2014

The Visegrad Animation Forum accepts projects into the biggest competition of animated short films and TV series concepts in the making in Central and Eastern Europe. Submit your animated short film or animated television series project and present it to an international jury, foreign film and television professionals and distributors. You can win a Czech Television award for the best TV series project (plus further tutoring of the project by international TV experts) or a VAF award for the best short film project which comes with 2,000 EUR prize money. An international jury will select 10 short films and 10 TV series projects. They will be presented during VAF 2015 at the industry section of the International Festival of Animated Films Anifilm in Třeboň from 6th to 8th May 2015. Submission deadline for all projects is 8th February 2015. Further information can be found here.

The long-term goal of the Citizens‘ Association for the Support of Animated Film (OSPAF) is to popularise animation among general public. OSPAF’s main project is The International Festival of Animated Film Anifilm. Each year, the number of films in the festival archives grows, regardless the fact if they were competing or not, and its organisers get more and more familiar with current trends and works at other festivals abroad. The association, as well as the whole animation community, realises that there is a large gap in the distribution of animated shorts. That is why animated films are screened also outside the festival during the Festival Echoes when various institutions (schools, clubs, cafés, galleries) borrow and screen special compiled showcases. Fellow European festivals – such as Fest Anča (SVK), Animafest (CRO) and Be There! (GR) – also know about the aforementioned gaps in distribution. These festivals are the first partners of the ANIONT project (ANimation ONline Theatre). It is an internet portal – a videotheque including selected student and authorial animated shorts including music videos and boundary forms of animation. An important element of this animated channel will be
a curator oversight provided by experienced dramaturges who are already selecting films for the public in the archives of Anifilm, the cancelled Anifest and all other fellow festivals. Our curators will also concurrently search for new films also outside festival circles.
The authors of animated shorts are usually placing their works online themselves. But their films get easily lost in the jungle of other content. ANIONT will offer a “cleaner” environment and a corresponding context of authorial animation to the authors and viewers alike. The easiest access to this content will be guaranteed by free access with no advertisements.
We would like to use this opportunity to call upon all the authors and producers who would be interested in making their work visible this way, to contact the OSPAF team. You can submit your films for approval and potential inclusion into the videotheque at any time the portal is up and running. The ANIONT project was supported by the State Cinematography fund and will be launched during the 6th Anifilm in Třeboň.

The deadline for submitting your films to the International Competition of Animated Films Anifilm is drawing closer. You can submit your films into the competitions of animated feature films for grown-ups and children, competition of animated shorts, competition of student films and from this year also into the competition of music videos and non-narrative, experimental and boundary forms of animation until the 15th January. The jury awards announced in may 2015 come with pleasant prize money of 500 – 1000 EUR. Only films produced after 1st January 2014 can be submitted into the competition. Submit your films HERE, the statutes and the rules of the festival can be found HERE. We would also like to ask the authors who have already submitted their films to provide the festival (if they haven’t already done so) a copy of the film for the selection committee. Thank you and we’re looking forward to your films, music videos and in particular animation!

