The 23rd Anifilm International Animation Festival concluded its Liberec edition with a glittering awards ceremony, celebrating exceptional talent across film and gaming categories. The festival’s competitive sections showcased 10 feature films, 28 shorts, 26 student works, and groundbreaking VR experiences – all evaluated by juries comprising industry luminaries like Spider-Verse animator Diego Polieri and Estonian filmmaker Milly Yencken.
Grand Prix Winners
Feature Film:
Linda Wants a Chicken! (France/Italy)
Directors Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach charmed jurors with this “visually daring comedy about parental guilt and culinary chaos,” following a mother’s desperate quest to cook her daughter’s favorite meal during a city-wide strike.
Short Film:
Winter (Poland)
Tomek Popakul and Kasumi Ozeki’s haunting rural drama earned praise for its “stunning brushwork animation that transforms a coming-of-age story into universal art.”
Student Animation:
Eastern Rain (Estonia)
Milly Yencken’s painterly graduation film from Tallinn Art Academy stunned with its “emotional depth achieved through minimalist strokes and resonant bell sounds.”
Virtual Frontiers
The VR competition crowned Emperor (France) as best immersive experience. Directors Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen’s journey into an aphasia patient’s mind utilized 360° animation to create what jurors called “a neurological poem in three dimensions.”
Gaming Honors
• Best Children’s Game: Storyteller (Argentina)
• Artistic Achievement: Dordogne (France)
The festival’s expanded game zone attracted record attendance, with indie developers competing for a €10,000 PPF Foundation grant.
Czech Triumphs
National talents shone in the Czech Horizon competition:
• Best Feature: Tonda, Slávka and the Magic Light (Filip Pošivač)
• Student Film: Electra (Daria Kashcheeva)
• Series Pilot: Veggierado (Jan Bubeníček)
Four emerging projects secured production funding through the Czech Horizon Grant, including Michaela Mihalyiová’s Period Drama – a stop-motion exploration of historical gender norms.
Record-Breaking Edition
The May 7-12 event drew 36,000 visitors to 138 screenings across 13 venues. Festival director Tomáš Rychecký noted: “Our sci-fi themed VR panorama and restored animation classics like Fantastic Planet proved particularly popular.” Industry attendance grew 22%, with masterclasses by Oscar-nominated creators and the debut Game Pitch Arena attracting international publishers.
Complete winners list and 2025 festival dates at www.anifilm.cz