There is no better way to start a seven-week trip to festivals that will take me halfway around the world than to be on my way to the Etiuda & Anima Animation Festival in Krakow.
Around the World in Three Festivals
Sitting in my favorite bar in Brussels Airport, drinking my obligatory airport beer, I realized that there is no better way to start a seven-week trip to festivals that will take me halfway around the world than to be on my way to the Etiuda & Anima Animation Festival in Krakow.I have a great fondness for the city.
Who couldn’t love a city that has a 6-meter (20-foot) dragon that breathes fire every 15 minutes, as well as a world-class animation festival packed full of wonderful films and great guests? The opening night film was Adam Elliot’s I have written so much about this marvelous film that I don’t have more to say about it other than that I love it.If you haven’t seen it, make a point of watching it.It touches me deeply every time I watch it.
After the screening of the film, I once again had the pleasure of talking with Adam via the internet projected onto the big screen.He was in his studio in Australia, and I was on the main stage of the theatre in a nice, comfy chair in front of a packed audience.I have known Adam for many years, and it is always fun to talk to him.
He is witty and converses articulately about his characters and stories.We also laugh a lot.This was the first opportunity I had to see the feature film, an 89-minute film directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale It is extremely fun to watch once you figure out what you are watching.
Set in a vaguely futuristic Shanghai, where humans co-exist with mermaids who resemble giant fish, Stephen is a rather average, low-level office employee who feels passionate about developing a screw propeller for boats that won’t harm marine life.ChaO, a princess from the mermaid community, suddenly announces that she is in love with Stephen and is going to marry him even though she has never met him.The wedding is hyped to the max by the press as promoting friendship between humans and mermaids in a society where marine accidents involving fish caught in screw propellers are a big problem.
In the beginning, Stephen has trouble with the fact that ChaO looks like a fish when she is on land, but little by little, he is won over by her pure heart as she struggles to adapt to the world of humans, which is totally foreign to her.Full of silly humor as it is, the underlying message of the film, amidst all of the bright colors and flashy design, is that different species should respect each other and live together in harmony.The six Anima Short Film Competition programs were very strong.
This year, the short animation jury made up of Peter Lord from Great Britain, Marcin Podolec of Poland, and Lea Vidakovic from Serbia awarded the Grand Prix Golden Jabberwocky to Silvia Szkiladz for .The 18-minute film, set in the 1990s, follows 8-year-old Agata as she leaves her native Poland on a bus bound for Belgium by herself.Anxious about her trip, she begins to write a letter to her father, but she drops her pencil.
It rolls down the bus under the seats and the passengers’ feet.As Agata crawls between the seats in search of her pencil, she discovers a strange world populated by half-human, half-animal passengers.Awarding the Grand Prix to the jury said that they were giving the award to the film “For its unique and gentle blending of fairy tale with the rough edges of immigrant life”.
I first saw the Belgian/French co-production earlier this year in Poznan, Poland, at Animator Animation Festival, where it not only won the Grand Prix but also took home the Audience Award.With two qualifying festival wins, is on the road to the Oscars.Each year, Etiuda & Anima presents The Special Golden Dragon to a person who has made outstanding contributions to the world of animation.
This year, the honor went to Japanese director, producer, animator, and illustrator Koji Yamamura.Koji made his first film when he was 13 years old and has gone on to become an inspiration to animation students and professionals alike.His numerous laurels include an Oscar nomination in 2003 for The film also garnered the Cristal at Annecy the same year.
His Kafka story, (2007) won the Grand Prix at both the Ottawa and Hiroshima Animation Festivals.In 2021, he completed his first feature film, His films have won more than 150 awards.Koji’s 5-minute ode to existentialism and surrealism, was awarded the Golden Jabberwocky Grand Prix at the 2024 edition of Etiuda & Anima.
Unfortunately, due to severe weather conditions, Koji’s plane was grounded in Istanbul for 2 days.As a result, he missed a program that he curated of the best Japanese animated films.The screening opened with the 1931 film , directed by Kiyoj Nishikura.
It follows Chameko, an elementary school student, throughout her typical day, from waking up, going to school, and finally going to the movies.All of this in 6 minutes, and it is a musical too! Kenzo Masaoka is considered to be a pioneer of Japanese animation.He was the first Japanese director to use recorded sound with cel animation in his 1943 film It is the story of a young ladybug who is seduced by a spider.
