Meet the Festivals: Animest
The 21st edition of the Animest International Animation Film Festival is steadily approaching. From October 2 to 11, Bucharest will host a rich and varied program centered around this year’s central theme: nature.
As Romania’s first festival dedicated entirely to animated cinema, and the only one in the country to hold Oscar-qualifying status, Animest is set to showcase a broad spectrum of domestic and international works. The lineup will be presented through competitive sections, special programming, and collaborative highlights featuring guest countries.
This year’s overarching theme brings into focus the vibrant, ever-changing natural world and its ecosystems, alongside pressing issues surrounding environmental change and the urgency of addressing our planet’s current environmental challenges. The main idea will resonate throughout both the film screenings and the accompanying events.
Notable highlights include three short film collections titled Living with Nature, Human Nature, and Nature, curated by Mihai Mitrică, Animest’s artistic director and festival programmer, together with French journalist and film historian Alexis Hunot.
Nature is also reflected in the festival’s visual identity, created by Luiz Stockler, an illustrator, animation director, and member of Animest’s artistic team. He described this year’s visual concept as “an organic explosion of textures and shapes where nature is not just a setting, but a living force set to reclaim urban spaces.”
The festival’s focus on the broader animation ecosystem, one that supports creative work both locally and far beyond Bucharest, is also reflected in its collaboration with four guest countries, each featured in a dedicated section of the film program. Among them is Cyprus, a country with a rapidly expanding animation industry, spearheaded by the Animafest Cyprus film festival. Its founder and artistic director, Yiorgos Tsanfaris, will bring a special selection of Cypriot short films to Bucharest.
Another key partner joining the lineup is the Czech Republic’s FAMU, the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, widely recognized as the fifth oldest film school in Europe. Animest will showcase a selection of works from this institution, featuring the Oscar-nominated short film Daughter by Daria Kashcheeva (2019).
The Lithuanian animation studio ART SHOT has also accepted the invitation – a studio renowned for its international co-productions and accolades from prestigious festivals such as Sundance, Annecy, Locarno, and Rotterdam. Animest will screen a selection of titles produced by the studio and welcome its founder, Agnė Adomėnė, who will attend the festival as a member of the Short and Student Film Jury.
The final guest country highlight comes from Poland and its National Animation Festival, O!PLA (Oh! People Love Animation), which spans over 100 cities across the country. Piotr Kardas, a cultural manager and the creative force behind O!PLA, will bring an eclectic selection of Polish short films to Bucharest.
Animest also offers a strong competitive lineup. Highlights include the Short Film Competition with 49 entries, several of which premiered at prestigious venues such as Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des Cinéastes), Cannes’ Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique), or the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The winning short from this section becomes eligible for Academy Award consideration. The Student Film Competition will feature 35 short films, while the Feature Film Competition presents five feature animated works, all making their Romanian premieres.
Beyond its core sections, Animest also organizes specialized initiatives such as Minimest, a dedicated branch for children and families showcasing both feature-length and short films. The short film competition in this section is judged by a unique “Mini-Jury” composed of young audience members, who select and present the winning film and its trophy. Additionally, Minimest features eight creative workshops centered around environmental consciousness, led by workshop instructors Nicoleta Miron and Diana Necșulescu.
For the seventh year, Animest has run its creative program for teenagers – The Animation Incubator. Ten high school students from Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria will take part in the Animate the Festival! workshop, where they will gain hands-on experience with the complete filmmaking lifecycle – from concept and story development to animation, sound design, and final production. They will bring this knowledge to life by creating a collaborative short film, guided by animators Laura Pop and Iva Tokmakchieva.
Animest also actively encourages teenage participation through its Teen Jury, which consists of three members. Before stepping into their roles, the jurors undergo a workshop led by Ligia Soare (Animest’s educational project coordinator) and Alexis Hunot (film critic, curator, and founder of the Paris International Animation Film Festival). This three-member jury will then decide the winner of the Teen Award in the Feature Film section.
Animest’s 21st edition brings a fresh, nature-inspired wave of cinema that truly offers something for animation lovers of all ages. Unsure where to start your festival journey? Animation HUB has prepared some top recommendations to get started. Are you joining us?
3 things you shouldn’t miss, according to the AHUB:
– The first ever film from Kyrgyzstan in the Student Competition: Because I Am a Girl (2025) an animated documentary co-created with seven teenage girls from Kyrgyzstan.
– Pitch, PLEASE! A 5-day mentoring program with industry experts to help you get pitch-ready, open to animators in Romania and Moldova.
– The documentary short film Here, There Was a Park / Aici a fost un Parc (directed by the Animators for IOR Collective): an independent film that grew out of local efforts to fight illegal logging and fires in Bucharest.