Although it may not always seem so, Czech animation is still alive. Christmas time is ideal for a small reminder of promising projects that are in the making and can be supported. A very ambitious project for a student film is First Snow (První sníh) by Lenka Ivančíková. Her crew, composed by a group of students from the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek, has tried crowd funding and thanks to 111 contributions they raised the needed amount. The puppet fairy-tale about a small hedgehog who unexpectedly awakens from hibernation should be about 13 minutes long and will amaze you with technical aspects of the depicted characters that remind of those from Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Prague studio Hafan Film is now finishing the works on Jan Balej’s Little from the Fish Shop (Malá z rybárny) and an adventure of Josefka and Bertík which will take you into a world where the sky is always full of green needles... Deep in Moss (Až po uši v mechu) is a film by former students of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague Barbora Valecká and Filip Pošivač. They have also used crowd funding to successfully gather the required funds and started filming in August. The animated short has a natural feeling of films by Jan Balej (at least as far the graphic design is concerned) so it is full of distinctly stylized original puppets. The film is produced by Pavla Kubečková from Nutprodukce which has also produced Spider’s Anatomy (Anatomie Pavouka). The remarkable film by Vojtěch Kiss about a clerk’s life was created using stop-motion technology and has imposing 27 minutes.
Only inches before the finish line is the famous Czech director and graphic designer Kristýna Dufková. Her film Don’t Call me Panda, My Name is Fanda (Neříkej mi panda, jmenuji se Fanda) is a playful warning for children and parents drawing attention to speech impediments. Due to bad articulation, a little girl called Vanda experiences a series of misunderstandings. She doesn’t know that she hurts the letters which later have their revenge and teach her how to speak. After her puppet contribution to Fimfárum, the author returns to drawn animation.
The last but not least project in the making is Time Rodent (Jezdec času). The film is produced in an international co-production of the Czech Republic and France. The Czech co-producer is the company MAUR film, the French side is represented by Nicolas Schmerking from Autor de Minuit which is famous for their academy-award winning film Logorama (2009). The film is directed by Ondřej Švadlena. His dark films such as Sanitkasan (2007) and Mrdrchain (2010) use 3D computer animation to build artificial worlds and provoke the minds of the viewers. Time Rodent is apparently no different. It depicts the world five or ten or one hundred thousand years from now in an abstract parable, a civilisation comic anti-fairy-tale about a continuous decay of the world and another possible evolutionary change of its inhabitants. The main hero is the witness of this process – a half humanoid, half animal passing through the periods of the future of our earthly existence.

The Anifilm team wishes all the projects a happy ending and many amazed viewers.

The May festival of animation is still far away, but it is already certain that Anifilm will follow up on this year’s novelty. The programme spectrum of the sixth Anifilm will once again be complemented by a prestigious selection of films nominated for the Cartoon d’Or award. This pan-European award for the best animated short film of the year has been awarded for more than twenty years. The Brussels Cartoon - European Association of Animation is awarding the prize with support of the MEDIA programme to the best award-winning films from prominent European festivals. A jury of international experts every year chooses several finalists and subsequently the winner. This year’s shortlist includes the puppet film Boles by Slovenian director Špela Čadež, the academy-award winning Mr. Hublot by Laurent Witz and Alexander Espigares, Kiki of Montparnasse by the French director Amélie Harrault, Anatole’s Little Saucepan by Éric Montchaud and finally the winner – the Christmas special of A Town Called Panic by Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier called The Christmas Log.

This June we have invited tenders for the new visual design of the 6th edition of Anifilm. Altogether, we received 13 designs. The winning concept came from graphic designer David Pucherna, second place got Noro Držiak and third duo Jan Šrámek and Martin Búřil.

The author of the winning design is David Pucherna, a graphic designer who has been cooperating with Anifilm since its beginnings. “This year’s design is a play of colourful objects. What images can be found in the arrangement, combination and mutual connection of several basic geometric objects? We think, we search, we combine and we play. We try and we create in order to express ourselves. In the resulting composition we see the image of our current moods, thoughts and ideas. Whether it is a picture, graphic, sculpture, music or film,” describes his concept David Pucherna. How many possibilities will we see in the shapes forming the Anifilm 06 logo.

October marks the Slovak distribution premiere of the animated short Nina by Veronika Obertová and Michaela Čopíková working under the name Ové Pictures. The story about a timid boy and a wood nymph participated in the Visegrád Animation Forum held as a part of last year’s Anifilm. The project has won in Třeboň and gathered enough funds in an internet crowdfunding campaign. This visually mesmerising 17-minute-long Slovak film will enter the cinemas with the co-produced feature film Biely boh. Thanks to the Projekt 100, supporting films are returning to Slovakia.

The renowned director, surrealist and our Lifetime Achievement Award winner has celebrated his 80th birthday on 4^th September. The Citizens' Association for the Support of Animated Film (OSPAF) and The International Animated Film Festival Anifilm would like to wish him all the best and lots of strength during the preparation of the brothers Čapek adaptation Pictures from the Insect’s Life.

