Fest Anča is celebrating its 18th birthday this year! The festival has grown into a space where students meet professionals, animators connect with audiences, and adults share experiences with children. And this year, Fest Anča is celebrating the diversity of its community through the main theme: OUR BODIES. This will be showcased in a unique retrospective of Japanese animator Sawako Kabuki and screenings of the cult classic Ghost in the Shell, a film that continues to influence Hollywood. From June 24 to 29, Fest Anča will take over Žilina with 343 short and feature films, showcasing fresh releases alongside a diverse accompanying programme.
Our Bodies Through the Eyes of World-Renowned Animators
The festival will welcome provocative Japanese director Sawako Kabuki, who has previously collaborated with MTV and Adult Swim. She will present her internationally acclaimed films in the Shame? I don’t know her! section. This will be a unique opportunity to experience cheeky, playful, disturbing, and funny films that transcend the boundaries of fantasy. The animator will also present her work in a masterclass, which she succinctly describes in three words as: Love, Peace, Ass.
Sara Koppel, the renowned Danish animator and member of the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will also pay us a visit in Žilina. Her work explores timeless themes of intimacy and freedom. She will present her creative journey in the Body Obsession lecture, inviting the audience into a world driven by a deep fascination with the body and its movement.
Six special screenings – prepared by the curatorial duo Ema Nemčovičová and festival programme director Jakub Spevák – will take a deeper look into the Our Bodies theme. Selected films explore topics such as mental health, freedom, physical transformation, human interaction, and intimacy. The film blocks Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall…, Shedding Skin, and What Was I Made For? will be accompanied by introductions that link the animated works to broader social and cultural issues.
Exclusive Slovak Premieres and Cult Classics
Fest Anča will present an exceptional Slovak preview of the feature Tales from the Magic Garden puppet film before it hits cinemas in the autumn. Its world premiere was at the Berlinale 2025. This Czech-Slovak-Slovenian-French film is about three children who spend the night at their grandparents’ house for the first time since their grandmother died. The film is a celebration of storytelling, family, and imagination. Interestingly, it took ten years to make and has one director from each of the contributing countries.
The stop-motion feature Memoir of a Snail, which took eight years to complete, will have its Slovak premiere at Sterio Kino Žilina. This is the latest film by Oscar-winning director Adam Elliot (known for the iconic film Mary and Max) and tells the bittersweet story of a lonely woman, delivered in his signature tone. Hand-crafted characters bring emotional depth to the film, capturing contemporary themes of isolation, trauma, and the quiet beauty of human resilience.
This year, the festival once again has screenings exclusively available only at Fest Anča. One highlight is the cult Japanese sci-fi classic Ghost in the Shell, a film that profoundly shaped the cyberpunk genre and remains timeless for its visionary take on AI. Equally unique is the Chilean film Elulu, which explores bodily transformation and will be presented with Daniel Kordík’s live experimental music to create an immersive audiovisual experience.
Other feature films will also explore the Our Bodies festival theme: Mind Game – a crazy ride full of psychedelia; The Great History of Western Philosophy – a Dadaist collage of publicly-available visual and audio material; Adam Changes about a boy with a bizarre illness; and Rally Televize Estráda about an unusual race.
Key Figures in Animated Film visit Žilina
Around 1,800 short animated films from 83 countries were submitted to Fest Anča this year of which 218 were chosen for official selection. The figures behind some of the competing films will attend the new discussion format called Talking with Authors. An international jury will announce the winning films on Saturday, June 28, at Žilina Town Theatre.
The Awards for Best Short Animated Film and Best Student Short Animated Film will be selected by the Danish animator Sara Koppel, the artistic director of Kaboom (Dutch animation festival) Aneta Ozorek, and animator Raman Djafari – a remarkable talent who has collaborated on music videos for Elton John, Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and Ashnikko, as well as for clients such as Adult Swim, Spotify, and The New Yorker.
The Anča Award for Best Slovak Short Animated Film will be presented by Japanese animator Sawako Kabuki, multimedia artist, director, and educator Lea Vidaković, and Oscar-nominated Portuguese director João Gonzalez, whose latest film, Ice Merchants, has won over 150 international awards.
The Best Animated Music Video will be judged by the trio consisting of: Aurelia Aasa – producer and founder of one of Estonia’s leading companies, AAA Creative, Tzor Edery – the artist behind award-winning films such as Tamou and Maurice’s Bar, and Martin Smatana – a native of Žilina and internationally-acclaimed animator whose films have won awards at the most prestigious festivals.
Not Just for Professionals
Žilina will also greet international guests thanks to a unique European-level platform – the Student Forum, an integral part of the festival in its fourth year. Sixty students and teachers from 12 European universities (including the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Estonia, and the Czech Republic) will attend an intensive three-day project. They will share their experiences and shape the future of animation in the New Synagogue. They can also look forward to insightful lectures by animators, distributors, musicians, and producers who will share their practical experiences.
On Friday, June 27, at Rosenfeld Palace, producers, schools, and creators will present their work and discuss current topics in the animation film industry as part of the Industry Day, focusing on the Slovak animation community. Selected parts of the Student Forum and Industry Day programme will also be open to the public.
Programme for Families with Children
The Best Short Animated Film for Children will be chosen by the strictest jury – children themselves. Will the winner be a film about a bat with a golden dress or about a poisonous mushroom that bakes delicious cakes which everyone fears to eat? A wide selection of short animated films filled with fun, friendship, and charm – appealing to audiences of all ages – will be shown mainly at Artforum Žilina.
In addition to Tales from the Magic Garden, Fest Anča will present this year’s winner of the Sun in the Net award for Best Animated Film – the Czech-Slovak-French feature film Living Large, about how to accept yourself. Other screenings include Flow, which won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and Puffin Rock and the New Friends about seabirds.
Families with children will enjoy a high-quality selection of original animated films that stimulate the imagination and encourage thinking. In addition to film adventures that children don’t normally see in cinemas or online, the festival will include body-related readings from children’s books, interactive puppet shows, and a stop-motion animation workshop.
Unforgettable Evenings
Evening entertainment at Fest Anča kicks off on Wednesday at the New Synagogue and culminates on Friday and Saturday at Žilina-Záriečie Station cultural centre. The night programme features wild and offbeat sections like Anča in Wonderland and Anča in Mordor, as well as the legendary Animation Karaoke Battle. The music lineup includes Kodiki – delivering fast, energetic waves of love, anger, and forgiveness, and Adam the World – whose music explores the delicate balance between gentleness and harshness.
The 18th edition of the Fest Anča International Animation Festival 2025 is financially supported by the Audiovisual Fund, the LITA Fund, and the SPP Foundation.
Organiser
ANČA Civic Society
Co-organisers
Town of Žilina
Žilina-Záriečie Station
New Synagogue
Žilina Town Theatre
Main partners
The festival is financially supported by the Audiovisual Fund
Animation Festival Network
Creative Europe Media
DELL
ViewSonic
The event is held under the patronage of the Mayor of Žilina, Peter Fiabáne, and the President of the Žilina Self-Governing Region, Erika Jurinová.