The film is a musical with elaborate animation.All 10 films in the program, ranging from the 1930s to the 1993 by Niiya Naoyuki, were an interesting overview of the history of Japanese animation.The earliest films from the 1930s to the ’60s were particularly interesting to me since I had never seen any really early Japanese animation before.
Koji did arrive in time to introduce his retrospective.The program opened with his 1987 graduation film from Tokyo Zokei University titled The 5-minute film is a stream of consciousness visual experience.An apple floats down a stream, and endless illustrations of fish appear and disappear in the sky reflected in the water.
The 9 beautiful films in the program concluded with the 2024 Based on a story by Hideo Furukawa and voiced by the author in the film, the story is about a man who sets out in search of the shortest thing in Tokyo.It turns out to be a single syllable uttered by a dying man.A 3-part retrospective of Finnish animation was curated by Joni Männistö.
As well as animating, Joni is the co-founder and artistic director of the Turku Animated Film Festival.He explained the title of his program, by saying that “A Finn doesn’t waste words”.Sure enough, the films he selected were mostly without dialogue.
Katariina Lillqvist is a master puppet maker.She is Finnish-born but now lives and works in the Czech Republic, and so her work qualified for the Finnish program.It was a treat to see her 1996 adaptation of Kafka’s story, on the big screen again.
Her surreal and moving film, complete with grotesque details, paints a vivid picture of the suffering of innocent victims who are inevitably affected by war.The Finns may speak in few words, but they certainly know how to make you smile.A film that always makes me smile is Ami Lindholm’s 2006 The hilarious film is about a plane flight from hell and the ever-smiling flight attendant who tries her best to keep things under control while dealing with a plane load of the world’s worst passengers.
Anyone who flies as much as I do will have encountered some of the people in this film, but not all at once, thank heavens.The worst flight I ever had was from Athens to Brussels with a plane load of already very drunk Greek football fans on their way to attend a game in Belgium.The Finnish retrospective ended with Joni Mannisto’s 2011 film The film is the story of a boy who discovers live insects inside a dead bird and begins to play with them.
As a result, he learns a valuable lesson: to mind his own business and not to be cruel to those smaller and weaker than himself.Along with entertaining, the festival believes that it has a duty to address socially significant issues.This year, focused on the climate catastrophe and climate change.
This terrible problem is not only affecting us here and now, but it will be the disastrous legacy that we leave future generations.Although the festival is primarily animation-based, the Etiuda portion of the festival is put on by the International Federation of Film Societies.That part of the festival takes place at a different cinema with its own separate jury.
The one place the two worlds met is in the where the 7 films were a mixture of animation and live action.They ranged from to a film about a nuclear plant worker who is obsessed with counting how much electricity he uses.He has set a maximum limit on how much he will consume in his lifetime time but what will happen when he hits his limit? The Olympics conjure up images of healthy, well-trained athletes competing in sporting competitions.
In Erik Simashkin paints a different picture and pays tribute to the 19,000 people evicted from the Ile-de-France region before and during the Paris Olympic Games using fiction, animation, and documentary styles.Of course, everything was not about “serious” animation.Friday at midnight, took over the big screen at the Academy of Fine Arts, the festival’s principal venue.
The night of erotic animation brought 14 classics such as Renata Gasrowska’s Izabela Plucinska’s and my personal favorite, by Chintis Lundgren.No matter how cold it was outside, it was very hot and steamy in the theatre.An integral part of Etiuda & Anima is The Creative Lab, which presents workshops, masterclasses, and exhibitions during the festival.
The exhibitions on view in the Academy of Fine Arts' two lobbies featured works by Simone Massi, Lea Vidakovic, and the team of Radostina Neykova and Fernando Galrito.Simoni Massi creates his powerful films by drawing each individual frame in his studio at his home in the Italian countryside.His primary inspirations are his deep bond with his roots, his homeland, and a strong sense of justice.
The memories of the elders around him who experienced war and the resistance are also often present in his stories.His films also often involve animals.Simone’s films, as reflected in his intricate drawings on display at the festival, cannot help but move the viewer with their strength and passion.
Unfortunately, Samoni was unable to attend the festival.He was represented at the opening of the exhibition by his composer Stefano Sasso, who spoke about the animator and his work.Stefano introduced a screening of Simon’s films, and after the screening, conducted a short conversation with the animator on the big screen via Zoom.
Lea Vidakovic is a master of intricate stop motion animation, as the exhibition of her characters from her latest film, demonstrated.In her beautifully crafted miniature worlds, the most important element of the stories is a house.Lea says, “The house acts as a mirror for everything that happens within it and beyond”.
