The international multimedia festival, Fest Anča, held yearly in Slovakia, will welcome Bulgarian-Canadian experimental film director Theodore Ushev, to the 11^th edition of this popular event, which will run from 28 June to 1 July in Žilina. Alongside Ushev, an artist who has won 150 awards for his 15 films, independent Japanese animator Koji Yamamura and English animation filmmaker Peter Millard will also be in attendance, each delivering their very own masterclasses. The festival organisers have put together a thematic section for 2018 - Propaganda in Animated Film - which will examine “a century of global animated propaganda”, and they will also be celebrating two historic milestones for animated film: 25 Years of Slovak Animation and 100 Years of Czechoslovakia. Brigand Jurko, the first feature-length animated film, dating back to 1976 and directed by Viktor Kubal, will be screened as part of these celebrations, along with other digitally restored films from the Slovak Film Institute’s National Film Archive.

A total of 1626 short animated films and music videos from over 100 countries were submitted to Fest Anča, 283 of which will be presented at the festival, either in or outside of the competition. The international competition for animated short films will feature Aenigma by Antonis Ntoussias, Aérobie by Bastien Dupriez, Sleepy by Marta Monteiro, Strawberry Eaters by Mattias Mälk, Papeton d’Aubergine by Elisa Labbé and Nothing Happens by Uri & Michelle Kranot, to name a few.

The festival also comprises a videogame sidebar, Games Days, consisting of a VR Showcase which will present several stories in a virtual reality format - including the award-winning Nothing Happens - and Google Spotlight Stories, which will introduce visitors to an innovative platform for 360° storytelling, as well as offering a behind-the-scenes projection-mapping of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs [+lire aussi :
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The full programme is available to view here.