1244 films from 67 countries were submitted to the 14th Fest Anča International Animation Festival 2021. There’s so much to look forward to – despite the pandemic, the festival will present diverse films by renowned directors as well as newbies from all over the world. The official selection features special thematic sections, including one specifically tailored to this year. 

New names have joined established festival favourites in competitive and non-competitive sections. Orgiastic Hyper-Plasticby Paul Bush, the experimental filmmaker and animator known for pushing the boundaries between documentaries, fiction, and animation, will compete for Best Animated Short. Others making a welcome return include Vera Neubauer with her film Tricky Womenin Extremely Short Section of Extremely Short Films, and director Theodore Ushev with Apocalypse is Under the Blanket in World Panorama.

Main competitive section

This section will resonate with films by renowned artists and award-winners such as Affairs of the Art(a film directed by Joana Quinn and written by Les Mills, recently awarded at Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival), and last year’sAltötting(by Andreas Hykade, awarded at Ottawa International Animation Festival and nominated at Annecy).

“The main competitive section has diverse films of the highest quality this year, and we’re sure our audience will love them,” states Ivana Sujová, festival director and pre-selection committee member. “We had many student submissions – a third of the main competitive section – despite schools being closed for most of the year. We are proud to see Slovak animator Andrea Gabajová’s Placesfeaturing, too.”

Student films

Fest Anča has seen more submissions from primary art schools, such as the competitive section’s Uninvited guests: a hand-drawn animated film by Jakub Mereš from Poprad art school, that depicts an encounter between two incompatible worlds. Other titles from primary art schools are also in the non-competitive section. “This shows the growing number of young animators in Slovakia – it’s great,”comments Jakub Spevák, dramaturge and member of the pre-selection committee on the quality of the Slovak selection.

“Fest Anča’s Slovak selection annually showcases professional and student animation. And it’s fantastic to present new talents that only got into animation as a hobby,”he adds.

Music videos

Slovak films have a strong presence in the music video competitive section, too – Matej Mihályi’s Prezident Lourajder – Destiny and Marián Vredík’s Čisté Tvary – Flyhave been selected.“The bar has been high for animated music videos for quite some time in Slovakia, as proven by the two selected this year–not only in terms of animation, but also musically,”adds Jakub. 

Animated films for kids

The kids’ programme is an important part of Fest Anča. Films for kids are split into competitive and non-competitive sections. “It’s great to see filmmakers find creative ways of storytelling that stimulate children’s fantasy and respect young audiences’ intelligence,”comments Ivana.

“The short Bulgarian film Marmaladefrom the Kids’ competitive section impressed us with its rather atypical approach to animation and a motivating message. The author, Radostina Neykova, tells the story of a boy and girl via embroidery in movement,” says Peter Gašparík, pre-selection committee member. The non-competitive section features Kata Strofová and the Secret of Snowflakesby Slovak animator and visual artist Veronika Kocourková.

Special sections

A special new section created exclusively for this year’s festival has been added: Anča in a Facemask. “The section reflects upon the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic from animators’ perspective. Some films capture the experience of life in the pandemic and a certain new reality we find ourselves in, others are more personal and deal with the topic of isolation,”explains the dramaturge. “It’s a time capsule, really,”he adds. The section is a follow up to the Domasedexhibition of illustrations that was part of Fest Anča 2020’s programme and followed artists’ experience of living through the pandemic.

Regular Anča visitors are familiar with the many specialised sections such as Anča in MordorandAnča in Wonderland, and this year will also feature Short Animated Document.

Unique at Fest Anča is that 90% of films selected are premiering in Slovakia. “Our audience has the special opportunity of seeing most of these films for the very first time,”adds Ivana. 

Competitive section

FILMS COMPETING FOR ANČA AWARD + ANČA STUDENT AWARD

FILMS COMPETING FOR ANČA SLOVAK AWARD

VIDEO CLIPS COMPETING FOR ANČA MUSIC VIDEO AWARD

FILMS COMPETING FOR ANČA KIDS’ AWARD

NON-COMPETITIVE SECTION

WORLD PANORAMA

SLOVAK PANORAMA

WORLD PANORAMA FOR KIDS

ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS

CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT AND NON-NARRATIVE ANIMATION

ANČA IN MORDOR

ANČA IN WONDERLAND

EXTRÉMNE KRÁTKA SEKCIA EXTRÉMNE KRÁTKYCH FILMOV

ANČA IN A FACE MASK

Fest Anča International Animation Festival 2021 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.

See you at Fest Anča 2021!