Even though we have invited you to submit your animated films to the festival competition a while ago, it is good to be reminded. International Festival of Animated Film ANIFILM which will take place in Třeboň from 5^th to 10^th May 2015, holds an international competition of animated films created after 1^st January 2014. You can submit these films to the categories International Competition of Animated Feature Films (for grown-ups and for children), International Competition of Animated Short Films, International Competition of Student Animated Films and for the first time this year also the International Competition of Music videos and the International competition for non-narrative, experimental and boundary forms of animation. The deadline is 15^th January 2015.

If you are interested, please register and fill in the online form at vp.eventival.eu/anifilm/2015. The films are submitted for free.

To find out more information about the festival and its rules please click here.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us any time at program@anifilm.cz. 

We are eagerly awaiting your films!

ANIFILM, International Festival of Animated Films, Trebon 2015 is announcing  CALL FOR ENTRIES!    

6th Anifilm, which will take place in Třeboň, Czech Republic 5th - 10th May 2015 opens submissions for your films! 

Your creations made after January 1st 2014 you can submit now to following categories:   

  1. International Competition of Feature Films  

   a/ Films for Grown-Ups   

   b/ Films for Children   

  2. International Competition of Short Films  

  3. International Competition of Student Films

  4. International Competition of Musicvideos  NEW

  5. International competition for non-narrative, experimental and boundary forms of animation  NEW

Application deadline is set to 15th January 2015.    

Please register your film by filling in at online form at vp.eventival.eu/anifilm/2015 .

There is no fee for applicants.

For more information about the festival, festival statutes and competition rules, please check out the festival's official website at  www.anifilm.cz.  

We would be honoured by accepting your application. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time on program@anifilm.cz.  

We look forward to receiving your films!  

Anifilm team

The 5th edition of the International Festival of Animated Films, Anifilm 2014, is drawing to a close, announcing the winners of all festival competition categories. The Main Prize in the International Competition of Feature Films for Grown-ups has gone to the American director Bill Plympton for Cheatin'. The Main Prize for the best film in the International Competition of Feature Films for Children has been awarded to The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo) made by the Brazilian director Alê Abreu. The film Approved for Adoption (Couleur de peau: miel) directed by Jung a Laurent Boileau has received the Special Mention of the Jury.

The International Competition of Short Films has been won by the Estonian film The Worst-Case Scenario (Must Stsenaarium) directed by Kristjan Holm. The Main Prize in the International Competition of Student Films has been awarded to the director and student of Lucerne University Michael Frei for Plug and Play. The student film Symphony No. 42 directed by Réka Bucsi from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest has received the Special Mention of the Jury. Apart from the prize money, each winner will be taking home the Animorph, a crystal glass trophy from the design studio Morphe.

And in the beginning of the festival, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Animation went to Zdeněk Smetana, a director, screenwriter and designer, whose films have been screened in the non-competition section of the festival. 

This year’s jury consists of distinguished film professionals and original artists, who will evaluate the films in competition but who also agreed to take part in deciding on our non-competition and accompanying programme. Thus, we’ll have the opportunity to present blocks of extraordinary and absorbing films by Florence Miailhe, Kristina Dufková, Phil Mulloy, Mark Skrobecki or Ferenc Cakó, who will give a live performance of his sand animation. The director Haiyang Wang will introduce a festival’s curated block, featuring, among others, his films reflecting Chinese contemporary independent animation. František Váša, an animator and director, will lead an unusual workshop Working with a Film Puppet, demonstrating the use of puppets on specific situations. Philippe Moins, a co-founder of ANIMA, a famous festival in Brussels, will present a selection of the awarded films from the last edition of the festival. Eija Saarinen prepared a presentation of the works of students and graduates from the University of Turku. This year, the school, the main hot-bed of new talents of Finish animation, celebrates its 100 year anniversary. Mark Shapiro from LAIKA, an American animation studio, will talk about the origins of their latest puppet megahit The Boxtrolls.

who says about Anifilm,“I wish all the best to the nicest festival in the Czech Republic. I hope it will be a joyous event for children and adults alike!” 

