The 15th Fest Anča International Animation Festival has announced its selection of animated short films! More than 1,250 films from 68 countries all over the world were submitted to the festival this year. The selection features films from both familiar and fresh creators, offering an overview of the best animation from across Slovakia and around the world.
Only one sixth of films submitted to Fest Anča 2022 made it through to the official selection. These shorts encompass varied animation techniques, unique auteur styles and diverse themes. “We received many high-quality animated short films. It was difficult to choose, and unfortunately many good films missed out,” stated program producer Jakub Spevák and festival director Ivana Sujová.
Familiar Names & Fresh Voices
In the competition and non-competition sections, animation fans will recognize some names from previous editions of Fest Anča. These include former guests and award winners (Peter Millard, Koji Yamamura, Sarina Nihei, Steven Subotnick), as well as Chilean directors Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, who were jury members last year and this time will present their film The Bones in the World Panorama. Audiences can look forward to animated music videos by Raman Djafari, and abstract works by Hungarian animator Réka Bucsi.
The competition section will feature the Oscar-nominated porcelain animation Beast (Hugo Covarrubias, Chile). Inspired by true events, the film depicts the story of a secret police agent during the military dictatorship. The pre-selection committee was also intrigued by the film with the copious title In My Chest of Fire There Is Still Place to Temple Your Dagger: A Love Story (Pablo Martínez Ballarín, Spain), a distinctive retelling of the relationship between Ash and Pikachu. Renowned Ukrainian animator Mykyta Lyskov also appears in this selection with Imaginary Landscapes.
A third of the main competition comprises student films — for example, Wet (École des Nouvelles Images, France) depicts the recesses of a sauna, guiding viewers through a labyrinth of sensuality, bodies and steam. Student films are also represented in the Slovak competition. These include r a u u by Zlata Golecová, a recent graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts, who used various animation techniques to portray a story about a mysterious character.
Slovaks on Screen
The local artistry of Slovakia is also represented in the international selection. Once There Was a Sea… by Joanna Kożuch (which has already won the Student Jury Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival) has been selected for the main and Slovak competitions. Love, Dad (Slovakia/Czech Republic) animated documentary about the relationship between a daughter and her father by Diana Cam Van Nguyen, is part of the main competition as well. Another Czech co-production, Suzie in the Garden (Lucie Sunková), which premiered at the prestigious Berlinale 2022, will be presented in the World Panorama section.
“This year we are presenting a very balanced and diverse competition section. We’re interested to see which film appeals most to our jury,” the programmers noted, regarding the Slovak section..
Slovakia extends its animated influence into the music video competition as well, with animators Milan Stanco (Charms Kids: “Les Miserables”) and Marián Vredík (Queer Jane: “Gerard Love”). “It’s great that the music video competition is consistently high-quality — different musical styles and imaginative animations,” said Spevák. The music video section will also feature animation by Sarina Nihei (Photay: “Villain”), the winner of last year’s Anča Award for Best Animation.
Kids, Docs & Talks
Children and their parents can look forward to one competition and two non-competition sections of the best films for children at Fest Anča. This international section is full of the fun, education, creative approaches, imaginative artistic stylizations and original techniques that only animation can offer.
“We are happy to show films that have an equal dialogue with children and stimulate their imagination,” Sujová affirmed. For example, the competition section’s Elevator Alone is the story of four characters who behave differently in an elevator when alone and together. This humorous puppet animation touches on the individual-group relationship in a playful and child-friendly way. In the non-competition children’s section, Slovak animator Filip Diviak’s Sounds Between the Crowns has also been selected.
As regular visitors know, Fest Anča also includes a number of specialized sections, such as Anča in Mordor and Anča in Wonderland. And this year the festival will again feature a Short Animated Documentary section, as well as an extremely short film section dedicated to micro shorts. And of course, every year the festival presents films premiering in Slovakia “so viewers have the unique opportunity to watch most films for the very first time,” concluded Sujová.
Over its four days, Fest Anča also offers lectures, exhibitions, workshops and many accompanying events.
Fest Anča Main Competition (International & Student Shorts):
- Anxious Body | Yoriko Mizushiri | France
- The Awakening of the Insects | Stéphanie Lansaque, François Leroy | France
- Beast | Hugo Covarrubias | Chile
- Bird in the Peninsula | Atsushi Wada | France
- Blindness | Yu-seon Park | S. Korea
- Crumbs of Life | Katarzyna Miechowicz | Poland
- Deep Water | Anna Dudko | Ukraine
- Eyes and Horns | Chaerin Im | S. Korea
- The Fourth Wall | Mahboobeh Kalaee | Iran
- Goodbye Jérôme! | Gabrielle Selnet, Adam Sillard, Chloé Farr | France
- Granny’s Sexual Life | Urška Djukić, Émilie Pigeard | Slovenia
- Hierophany | Maria Nitek | Poland
- Hotel Kalura | Sophie Koko Gate | U.K.
- Hysteresis | Robert Seidel | Germany
- Imaginary Landscapes | Mykyta Lyskov | Ukraine
- Impossible Figures and Other Stories I | Marta Pajek | Poland
- In My Chest of Fire There Is Still Place to Temple Your Dagger: A Love Story | Pablo Ballarín | Spain
- Love, Dad | Diana Cam Van Nguyen | Czech Republic / Slovakia
- Mom, What’s Up with the Dog? | Lola Lefevre | France
- Once There Was a Sea… | Joanna Kożuch | Slovakia
- Our 2 | Yungsung Song | Japan
- Swallow the Universe | Nieto | France
- Sierra | Sander Joon | Estonia
- Steakhouse | Špela Čadež | Slovenia
- Tales of the Salt Water | Tamerlan Bekmurzayev, Antoine Carré, Rodrigo Goulão de Sousa, Alexandra Petit, Martin Robic | France
- Terra Incognita | Pernille Kjaer, Adrian Dexter | France
- Thing | Malte Stein | Germany
- Two Sisters | Anna Budanova | France
- Vampire | Zhong Xian | U.K.
- Wet | Marianne Bergeonneau, Mélina Mandon, Lauriane Montpert, Cloé Peyrebrune, Elvira Taussac | France
The festival is financially supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and LITA Fund. Fest Anča Student Forum has received financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway via EEA and Norway Grants.
Fest Anča 2022 will take place June 29 – July 3 in Žilina, Slovakia. The full official selection and more information is available at festanca.sk.
