / Proč se mě nedotýkáš?, Eliška Oz, Czech Republic 2025, 6’17’’

‍The Car that Came Back from the Sea

Films for Children and Young Adults Competition

3+

Baking With Boris, Maša Avramović, France 2024, 8’15’’
Hide Out / 児蔵, Jing Jia Huang, Taiwan 2024, 5’30’’
Hoofs on skates / Kanopos ir pačiūžos, Ignas Meilūnas, Lithuania 2024, 12’24’’
Mojappi - It’s mine! / モジャッピ　〜いただき！ホットケーキ〜, Nijitaro, Japan 2024, 3’12’’
Tears of the little cloud, Anya Ru, Masha Rumyantseva, Italy 2024, 4’16’’
The Carp and the Child / La Carpe et l'enfant, Morgane Simon, Arnaud Demuynck, France 2024, 6’53’’
Tuu Tuu Til, Veronica Solomon, Germany 2024, 4’32’’

7+

Banjo Girl, Kater Becker, Netherlands 2024, 5’36’’
Bobel's Kitchen, Fiona Rolland, Belgium 2024, 10’25’’
Forever Seven, Antje Heyn, Alexander Isert, Germany 2024, 9’26’’
Hello Summer / Ahoj leto, Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová, Slovakia 2024, 10’45’’
Lola and the Sound Piano / Lola i pianino hałasów / Lola et le Piano à bruits, Augusto Zanovello, France, Poland, Switzerland 2024, 27’52’’
The drifting guitar, Sophie Roze, France 2024, 29’55’’
The Girl With The Occupied Eyes / A Menina com os Olhos Ocupados, André Carrilho, Portugal 2024, 7’55’’
The Littlest Hoglet, Tom Hooker, Nathan Erasmus, United KIngdom 2024, 4’21’’
The Night Boots / Les Bottes de la Nuit, Pierre-Luc Granjon, France 2024, 12’29’’
The Night tunnel / Le Tunnel de la nuit, Miguel Español Celiméndiz, Belgium 2024, 8’58’’
Toti, Maëlle Chevallier, Switzerland 2024, 6’03’

12+

Cat, Fox and the wolf / Le Chat, le Renard et le loup, Aurore Muller Feuga, France 2024, 11’44’’
Dragfox, Lisa Ott, United Kingdom 2024, 8’10’’
In Ten Minuets, 十分等待, Fu Xiaoyue, China 2024, 5’16’’ - the film will not be shown for reasons beyond the organizer's control
My name is Edgar and I have a cow / Jmenuju se Edgar a mam kravu, Filip Diviak, Czech Republic 2023, 7’47’’
On the 8th Day / Au 8ème Jour, Agathe Sénéchal, Alicia Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin, Théo Duhautois, France 2023, 8’12’’
Polliwog / Kaulquappe, Julia Skala, Germany 2024, 9’13’’
The Refusers, Wiep Teeuwisse, Netherlands 2024, 2’31’’
Touching Darkness, Jamaica Kindlová, Czech Republic 2024, 4’50
Yuck! / Beurk !, Loïc Espuche, France 2023, 13’10’’

15+

Ashen Sun / Soleil Gris, Camille Monnier, France 2023, 12’53’’
Balkone, Xenia Smirnov, Germany 2024, 5’20’’
Beef For Climate, Mona D'hertefelt, Belgium 2024, 3’55’’
Catlands / Macek med vrati, Ana Cigon, Slovenia 2024, 9’44’’
Flower Show, Elli Vuorinen, Finland 2024, 8’31’’
Humanity, Tereza Kovandová, Czech Republic 2024, 7’46’’
My Mom / Moja mama, Agnieszka Popińska, Poland 2024, 12’40’’
My teenage blackout, Basile Khatir, France 2024, 10’20’’
Potates / Ziemniaki, Marcin Podolec, Poland 2023, 4’03’’
Rising Above, Natálie Durchánková, Czech Republic 2023, 4’12’’
Summer 96 / Été 96, Mathilde Bédouet, France 2023, 12’13’’

Flower Show
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Music Films Competition

Au coeur du son, Marie Larrive, Lucas Malbrun, France 2024, 4’30’’
Bob Dylan's Big Dick (mus. Frank & Beans), Chris Lambourne, United Kingdom 2024, 2’52’’
Calling My Existence (mus. Gregor Kocjančič), Gregor Kocjančič, Slovenia 2023, 4’31’’
De Imperio, Alessandro Novelli, Portugal 2023, 13’15’’
Dark Mystery Enigma Bird (mus. Nap Eyes), Jordan Minkoff, Canada 2024, 4’57’’
Esca, Felice Ronzon, France 2024, 6’41’’
Freeride in C, Edmunds Jansons, Latvia 2024, 10’12’’
Just Little Imps / São Só Diabretes, Students from Highschool of Escola Básica Maria Pais Ribeiro - A Ribeirinha, Leonor Pacheco, Dimitrije Mihajlovic, Portugal 2023, 3’07’’
Legion (mus. Gruzja), Kamil Wójcik, Cat Kaczmarek, Poland 2024, 5’00’’
Macaroni Moon (mus. The Rare Occasions), Stefano Bertelli, Italy 2024, 3’10’’
Sabana y banano (mus. Ëda Diaz), Juliette Laboria, France 2024, 3’24’’
She dolls with dollies / Sie puppt mit Puppen, Karin Fisslthaler, Austria 2024, 2’43’’
States of Matter, Marvin Hauck, Netherlands 2024, 6’59’’
Toute seule dans son pull (mus. Rien Faire), Rémi Richarme, France 2023, 5’49’’
Voiceless, Samuel Patthey, Switzerland 2024, 15’23’’
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Play-off

Ask Albert / Albert szerint, Szandra Pataki, Hungary 2024, 12’09’’
Feel like home, Aneta Siurnicka, Poland 2024, 5’40’’
Flatastic, Alice Saey, France 2024, 17’30’’
Hot and Cold / Ciepło Zimno, Jakub Siedlecki, Poland 2023, 8’10’’
Jet Lag, Dustin Morrow, United States 2024, 5’35’’
Keep Frozen! / ​​Ne rompez pas la chaîne du froid !, Jeanne Tiessé, France 2023, 7’59’’
My good boy, Sara Priorelli, Hungary 2024, 5’56’’
No Room / Nema mjesta, Jelena Oroz, Croatia 2024, 6’22’’
On Hold, Delia Hess, Switzerland 2024, 7’11’’
Pear Garden / Baghe Golabi, Shadab Shayegan, Germany 2024, 7’04’’
Stale Smoke / Tabac Froid, Arthur Jamain, France 2023, 9’30’’
Stampfer Dreams, Thomas Renoldner, Austria 2024, 11’50’’
Society of Clothes / Les Gens dans l’Armoire, Dahee Jeong, France 2024, 15’09’’
The Bear and the Bird / L'Ourse et l'Oiseau, Marie Caudry, France 2024, 26’34’’
The Little Ancestor / La Petite Ancêtre, Alexa Tremblay-Francoeur, Canada 2024, 11’12’’ 
Thoughts during meditation / Tankar under meditation, Thomas Costa Freté, Sweden 2024, 4’24’

Stampfer Dreams

The full festival programme

The 14th Animocje Festival Poster

Animocje Festival takes place between 8 and 13 April in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

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