The Lifetime Achievement Award for Animation is one of the awards presented at Anifilm and it always goes to an important animator for his or her contribution to animated film. This year, it will be awarded to Zdeněk Smetana, a screenwriter, animator and director. First an artist and popular animator of the films made by other directors (e.g. The Creation of the World), he quickly started directing his own films, successfully employing his extraordinary visual style, pushing forward the boundaries of animated films of that time. This was true especially for his series of psychological grotesques (Romanetto, The Bottle and the World, An Umbrella). A new important stage of his work came when Smetana started working with Edgar Dutka, dramaturge and screenwriter. Apart from a couple of Kubín’s fairy-tales for adults experimenting with animation materials (The Water of Freshness – without E. D., Bit-Of-All-Hair, The Tinker’s Tale), their co-operation resulted, for example, in making of The End of A Cube. But for most, Zdeněk Smetana became associated, above all, with his children series. His 36-part animation series Fairy Tales of Moss and Fern basically shaped the Czech TV programme Večerníček, every evening featuring a bed time story for kids. Two more series followed, Reedy and The Little Witch, and Zdeněk Smetana, an experienced observer of human faults, became known to the public as “the creator of bed time stories”.

Every day of the festival, Beseda and Dada Club will offer special music programme, featuring different dance rhythms, including the DJ from Fléda Club, Brno; DJ Floex; or DJ Liquid. Dance music will be accompanied by Vj’s and other screenings included in the Animation in Public Space festival section. Třeboň will also welcome such performers as Mutanti hledaj východisko; Otk; Václav Koubek; Smutný Karel; or the Finish band Scandinative and Hanna Rajakangas, among others. The duo DVA will play on Friday evening, with Manon meurt as their support band. Music will fill the town square as well: on Saturday afternoon, the Symphony Orchestra of the North Czech Philharmonic will perform famous film melodies to encourage the spirit of the spa town.

Anifilm has become the main partner of the exhibition called REKURZE 1,618 (RECOURSE 0.618), which will open at 5 pm on 6 May 2014 at the Bohemia Regent Gallery. The artist Jan Mladovský, the instigator and curator of the event, prepared the exhibition with the help of the artists Matthew Noel-Tod, Jan Stolín and the production team of Art Direct – Alexandra Karpukhina and Jonáš Richter. The travelling exhibition will remain on display until 25 May 2014. In fact, it is a follow-up of the WHYRWEHERE project with a long-term goal to set up an international contemporary art centre and gallery in Třeboň. It also aims to explore current art practice centred around filmmaking. The exhibition will feature the following artists: Mark Aerial Waller, Zbyněk Baladrán, Daniela Baráčková, George Barber, Sebastian Buerkner, Jiří David, Redmond Entwistle, Dan Hanzlík, Anja Kirschner & David Panos, Radim Labuda, Adam Leech, Jan Mladovský, Pavel Mrkus, Matthew Noel-Tod, Hannah Perry, Laure Prouvoust, Clunie Reid, Rachel Reupke, Jan Stolín, Viktor Takáč, Maika Timonen, Tomáš Werner, Martin Zet, Petr Zubek. If you miss the opening, the organizers offer two commented viewings at 1 pm on 7 May and at 5 pm on 10 May respectively.  

Wondering what it means? Pitching is a public presentation of projects in concept used by producers to raise funding. This year, pitching will be a part of Visegrad Animation Forum (VAF), which will be held at Anifilm for the second time. Eight creative teams will have the opportunity to present their TV series in concept before the heads of several public TV stations, including Czech Television. Before the presentation, they will try to improve their pitch under the guidance of French guest lecturers. Michal Podhradský, the VAF’s producer and main organizer, says, “The VAF is something that was missing in the Czech Republic and other neighbouring countries. Our neighbours are a bit envious now, because we were the first to come up with the project. But not so much that they would refuse to help us to organize and finance it.” Apart the works in concept, the VAF will offer other interesting events, including several case studies, when the lecturers will describe their own path to success, e.g. to co-productions with East-European animators.

For more information see

www.visegradanimation.com, www.facebook.com/VisegradAnimationForum

You can now pick your favourite films in the Anifilm programme at our website. The festival will show the best animated films from Czech and foreign authors. The viewers will see the newest trends in films from international competitions and for the first time, Anifilm also organizes the International Competi- tion of Student films, apart from the International Competitions of Feature Films and Short Films. The non-competition programme includes retrospectives of important film professionals, curator selections, presentation and showcases of contemporary film and television work for adults as well as children. The programme can be found here.

