This year’s Slovak Industry Day once again brought together professional and student animation with current topics and issues shaping the industry. A new feature of this year’s programme was that, for the first time, the event was also open to accredited festival visitors, taking place in the pleasant setting of the bar at the New Synagogue.

Presentations of Contemporary Animation Projects

A regular part of the programme is a series of presentations in which creators, animation studios, and students from universities and secondary schools showcase their projects at various stages of development and production. Each year, this overview offers an insight into the current state of Slovak animation, its trends and ongoing collaborations, while also introducing emerging animators to the wider community.

The following projects were presented this year:

• Once There Was a God (Peter Šlesár, pre-final draft) – a visual journey through human history exploring the relationship between civilisation, religion, and a silent supernatural entity – the god – from the dawn of humanity to its demise.
• The Woman Who Mistook Her Child for a Little Girl (written and directed by Klára Fedora Homzová, co-written by Martina Fedorová, produced by 4:3 s.r.o., in development) – a story about a mother and a child living on the edge of a growing Forest, where the child eventually finds the affection they have longed for all their life and transforms into a dragon.
• Farewell, Little Red Hen (written and directed by Saša Chovanová, animation by Saša Chovanová, Ondřej Tešnar and Barbora Fialová, produced by Tomas Bata University in Zlín / Pirogy Studios / Czech Television, in development) – a fairy tale about a red village whose inhabitants take pride in their border, until the arrival of mysterious Nomads reveals that the world is more a mosaic of coexistence than separation.
• Space Garbage Collectors (written by Patrik Pašš and Boris Šima, directed and animated by Boris Šima, produced by Joanna Kozuch / plackartnyj, in development) – an animated sci-fi film for children about garbage collectors whose ship is pulled into a black hole, where they encounter the Toxics and their leader, a doll named Julinka.
• President Lourajder – Hospital (written, directed and animated by Matej Mihályi, in production) – the conclusion of the OPUS MAGNUM trilogy, an animated music video set in a socialist-era hospital, where a routine visit to the doctor turns into a surreal nightmare.
• Revived *Medialab VŠVU (written, directed and animated by Matej Mazák) – a long-term project exploring the boundary between illustration, animation and life through video mappings, festival installations, and a current master’s thesis in the form of a book in which the illustrations come to life and respond to the viewer.
• (VR) Gazebo (directed and animated by Olívia Jánošíková and Viktor Osuský, completed) – a VR experience about how paying close attention to one’s surroundings can reveal something bizarre and magical.

Photo: Ester Šmídová

Creative Europe Desk and the New ANiMPACT Standards

The morning programme also featured a presentation by Creative Europe Desk Slovakia. Natália Ubrlíková, CED’s Culture Coordinator, and CED Head of Office Vladimír Štric introduced the activities of CED as well as information about the new AgoraEU programme supporting culture, film and civil society.

Valentína Hučková then presented ANiMPACT, a new set of standards for environmentally sustainable animation, developed in collaboration with Ecoprod, Green Film and Cineregio and publicly unveiled at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival during the MIFA film market in June 2026. Organisations including CARTOON, Animation in Europe, CEE Animation, AnimFrance and Cartoon Italia also contributed to their development.

Slovak producers can take part in the pilot testing phase and provide feedback on the feasibility of implementing the standards. If you are interested, please contact valentina@ceeanimation.eu.

Photo: Ester Šmídová

BARDO and a Discussion on the Changing Face of Animation

The second part of the programme focused on a case study by documentary filmmaker and screenwriter Viera Čakányová. Her film BARDO, an experimental work that uses generative artificial intelligence to explore darkness and create space for sensory exploration, was also selected for the Slovak Films Competition at Fest Anča. Čakányová discussed the concept of “darkness therapy”, the use of AI to visualise subconscious processes and shape the film’s aesthetic, as well as the creation of an immersive soundscape.

The presentation was followed by a discussion on the blurring of genre boundaries in animation and the challenges facing contemporary creators, hosted by Ivana Sujová. The panel featured Viera Čakányová; producer Matej Sotník (guča films, Somatic Films); digital artist Paula Malinowska, whose work combines CGI animation, 3D printing and installations with themes related to biology and climatology; and Marek Ježo, founder of VFX studio Blue Faces and a lecturer at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). The discussion explored how the funding landscape for animated projects is changing and how 3D animation is finding its way into gallery spaces as well as into the competition for Slovakia’s national art award.

Photo: Ester Šmídová

Networking and Competition

The programme continued with a networking lunch and culminated in the Slovak competition in the afternoon. This year’s Slovak Industry Day confirmed its role as a platform bringing together the professional and student animation communities, showcasing new technologies and trends, and creating space for discussions about the future direction of the industry.

We look forward to seeing what next year will bring!