Fest Anča selects 31 short films for the main competition of 2022

The 15th Fest Anča International Animation Festival has announced its selection of animated shorts! This year, more than 1.250 films from 68 countries around the world were presented at the festival. The selection includes films from both familiar and fresh creators, offering an overview of the best animations from all over Slovakia and around the world.

Only one sixth of the films presented at Fest Anča 2022 made it to the official selection. These shorts include various animation techniques, unique author styles and different themes. “We have received a lot of high quality animated shorts. It was difficult to choose and unfortunately many good films were lost, ”said program producer Jakub Spevák and festival director Ivana Sujová.

Familiar names and cool voices

In the competition and non-competition sections, animation enthusiasts will recognize some of the names of the previous editions of Fest Anča. These include former guests and award winners (Peter Millard, Koji Yamamura, Sarina Nihei, Steven Subotnick), as well as Chilean directors Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, who were jury members last year and this time will present their film The Bones in the World Panorama. Audiences can expect Raman Djafari's animated music videos and abstract works by Hungarian animator Réka Bucsi.

The competition section will feature the Oscar-nominated Porcelain Animated Beast (Hugo Covarrubias, Chile). Inspired by real events, the film tells the story of a secret police officer during the military dictatorship. The preselection committee was also intrigued by the richly titled film In My Chest of Fire There Is Still Place to Temple Your Dagger: A Love Story (Pablo Martínez Ballarín, Spain), a distinctive retelling of Ash and Pikachu's relationship. The famous Ukrainian animator Mykyta Lyskov also appears in this selection with Imaginary Landscapes.

A third of the main competition includes student films, for example Wet (École des Nouvelles Images, France) depicts the recesses of a sauna, guiding viewers through a labyrinth of sensuality, bodies and steam. Student films are also represented in the Slovak competition. These include rauu by Zlata Golecová, a recent graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts, who used various animation techniques to portray a story about a mysterious character.

Slovaks on the screen

Local Slovakian art is also represented in the international selection. Once There Was a Sea… by Joanna Kożuch (who already won the Student Jury Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival) was selected for the main and Slovak competitions. The animated documentary Love, Dad (Slovakia / Czech Republic) on the relationship between a daughter and her father by Diana Cam Van Nguyen is also part of the main competition. Another Czech co-production, Suzie in the Garden (Lucie Sunková), which premiered at the prestigious Berlinale 2022, will be presented in the World Panorama section.

“This year we present a very balanced and diversified competition section. We are interested to see which film our jury likes best ”, the programmers observed, regarding the Slovak section.

Slovakia also extends its animated influence to the music video contest, with animators Milan Stanco (Charms Kids: “Les Miserables”) and Marián Vredík (Queer Jane: “Gerard Love”). “It's great that the music video contest is consistently of high quality - different musical styles and imaginative animations,” said Spevák. The music video section will also feature animation by Sarina Nihei (Photay: “Villain”), winner of the Anča Award for Best Animation last year.

Children, documents and speeches

Kids and their parents can expect a contest and two out-of-contest sections of the best children's films at Fest Anča. This international section is packed with fun, education, creative approaches, imaginative artistic stylizations and original techniques that only animation can offer.

“We are happy to show films that have an equal dialogue with children and stimulate their imagination,” said Sujová. For example, Elevator Halo of the competition section is the story of four characters who behave differently in an elevator when they are alone and together. This fun puppet animation touches the individual-group relationship in a playful and child-friendly way. Sounds Between the Crowns by Slovakian animator Filip Diviak was also selected in the children's section out of competition.

As regular visitors know, Fest Anča also includes a number of specialized sections, such as Anča in Mordor and Anča in Wonderland. And also this year the festival will present a section of animated short films and a section of short films dedicated to micro short films. And of course, every year the festival presents films premieres in Slovakia "so viewers have a unique opportunity to watch most of the films for the first time," concluded Sujová.

During its four days, Fest Anča also offers lectures, exhibitions, workshops and many accompanying events.

Main competition Fest Anča (international and student short films):

• Anxious body | Yoriko Mizushiri | France
• The Awakening of the Insects | Stéphanie Lansaque, François Leroy | France
• Beast | Hugo Covarrubias | Chile
• Bird in the Peninsula | Atsushi Wada | France
• Blindness | Yu-seon Park | S.Korea
• Crumbs of Life | Katarzyna Miechowicz | Poland
• Deep Water | Anna Dudko | Ukraine
• Eyes and Horns | Chaerin Im | S.Korea
• The Fourth Wall | Mahboobeh Kalaee | Iran
• Goodbye Jerome! | Gabrielle Selnet, Adam Sillard, Chloé Farr | France
• Granny's Sexual Life | Urška Djukić, Émilie Pigeard | Slovenia

• Hierophany | Maria Nitek | Poland
• Kalura hotels | Sophie Koko Gate | UK
• Hysteresis | Robert Seidel | Germany
• Imaginary Landscapes | Mykyta Lyskov | Ukraine
• Impossible Figures and Other Stories I | Martha Pajek | Poland
• In My Chest of Fire There Is Still Place to Temple Your Dagger: A Love Story | Pablo Ballarín | Spain
• love | Diana Cam Van Nguyen | Czech Republic / Slovakia
• Mom, What's Up with the Dog? | Lola Lefevre | France
• Once There Was a Sea ... | Joanna Kożuch | Slovakia
• our 2 | Yungsung Song | Japan

• Swallow the Universe | Nieto | France
• Sierra | Sander Jon | Estonia
• Steak house | Špela Čadezh | Slovenia
• Tales of the Salt Water | Tamerlan Bekmurzayev, Antoine Carré, Rodrigo Goulão de Sousa, Alexandra Petit, Martin Robic | France
• Unknown land | Pernille Kjaer, Adrian Dexter | France
• Thing | Mortars Stein | Germany
• Two Sisters | Anna Budanova | France
• Vampire | Zhong Xian | UK
• Wet | Marianne Bergeonneau, Mélina Mandon, Lauriane Montpert, Cloé Peyrebrune, Elvira Taussac | France

The festival is financially supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the LITA Fund. Fest Anča Student Forum received financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA and Norway grants.

Fest Anča 2022 will take place from 29 June to 3 July in Žilina, Slovakia. The complete official selection and further information can be found at festanca.sk.