The author of this year’s graphic design of the festival is Hynek Dřízhal, a graphic artist and an experienced scenographer. His design was brought to life in the festival spot directed by Maria Procházková, accompanied by music composed by Jan Muchow and the voice you hear in the spot belongs to Tomáš Měcháček. You can see the result of their efforts here.

One of the themes of the fifth edition of Anifilm is total animation. The exhibition introducing Czech total animation will present the “total” works by Czech authors. The main part of the exhibition includes works by Igor Ševčík and Pavel Koutský whose work characterises Czech total animation. The exhibition will also introduce the younger generation of filmmakers using this technique. The visitors will have a chance to see drawings by Michaela Pavlátová, Galina Miklínová, Lucie Sunková and Noro Držiak. The goal of the exhibition is to mediate the feeling of a totally animated drawing by means of original drawings – artefacts used during filmmaking.

After the success of last year’s Animation Streetfight, you can look forward to another outdoor himation event by Kreus. The theme of this year is talent reality show. During the whole festival you will have an opportunity to watch animators bringing their puppets to life, take a peek into an outdoor post-production studio and then see the results at big screen. The competition is for animators experienced in stop-motion animation. If you want to participate, just send an email with your name and links to your works to kreuscz@gmail.com, subject: Animation’s got Talent; the deadline is 25th April 2014. Each contestant will make his own puppet and create a short film during the festival. The organisers will take care of the camera, lighting and post-production. Eventually, a jury with members of the Anifilm programme council will chose the winner who will be announced during the last day of the festival. The criteria are originality and quality of animation.

Workshop focusing on game development will take place Friday 9th May from 13:00 to 16:00 in Beseda. The event is for graphic artists as well as other people who want to see the secrets of game development. The participant will learn basic information about games and their development – individual phases, used tool, roles in the team. They will then try to develop their own gamethemselves in the Adobe Flash programme. The necessary technical equipment will be on-site,there are no specific skills or qualifications required to participate. Experiences with game development are however an advantage. If you would like to take part in the workshop and try to develop you own game, submit your application here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1WVDzsf59Yy-BzyZjiRqlQYQwL9YJ3XTpW59Uop_8Caqg/viewform   A rich programme introducing Czech game will follow on 10th May also in Beseda. You can look forward to meeting Czech game authors, lectures on game development and you will have a chance to try newest games. More information can be found at: http://gameday.cz/.

This year’s selection of short and student films is, like the selection for feature films competition, incredibly varied and includes a wide range of techniques, countries and narrative methods. The audiences will have a chance to see the film Drunker Than a Skunk by the renowned Bill Plympton, a suggestive tale Gloria Victoria by Theodor Ushev and a surrealist piece Lonely Bones by the extravagant Rosto. Czech films will be represented by the brand new film by Jaromír Plachý called Chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr or a Japanese-Czech project, a horror tale by the legendary Jiří Barta called Sněžná žena (Snow Woman). The selection will also present young authors and their new styles and poetics that are yet to be discovered. This year’s selection forms in total four showcases of short films and three showcases of student films – the competition of student films is also varied and prominent film school, mostly from Europe, have made it to the final selection.

The fifth edition of Anifilm will present independent Chinese animation that gains more and more renown at film festivals and in galleries across the world. Its authors work both inside and outside of China and their work is characterized by serious topics and formal experiments brought to life by means of diverse metaphors and animation techniques. The programme focuses on the works of a new generation of ambitious Chinese filmmakers and graphic artists rising to international fame in the last two decades. They are almost exclusively young directors born after the cultural revolution and some even after the Tiananmen square demonstrations. One of the generation’s most important authors, director Haiyang Wang, who is participating in many film festivals around the globe, will be a member of our jury. The director will personally introduce a curator showcase presenting the current new wave of Chinese animation – including his own films – and talk about the situation of these artists. Other authors include e.g. the award-winning director Lei Lei or Sun Xun, one of the most respected visual artists of the current Chinese scene, whose works are known to be politically critical.

