
V4 Focus School Presentation and Screening: Studio of Animation and Interactive Art at University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
How do schools approach the teaching of animation? What does their curriculum look like? What is a graduate’s profile? Representatives from the participating schools will address these and other questions in their presentations.

V4 Focus School Presentation and Screening: Studio of Animation and Interactive Art at University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
Presentation of students’ works.

with Lea Vidakovic & Lara Fuke
Explore RE:ANIMA, a European Joint Master's program that offers a unique, collaborative approach to animation education across Europe.
Recognise that feeling when you're so bored at work that you'd rather play online solitaire? The first block of international non-competitive films will take you deeper into the burning desire for touch, the impossibility of stepping out of a circle drawn in chalk on the ground, and the surreal experience of having flower petals for dinner – which then transform into stars.

Robin spends her days at the hostel reception, playing online chess to the droning lobby music. But as eccentric guests create ever more bizarre chaos, she too gets swept up in the absurdity.

Mom always braided my hair tightly, creating a visible path on my head, but one day, she cut off my braids. As I stepped forward alone, I felt the unbreakable bond between us and the uncharted journey of female growth we weren’t ready for.

In a blank room, a bug, a car, and a humanoid search for escape from the control of invisible cyberspace entities, feeling exhaustion and fear. BUGs is a sci-fi animation exploring cyber presence, loneliness, and burnout, where three characters from humanity, technology, and nature desperately seek freedom and connection despite their differences.
The film explores a young woman’s struggle to balance motherhood and creativity. Through polorelief clay animation, the film poignantly depicts her world crumbling, mirroring a clay sculpture falling apart in her hands.

O Nobly-Born, your breathing is about to cease. Listen with full attention, without being distracted. O Nobly-Born, go forward, you have been in a swoon. The film was inspired by the book titled “Tibetan Book of the Dead” (1927).

An intimate look at a symbiotic relationship between Happy Green, a little green turtle, and an elusive black flower.
With a lot of humor, love and sarcasm, Mabel Lozano tells us in first person about her journey with a cancer-chickpea in her left breast. Although this is not just Mabel's story, it is also that of millions of women.

The girl draws a circle on the ground. Passersby step into it, one by one. Soon the circle is full of people, struggling to stay within. Once the girl returns and erase the circle, people start heading their way.

Six-year-old Diego overextends his screen time and develops square eyes, unleashing strange phenomena through the building’s screens. When officers Kim and Mike respond to a noise complaint, they’re thrown into a chaotic clash with fiction come to life.

A child sneaks out at night in rubber boots and enters the undergrowth, where a curious beast leads him to the forest’s nocturnal creatures. Not wanting to be alone again, the beast tries to delay his departure as long as possible.
Best of Fest Anča 2024 presents a curated collection of award-winning short animated films from last year’s Fest Anča International Animation Festival. An international jury awarded prizes in five categories – and now you can watch the very best: short animations, student films, music videos, films for children, and Slovak films.

Battery Mommy works at various stuffs. During the children's nap time, she finds out the Christmas tree in the nursery is on fire. She urgently runs to the fire alarm to safely rescue sleeping children...
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Animated short about sparkledogs, werewolves and other things that are JUST drawings.

During a performance in the Moscow underground, the group IC3PEAK invoked an evil entity: Kim Dracula, in the form of a giant worm.

Music Video for Cécile Mclorin Salvant. The lore of Melusine.

Bob the plumber is hired to fix a broken pipe & lands to his surprise in a gay fetish club.


In a farmhouse a woman tries to lure the resident house spirit – a mischievous Nisse – with offerings of food. Spring is just around the corner, but a winter's chill still lingers.
In the heart of the seabed, between rocks and corals primitive seaweed ripples, cradled by the muffled sound of roiling currents. Up there, on the surface of the water, something extraordinary has just appeared: a voice.

Grace Pudel, a quirky loner obsessed with ornamental snails and books, is torn from her fire-breathing twin, Gilbert, sparking years of anxiety. Through life’s chaos, she finds hope in an unlikely friendship with Pinky, a tough, eccentric older woman. Memoir of a Snail, from Oscar®-winning animator Adam Elliot, is a funny, touching tale of an outsider learning to thrive.

On a charming Irish island, hundreds of puffins seek refuge from disasters. Una and her brother Baba make new friends, such as Isabella the puffin, Phoenix the pheasant, and Marvin the otter. When the last egg of the season disappears and a storm threatens, the islanders must unite to save the last puffin egg before the storm arrives.
We are screening the film with sign language interpretation.

Professional Masters of Arts at the Avans University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands
How do schools approach the teaching of animation? What does their curriculum look like? What is a graduate’s profile? Representatives from the participating schools will address these and other questions in their presentations.

with Sune "Køter" Kølster
How does music shape emotion, rhythm, and storytelling in animation? Composer and film scoring master Sune Kølster guides us through the art of film music – how to think about it, talk about it, and collaborate effectively with composers. This session offers valuable insights for all animators about finding the right musical partner and getting the most out of that creative relationship.