For the interiors of the houses in her films, she pays attention to the tiniest details, even down to the crumbs on a plate of a half-eaten dessert.Except for the armatures, Lea makes all of her puppets by herself.She also pays special attention to the lighting, acting as her own DP.
There was also a retrospective screening of Lea’s five films, including her 2012 film This animation triptych evokes the atmosphere of an old Dutch painting where the sisters are trapped in melancholy over the loss and emptiness of the missing family member.We could see her puppets from the exhibition in action in The film opens on a quiet Sunday afternoon in an aristocratic family home, just before World War l.Andres and his daughter receive a surprise visit from Andres’ brother Zolton and the 12 members of his family.
What follows is complete chaos until the family departs as suddenly as it came, leaving wrack and ruin in their trail.The third exhibition was of hand-drawn watercolors from Radostina Neykov and Fernando Galrito’s film The film is about a boy who doesn’t like to be kissed by anyone.He has the somewhat dubious talent of being able to erase kisses, but every time he erases a kiss, his world becomes more colorless.
How does he rediscover human warmth, love, and friendship? For the answer to that question, you have to see the 10-minute film.was created with hand-painted watercolors on paper, which were then photographed under a camera.The exhibition included watercolor backgrounds along with watercolor phases of the characters from different shots.
As well as presenting the exhibition, Radostina also gave a two-day workshop for young people ages 9 to 13.The workshop was designed to teach young people how to think figuratively in order to make up stories about letters and words that they use every day.They also worked with letters and words from old handwritten letters that Radostina provided.
Koji Yamamura’s workshop was held over 3 days.The first day, there were randomly selected effects for participants to synchronize with sound and movement.On the second day, the participants created three characters and calibrated the screen to match 3 rhythmic sounds.
The final day was devoted to developing the projects even further.Nik presented a 4-hour Master Class titled During his presentation, he talked about the principles of integrating music with film.He started by exploring how our brain processes audio and visual information, as well as how images intertwine to shape perception and emotion.
As part of his presentation, Nik screened some of his favorite animated films to illustrate his points, such as The 1934 film by Anthony Gross and Hector Hoppin was the first short film to have an original musical score written for it by Hungarian composer Tibor Harsany.I was invited to give a 2-day pitching workshop.It was open to people with animated projects in any style and stage of completion, from early script development to completed films looking for a distributor.
On day one, each of the participants pitched their project to the group, and we critiqued them.After they had all finished, I went over my rules for a successful pitch, and we discussed how to construct a strong pitch.I gave each person a printed copy of what I expect to hear in a pitch.
Then I assigned them their homework.They were to go home and rewrite their pitch following my rules.On day two, they all gave their revised pitches.
Coaching pitching is the most rewarding thing that I do all year.It was a great pleasure to hear the revised pitches the next day.They had taken their homework very seriously and delivered excellent revised pitches.
I had told the group that, because they only had one night to work on their pitch, I did not expect visuals, but they all came through with some, and a few people had even broken down their proposed budget, as well as their projected date of completion, along with all of the information that a prospective producer will want to hear.I was very proud of them all and look forward to seeing their finished films on the big screen.I was also invited to give a presentation about my book, It was a very fun interview because it was conducted by my good friend and Etiuda & Anima Competition Coordinator and Guest Co-Ordinator, Konrad Glabek.
We first met several years ago when Konrad was a volunteer with the festival, and I was on the jury.Konrad was our jury minder then, and we have become good friends over the years.Because he knows me quite well, he asked great questions, which made the book presentation lots of fun.
The audience also asked wonderful questions.While Konrad and I talked, Nik presented a slide show of photos from the book.We also screened a very funny film clip that Joanna Quinn recorded about creating the front and back covers of my book, along with a snippet from a documentary that German filmmaker Katrin Rothe is making about Nik and me.
With over 19 Creative Lab masterclasses, workshops, and exhibitions, 100s of films spread over 6 days, it was a very busy week.I can not thank Festival Director Katarzyna Surmacz enough for inviting Nik and me to be part of the festival and for the wonderful, warm hospitality we received.A big thank you and well done go to all of the fabulous volunteers.
A special debt of gratitude goes to Konrad and his fïance Emila Gondek for inviting us to stay with them for a couple of days before and after the festival.After saying goodbye to Krakow, we flew directly to Taipei, Taiwan, for the Kuandu 15th International Animation Festival for the second leg of our trip.I will write all about our exciting adventures there in my next article.