This year’s edition of Anifilm will for the first time present a selection of films nominated for the prestigious Cartoon d’Or Award. It is a Pan-European award established in 1991 and presented to the best animated films ever since. Cartoon – European Association of Animation Film supported by the Media Programme of the EU presents it to the best films that have won awards at prominent European festivals. A jury of international experts chooses top six films and designates the winner. Cartoon d’Or is annually awarded in September as a part of the Cartoon Forum focusing on coproduction, funding and distribution of European animation for TV channels and new media. The showcase will naturally include the award-winning film Head over Heels by Fodhla Cronin O´Reilly and Timothy Reckart from Great Britain. 

Let us cordially invite you to the screening of the award-winning film The Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet that will take place during the 21^st edition of the International Film Festival Febiofest. Anifilm is the partner of the screening of a tale of an aging magician that will be presented by the director itself. The screening followed by Q and A with the director will take place at Meetfactory in Prague-Smichov on 26^th March, 19:00. Tickets are sold at the door before screening. Later in May, Anifilm will introduce a showcase of films put together by Chomet himself in Trebon as a part of the Views section of the festival. You will have a chance to see the films that have shaped and influenced this French director. 

Join the Facebook event with Sylvain Chomet at: https://www.facebook.com/events/271671783006674/.

Submit your animated short films and tv series projects in development to Visegrád Animation Forum 2014! Call for entríes is extended till 11st of March 2014!

The line-up of the International competition of feature films includes 10 films selected from an extraordinarily long list of submitted films. The selection is varied both artistically and geographically and includes famous names such as the doyen of American independent animation Bill Plympton or the world-renowned author Pavel Koutský. The line-up which consists of five films for adults and five films for children includes two great films from Brasil: poetic O Menino e o Mundofor children andAtéQue A SborniaNosSeparewhich will charm the adults with its atypical humour. The competition will also show Bill Plympton’sCheatin´and a contribution from the famous French studio Folimage, the excellent Tante Hilda!. Two Czech films will compete for the votes of our international jury. Hussites by Pavel Koutský in the category of films for adults and Lucky Four Serving the Kingamong other films for children. The festival competition is also a must see for anime fans, the legendary Hayao Miyazaki is competing with his last film The Wind Rises.One of the competition films, the grotesque musical Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange, a Rapid Love Storyfrom Estonia, represents puppet animation. The last films to complete the competition line-upare catchingJean de la Lunefor childrenand an autobiographical comic-book adaptation for adultsApproved for Adoption.

Exhibitions are always a favourite part of the Anifilm accompanying programme. First of them will take us up north. A retrospective exhibition of Finnish puppet films called How did puppet film get to Finlad?will, among other things, commemorate the 100^th anniversary of Finnish animated film.  The exhibition will present original historic puppets from the films of the legendary Finnish director Mona Leo and, in particular, contemporary Finnish puppet films and their authors. The chateau gallery will host the students of the Department of Animated Film of the University in Turku and their creations, other interesting exhibit items come from one of the most interesting independent production companies in Finland, the Indie Films studio, young authors TatuPohjavirta and Anna Savitie will present their puppets and as a part of the exhibition, previews of international workshops of puppet films will take place. The exhibition will be concluded by a presentation of the production company Camera Cagliostro, the oldest Finnish-Czech company on our market, which will display new decorations from the international project BabyBox.

Třeboň will be once again hosting the international animation event of Visegrad Animation Forum that gains more and more recognition not only in the Czech Republic but in other countries as well. Apart from the accompanying programme presenting news from the animation world of the Visegrad countries and introductions of professional European studios, the programme will be divided into three sections. The first section – pitching forum for short films – is intended primarily for young authors. They should learn not only to present their projects but also to promote their work and themselves as authors. The second section focuses on presentations of television series. It is intended for professionals and aims to confront planned children programmes with the concepts of the managers of TV channels in Visegrad Four. The third section introduced this year focuses on the education in the process of television programme development. Case studies will be used to illustrate the real process of the actual project development. The common idea behind all VAF events is networking – strengthening the cooperation between European producers with respect to states sharing similar production conditions. This year’s Visegrad Animation Forum will take place during the 5^th International Festival of Animated Films Anifilm from 6^th to 8^th May.