Case Study: V4 Student Film Success Story
with Ala Nunu
A graduate whose creative journey has taken her from classroom critiques to international acclaim. This year’s success story is Ala Nunu, a Polish animator whose distinctive voice and bold visual storytelling have resonated with audiences around the world. Join us for an inspiring case study exploring Ala’s path from film school to major festivals.
While microsleeping on a long overnight bus journey, a giant lizard from a children’s book comes to say goodbye in the second block of non-competitive shorts. You’ll also find yourself in a meadow full of dichotomies, where traditional Chinese opera is remixed into something entirely new.

As the people of a medieval village celebrate the beginning of summer, the Royal Family experiences an identity crisis. The King thinks he's made of glass, the Princess dreams of becoming the king, and the Prince is trapped in the body of a donkey.

The film is an experimental short exploring emotional pain through poetic text and haunting visuals. It captures loss, helplessness, and the tension between decay and growth, embodying a dark, pulsing femininity on the brink of destruction.

Strawberry is a very busy fruit, she has a lot on her plate. Her friend Flower is always around to remind her to do her very best ! But Strawberry is getting tired of always doing her very best.

Anxious teenager Ūla is taken on an unexpected adventure during her swimming practise, through which she grows-up and learns to see her body anew.

Having finished reading the last instalment of a wonderful saga featuring pirates and a giant lizard, Lou has to get back to everyday life – but reality is sorely disappointing.

In a cave, a lifeless puppet awakens and absorbs vitality from the world around it. As it blurs the boundaries between itself and nature, it comes to understand the cycle of life and death.

A girl and her pet fish share a love-hate relationship. After a conflict caused by a misunderstanding, the girl impulsively throws the fish into a river. Filled with regret and longing, she eventually returns to the river.

Set to rhythmic music and traditional Chinese opera, the film explores dualism, truth, and illusion through recurring contrasts like life and death or fire and water. The protagonist drifts through a dreamlike state, while "hope" emerges as both a promise of liberation and a fragile illusion amid chaos.

At a midnight highway rest area, the weary travelers each quietly relax their minds. A brief moment spent with complete strangers is lonely yet somehow comforting.

Ups and downs of professional producing student films in the Czech Republic?
with Noemi Valentíny, producer & Paulína Pokryvková, production manager from Pirogy Studios
Let's dive into the details of this action-adventure between Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín and Pirogy Studios. How did the collaboration go? What were the perks and downsides of producing the student film professionally? If we could go back in time, would we do it again?
2025 is the Year of the Serpent – symbolizing the shedding of old skin, transformation, and new beginnings. But what lies beneath those discarded layers? Butterfly wings or fish scales? In this section, you'll enter stories of friends whose bodies begin to shift with puberty, and witness the unexpected transformation of a Minotaur that fractures the binary. From coming-of-age to body horror, these tales push the boundaries of physicality, love, and life itself.

Nerozlučné najlepšie kamarátky trávia posledné letné prázdniny detstva zábavou v dome. Počas leta sa ich telá začínajú meniť a ich kamarátstvo je zrazu trápne. AKoby bola puberta odhodlaná preťať ich puto.

Exploration of masculinity begins with the Minotaur, a mythical creature Picasso used to portray himself in his etching print series. The Minotaur goes through a violent struggle between being male and female. Finally, lines blur and boundaries of sexes disappear.

A lonesome xylophone player finds a viciously growing tumor under his arm. In his attempts to get rid of the tumor he discovers that it has some unconventional qualities.

Carol panics after Ray’s sudden proposal, and things spiral when she wakes in an apocalyptic world — where Ray has turned into a butterfly. As reality unravels and tensions rise, Carol fears losing her… but loving someone fully might come at a cost.
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The film explores growing anger and frustration in a heroine who loses control. Through animation, it depicts suppressed rage and imagined violence, reflecting intense emotions. The style uses organic lines and expressive color, with natural sounds heightening the emotional impact.

The animated short is about anxiety as a consequence of expanding consciousness through the implantation of new media.

Fish Boy, a half-boy, half-fish teenager, struggles with rejection in a fishing village. His father wants him to become a fisherman, but his differences create tension in relationships, leading to a deeper internal conflict.

"Hélène, 40 years old, comes to visit her aging mother in the french countryside. But her mother isn't being her usual self. She seems to have formed a strange bond with the plants, insects, and the old oak tree at the end of her garden..."

Adam, 15, has a bizarre condition—his body changes based on the mockery he gets. The summer that his grandma dies, he must grow up fast. He maintains the Brousseau mansion while snobby Kevin is away, and mows Mr. Bibeau’s lawn post-surgery. Between his deforming body, summer jobs, tension with his sister Karine, a crush on Jeanne, bullies, clumsiness, and his friend Timothée, Adam faces the chaotic beauty of teen life.