Your favourite animation festival, which will take place from 29 June to 2 July, has not forgotten the little ones this time either. Let’s celebrate the successful end of the school year and the beginning of the summer holidays together. Our festival team has once again prepared an extremely rich programme for children and their parents, full of exceptional film experiences, interesting theatre performances and moments spent in a creative and stimulating environment. The special festival Sunday will be highlighted by the children’s programme at the Žilina Town Theatre. However, children and their parents will have a great time during the whole Fest Anča.
Film programme
Fest Anča has prepared a rich film programme for young visitors where they can enjoy competitive and non-competitive sections of films. We want to present animated works to the children’s audience that they don’t usually see on TV screens or in commercial multiplexes. Animation is not only Pixar and Disney, but also independent animation that is original, uses unconventional storytelling, and addresses contemporary issues. Yet, it manages to maintain accessibility and fresh language.
The International Competition of Short Animated Films for Children will feature eight original titles created over the last two years. This includes the humorous T-Rex by German director Julie Ocker about a dinosaur that can’t play basketball. The Swiss short Pond dives into the world of mysterious residents of an (extra)ordinary pond. And don’t miss out on the exceptional Estonian film The Turnip which retells the well-known Slavic fairy tale of pulling up a turnip – this time from the opposite perspective.c
Films for younger primary school children from Žilina and the surrounding area will also be screened a few days before the festival on Tuesday and Wednesday. Films will be accompanied by inspiring intros and workshops, and pupils can vote for the Anča Award winner in the Best Children’s Animated Short Film category.
This year two sections of non-competitive films – which just missed the cut for the main competition – also await kids. The first is a humorous film about a fluffy white cat that above all else wants to find the most comfortable napping spot in the universe. And we’ll check out the lives of swimming hedgehogs and swinging monkeys. The second non-competitive section digs into the small world beneath our feet and introduces children to their new friends – traffic signs.
Fest Anča will also screen a block of Slovak animated films by students of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of their Department of Animation. Children will have a chance to see a dreamy circus performance, forest animals, a school visit to the museum, as well as an unconventional story about Little Red Riding Hood.
Feature Films for Children and Their Curious Parents
Fest Anča has also included feature-length films in its programme, which will attract not only children, but the whole family. We included these films because they’re connected to this year’s festival theme – Utopia.
As a kind of invitation to the whole festival we’ll screen the award-winning family film Kvik on Wednesday evening in Mariánské námestie square. The main character of the film is 9-year-old Babs, who receives a piglet named Kvik as a gift from her grandfather and convinces her parents to keep it on the condition that she will train Kvik as well as a puppy. Admission to the screening is free.
On Friday morning, the festival will bring children the Belgian film Yuku and the Himalayan Flower, which tells the original story of a little mouse named Yuku. She lives with her family in the underground depths of an old castle and spends most of her free time with her grandmother, who tells her various legends and mysterious stories.
Also noteworthy is the extraordinary film Away by the versatile Latvian artist Gints Zilbalodis, which may be viewed as an adventure story for children aged 10 and up, but also as an existential drama that will be appreciated by more mature audiences.
Slovak filmmakers will be represented by Katarína Kerekesová’s extremely successful feature film The Websters Movie which intertwines humorous and loving stories with surprising adventures that explore the everyday joys and sorrows of childhood and show that family is the strongest web.
Theatre Performances, Workshops and more
Our cooperation with the regional library in Žilina and the Biennial of Animation Bratislava (BAB) enables kids to tune in to Fest Anča before the festival starts. The library will screen short animated films for children from the Fest Anča selection, and BAB will host an exhibition on contemporary Slovak animation and a workshop.
On Friday, people will have a chance to share their dreams and ideas of utopias at Artforum. At a reading event for children of all ages – Moja utópia, Fest Anča will provide a safe space to share excerpts from favourite books and, this time, children’s own creations. Admission to the reading event is free.
On Saturday Anča invites children and their curious parents to Nové Divadlo Nitra’s Kocúr v čižmách – where not everything that glitters is gold but karma is free and good ultimately retains honour.
Fest Anča will feature a group of storytellers called Príbehom na stope, which prepares storytelling courses for people of all ages and comes up with all sorts of activities. During the festival Saturday you will be able to enjoy their storytelling talent in Žilina’s Artforum. There you will find a storytelling session for families with children called Kruhy vody, during which we will immerse ourselves in the world of stories about, water, its mythical creatures and everything related to it.
The above-mentioned BAB festival will prepare the workshop Tvory z Utópie during the festival Sunday at Žilina Town Theatre, where curious kids can learn about stop motion animation. With the help of professional animators, they’ll create short cut-out animations using paper and recycled materials. They will learn about the animated film production process, and the result will be short animated clips about the creatures and animals living in a utopian world.
Fest Anča´s Children´s programme 2023
Wednesday june 28
MARIÁNSKE NÁMESTIE ŽILINA SQUARE
20:30 – Kvik
FRIDAY june 30
ŽILINA TOWN THEATRE (STUDIO)
11:00 – Yuku and the Himalayan Flower
18:00 – The Websters Movie
ARTFORUM ŽILINA
13:00 –International Competition of Short Animated Films for Children
14:30 – Short Films for Children 1
16:00 – Reading event for children of all ages: My Utopia
SATURDAY july 1
STANICA ŽILINA-ZÁRIEČIE
11:00 – New Theatre: Kocúr v čižmách
12:00 – International Competition of Short Animated Films for Children
ARTFORUM ŽILINA
13:00 – Short Films for Children 2
14:30 – VŠMU Animation Department for Childredn
16:00 – Príbehom na stope: Kruhy vody
ŽILLINA TOWN THEATRE (STUDIO)
17:00 – Away (10+)
SUNDAY july 2
MESTSKÉ DIVADLO ŽILINA
10:00 – Short Films for Children 1 (STUDIO)
11:00 – BAB Workshop: Tvory z utópie (BAR CAFÉ)
11:00 – The Websters Movie
12:00 – Short films for children 2 (STUDIO)
13:00 – Yuku and the Himalayan Flower
14:00 – International Competition of Shoert Animated Films for Children (STUDIO)
15:00 – Away (10+)
