Hunimation 2026: Bold Voices of Hungarian Animation
Bold Voices, Fearless Visions – Striking Pitches from Hungarian Talents
Five striking new projects take the spotlight: two original series and three distinctive shorts. From a young girl’s pirate quest for utopia and surreal, gravity-free sci-fi to intimate breakdowns, time-warping nights and playful studies of natural creatures. These auteur-driven storytelling projects showcase the diversity and creative strength of a new generation of filmmakers.
The Hunimation Partner Pitch will take place on Thursday, 25 June, from 2:45 to 4:00 PM in the Berlioz Room, Imperial Palace, Annecy.
The 2nd Hunimation – Hungarian Animation Pitching Forum was held on March 27, 2026, at the Toldi Cinema in Budapest, with the participation of representatives of Hungary’s animation industry. At the Budapest final, creators presented 11 projects from short films and series to feature-length works, documentary animation, and immersive formats, 6 of them will have the chance to be pitched in Annecy.
Following last year’s successful launch, the Hunimation – Hungarian Animation Pitching Forum returned in 2026 to support the development and international visibility of Hungarian animation projects. Organised by the Hungarian Animation Producers Association (MAPSZ) and Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival with the support of the National Film Institute (NFI), the initiative is designed to help outstanding Hungarian projects take their next step onto the international stage.
The Budapest final took place on 27 March at Toldi Cinema. In the afternoon, the programme continued with an international masterclass led by Luce Grosjean, head of MIYU Distribution, who also served as a member of the pitch forum jury.
The main objective of the forum is to offer selected projects a chance to present themselves at one of the most important international industry events in animation, the MIFA Hungarian Partner Pitch programme of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. This year, 11 projects were invited to the Budapest final, reflecting the diversity and creative strength of the Hungarian animation scene across short films, TV series, feature animation, documentary animation and immersive formats.
The finalists were: Gergő Arany – A City Made of Cardboard (short film), Fábián Balogh – Half Open Half Pose (short film), Nikolett Fábián – Aphiémi (short film), Júlia Farkas – Abracadabra (TV series), Eszter Kajlik – Let Me Give Birth in Peace (animated feature documentary), Csaba Klement – Natures Ceatures Nature (TV series), Anna Katalin Lovrity – Rosie and Sapphire (TV series), Eszter Molnár – Paradise Island (TV series), Adél Szegedi – Sun in Retrograde (short film), Balázs Turai – Killin’ It (short film), and Zsófia Zelles-Görgey – Myrtle in Paperland (immersive / VR project).
From this strong selection, five projects were chosen to represent Hungary internationally at Annecy this June as part of the festival’s MIFA Partner Pitch. The selected directors and projects are Júlia Farkas/Zita Vadász (Abracadabra), Eszter Molnár (Paradise Island), Adél Szegedi (Sun in Retrograde), Csaba Klement (Natures Ceatures Nature) and Fábián Balogh (Half Open, Half Pose),whose projects will be presented at one of the world’s most important animation events.
Four winners were selected by a professional jury consisting of Luce Grosjean, head of Paris-based MIYU Distribution; Dániel Deák, founder and director of Friss Hús; animation producer Éva Konrád; film historian and curator Anna Ida Orosz, researcher at the National Film Institute; and animation director Áron Gauder, as well as the professional audience had the chance to vote for its favourite , which was Fábián Balogh’s project.
One of the creators from the final is invited for the CEE Animation’s MIFA pitch, Anna Katalin Lovrity (Rosie and Sapphire), and one – Balázs Turai (Killin’ it) – to the Annecy Pitch.
The MIFA Hungarian Partner Pitch will take place in Annecy on 25 June from 2:45 to 4:00 PM in the Berlioz Room, Imperial Palace, Annecy.
