Prime the Animation Festival 2025

About the festival:

Prime the Animation! is an international animation festival of emerging students and professionals that generates a space for encounter and interchange, aiming at sharing their most recent works and new projects, along with activities, talks and exhibitions. A novel aspect of the festival is that the ones in charge of its direction and organization are enthusiastic students, professors and professionals about animation. 

Since its beginnings in 2013, short films elaborated by students from all over the world have participated: Spain, Denmark, Chile, Japan, United Kingdom, India, Germany, Mexico, Estonia and Canada; and, furthermore, valuable professionals as renowned as Joanna Quinn, Osbert Parker, Pablo Llorens, PriitPärn, Alberto Vazquez or Silly Walks Studio among others have taken part in this festival, enabling students to revise their projects and portfolios together with these great animation professionals.

Prime the Animation! joins in 2025  FAN (Festival Animation Network), a new network of European animation festivals together with Cinanima (Portugal), Imaginaria (Italy), Animasyros (Greece) and Animafest (Cyprus). This initiative, supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, will allow us to promote joint actions throughout 2025 and 2026, enhancing the visibility and collaboration between festivals.

2025  Call for Entries 

- All submitted films for the competition must be produced after January 1, 2024. 
- The allowed length, intro and credits included, is 12 minutes.
- The theme is free, and registration is open to all animation short films from any country in the world.
- All animation techniques are accepted (3D, 2D, stop motion, mixed media), that is, any type of short film created frame-by-frame.
- The animation short films, frame-by-frame, should include animation in at least 85% of the footage. 

Participants in each category can be:

- Student animated short films: Students (+18) or Educational Centers that have made their films within their study programs for Degrees, Master's Degrees, Training Cycles or Specialized Schools.
- New Animation Directors: First Feature Films by directors have made their first animated short film as professionals, outside of the educational programmes. 

Awards:

●Best International Animated Short Film Award
●Award Miquel Guillem Best Experimental Animation
●Best National Animated Short Film Trophy and Wacom product.
●Audience Award for Animated Short Film
●Award for Best Film Poster

• Film Festival regulations and Entry via Filmfreeway
• Deadline: 1 June 2025

2024 Festival Coverage

The International Festival of New Talents in Animated Film Prime the Animation! Celebrates its 12th Edition with the Premiere of 'Rock Bottom' by María Trenor and the Theme "Naturally" in Valencia.  This year, the festival is framed under the slogan "Naturally", highlighting the commitment to sustainability and the celebration of the city's green capital.
The opening will take place on 22 October at the Filmoteca Valenciana, where a retrospective of the work of renowned animator Juan Pablo Zaramella will be screened.
This event will culminate with the eagerly awaited Valencia premiere of Rock Bottom, the first feature film by director María Trenor, in line with the festival's philosophy. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director, offering a unique opportunity to learn more about her work and her approach to animation.

This year, the jury will be made up of leading professionals in the field of animation:

● Mafalda Salgueiro, winner of the previous edition.
● Ma Carmen Cambrils, 2D animator with extensive experience in short and feature films.
● Pedro Alpera, animator involved in feature film projects, series and other formats.

Competition Prizes:
The short films in competition will compete for several prizes, which include:
Best International Short Film (awarded by the Cañada Blanch Foundation).
Best National Short Film (sponsored by FILMIN).
Miquel Guillem Award for Best Experimental Short Film (sponsored by Dragonframe).
Audience Award.
Best Project Award (MIFA 2025 Pass sponsored by Nonstop Barcelona).
Mention to the Best Poster of the Short Films (Selected by the Master of Design and Illustration UPV).
Prize for the Best GIF of the "Gifafío", in collaboration with the Club de la Animación de Generación Espontánea de la UPV (Spontaneous Generation Animation Club of the
UPV).

Summary of the Programme:

• 22 October: Opening gala at the Filmoteca Valenciana, with a screening of the work of Juan Pablo Zaramella and the premiere of 'Rock Bottom'.
• 23 October: Screenings of short films in competition at the Facultat de Belles Arts auditorium. Screening of a special programme of the Cinanima Festival of Espinho (Portugal) at the Filmoteca Valenciana
• 24th of October: Short film screenings in competition in the auditorium of the Facultat de Belles Arts, accompanied by a talk by professionals from the sector: Methodologies for success in the world of animation.
• 25 October: Continuation of the competition screenings and professional talk entitled We still don't see it clearly.
• 26th October: In the Nave 3 Ribes, the professional day includes a talk by Dune Blanco about animation processes. The festival closing will take place at the Filmoteca Valenciana with the awards ceremony and the screening of the list of winners.

In addition, this year, for the famous professional day, at the Centre de Cultura Nave 3 Ribes (Valencia) the selected projects will be pitched; a talk about a success story and a one-to-one portfolio review will follow, in the presence of animation professionals.

 2018 festival news (archive):

• List of festival guests
• Selection results