Call for a Project

Visegrád Animation Forum 

held at  Anifilm 2014

calls for a submission of ANIMATION SHORT FILM PROJECTS and a TV SERIE PROJECTS IN CONCEPT from our region into the pitching competition 

Two categories pitching competition, short film projects and TV series, is held by Asociace animovaného filmu (Association of Czech Animation) within the industry section of its Visegrad Animation Forum (VAF) held at the International Festival of Animation Film „Anifilm“ in Třeboň (6th - 8th of May 2014). 

Authors of the selected  8 short film projects and 6 Central European TV series will be able to present selected projects in two categories at Visegrád Animation Forum 2014 in form of public pitching forum in front of international producers, professionals, TV comission editors, potential co-producers and authors itself. Each prticipating project can be represented at most by one author and one producer.

Then the pitching jury of international professionals will award the Best project of a short film with the prize money of 2000 EUR for further development of the film. Pitching jury of international professionals will choose also the Best project of TV series. 

You can submit your SHORT FILM or TV SERIE  project by filling the entry form on this site : https://vp.eventival.eu/anifilm/2014 

Candidates must first register into the system Eventival, read the terms and then register using the online form following the terms and conditions. 

The deadline for submission is the 2nd march 2014.

For further information contact:

Pastels and crayons, brushes, scissors etc. – Anifilm 05 introduces its face

The author of the visual design of the fifth edition of Anifilm is the renowned theatre and television scenographer Hynek Dřízhal from Scénografie s.r.o. This year’s design is inspired by art supplies the makers of animated films use to bring their ideas, sketches, storyboards or entire films to life. “Even though technology is still moving deeper into the world of 3D as we try to depict in the festival’s jingle, the method of ready made animation, that means using various items of everyday usage, is still very close to the Czech animated film industry and its history,” explains the origin of his idea Hynek Dřízhal. “We are building up on Czech tradition but at the same time we would like to express our huge admiration to the industriousness and patience of the makers of animated films where the author’s tool as a main component of the new visual design pays homage to the enormous efforts of the authors.” The creative process will also manifest itself in the accompanying programme, individual art supplies will serve as inspiration to interactive and playful expositions and objects.

To find out more about this year’s visual design author, who is among other things one of the authors of the award winning exhibition My Way for the Chodící lidé project, the set design of the television series Gympl and Doktoři z počátků, the graphic design of the television show TV MINI UNI, the stage design of the FORUM 2000 conferences and the decoration design of this year’s Memory of the nation awards and also the main scenographer of the La Putyka theatre group, please visit www.scenografie.cz. 

A part of the 2014 edition of Anifilm will be dedicated to a specific animated film technique – total animation. The definition of total animation comes from the technological processing of the drawing or painting animated in one layer. For each new phase of the picture is created a brand new and original picture. It is a technique in which editing and camera movement are created by animation. As the technique itself is very demanding, it is most often used by a solitaire author who makes it possible to keep the ever-changing picture flowing. Aesthetically, total animation is characterised by constant changes and motion through space and one its principal expression methods is metamorphosis. The authors often animate drawings or paintings on backlit surfaces. The festival programme focusing on total animation will contain animated films and workshops of important authors as well as lectures by them. The first one to use this technique in the Czech animated film industry was Igor Ševčík (1951 – 2003), who has unfortunately fallen into oblivion. Anifilm will present his retrospective. Director Pavel Koutský, an important author using total animation technique, will introduce a showcase of his works. 

Authors, you have few days left to submit your films!

Last call for entries

The application deadline for all three international competitions of Anifilm 05 is 31^st January 2014. We would like to kindly invite the authors to submit their films as early as possible. The fifth edition of Anifilm has announced following competitions: International competition of feature films – for grown-ups and for children, International competition of short films and International competition of student films. We are looking forward to your submissions and to seeing you in May in Třeboň. The programme board of the festival is represented by Tomáš Rychecký, Petr Slavík, Jiří Trnka, Malvína Toupalová and Pavel Horáček. 

Submit your films by filling the entry form: https://vp.eventival.eu/anifilm/2014

We wish you a succesful new year 2014, and we look forward to meeting you in May Trebon!