The festival will be held in 2026 from 26 – 31 October You can learn more about Etiuda & Anima at: etiudaandanima.pl List of Winning Films: ANIMA COMPETITION VERDICT Jury: Peter Lord (Great Britain), Marcin Podolec (Poland), Lea Vidakovic (Serbia) Golden Jabberwocky (Grand Prix) and 7.000 PLN - , Directed by: Sylwia Szkiłądź, Screenplay: Sylwia Szkiłądź, Production: Ozù Productions, Amopix, Vivi Film & Novanima, Country: Belgium, France, Year: 2025, Running time: 17'27''. Justification: For its unique and gentle blending of fairytale with the rough edges of immigrant life.The jury writes this statement with a blue pen with googly eyes.Silver Jabberwocky and 3.000 PLN - , Directed by: Péter Vácz, Screenplay: Péter Vácz, Production: Gábor Osváth (Filmfabriq / Boddah), Country: Hungary, Year: 2025, Running time: 20'44'' Bronze Jabberwocky and 1.000 PLN - , Directed by: Jan Saska, Screenplay: Jan Saska, Václav Hašek, Production: Last Films, MAUR film, Laïdak Films, Artichoke, AEON Production, Country: Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Year: 2024, Running time: 13'07'' Special Golden Jabberwocky for the best student animation of the Festival and 2.000 PLN - , Directed by: Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Screenplay: Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Production: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (Ludwigsburg), Saskia Stirn, Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Country: Germany, Year: 2024, Running time: 12'50'' Special Golden Jabberwocky for the best Polish animation and 5.000 PLN - , Directed by: Daria Kopiec, Screenplay: Daria Kopiec, Production: Marmolada Films, Country: Poland, Year: 2025, Running time: 13'48'' Special Golden Jabberwocky for the best school of animation: Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan Jury Individual Mentions: Peter Lord’s mention: , Directed by: Suresh Eriyat, Screenplay: Suresh Eriyat, Production: Nilima Eriyat, Country: India, Year: 2025, Running time: 8'02'' Lea Vidakovic’s mention: , Directed by: Ruihan Yang, Screenplay: Ruihan Yang, Production: Tama Art University (Tokyo), Country: China, Japan, Year: 2025, Running time: 8'30'' Marcin Podolec’s mention: , Directed by: Tereza Kovandová, Screenplay: Tereza Kovandová, Lukáš Hrdý, Production: FAMU (Prague), Cinepoint, Country: Czech Republic, Year: 2024, Running time: 7'44'' Student Jury Verdict Jury: Maria Michalska, Barbara Szczerbanowskaj, Karolina Zdunek , Directed by: Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Screenplay: Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Production: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (Ludwigsburg), Saskia Stirn, Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Country: Germany, Year: 2024, Running time: 12'50''.
Justification: For creating an ode to the microwave, treating frozen masculinity with tenderness, and for humorously addressing the subject of depression among manual laborers.Audience Choice : Directed by: Péter Vácz, Screenplay: Péter Vácz, Production: Gábor Osváth (Filmfabriq / Boddah), Country: Hungary, Year: 2025, Running time: 20'44'' Anima60’+ Competition Verdict Jury: Nuno Beato (Portugal), Radostina Neykova (Bulgaria), Stefano Sasso (Italy) Grand Prix and a cash prize: , Directed by: Jean-François Laguionie, Screenplay: Anik Le Ray, Jean-François Laguionie, Country: Luxembourg, France, Year: 2024, Running time: 75'00''. Justification: A poetic film with a consistent narrative that involves us in a familiar ambiance.A temporal universe that lets us be carried away by an ocean of emotions in the face of the construction of a strong relationship in the shape of a ship.
Student Jury Verdict Jury: Szymon Białobrzeski, Julia Wiereńko, Anna Zielińska , Directed by: Gints Zilbalodis, Screenplay: Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Country: France, Latvia, Belgium, Year: 2024, Running time: 84'00''. Justification: For a true flood — both the one pouring from the screen and the one streaming from our eyes.Flow, using biblical archetypes, draws the viewer into a world where ecological disaster intertwines with a visual sensitivity to beauty.And all this was achieved on a laughably small budget and with a few brilliantly animated animals that gently remind us of our own furry friends — the ones scratching our couches while we sink comfortably into a cinema seat. “Flowing” smoothly into our conclusion — this award is not only our choice, but also a sheer joy and a hopeful sign of a new wave in mainstream cinema.
To quote a classic: “Saturday is cat day,” so let’s celebrate!
