02/05/2018 - New talents and promising projects from the Central and Eastern European animated film scene are being introduced at the sixth edition of the event

The market-access platform Visegrad Animation Forum has so far hosted pitching competitions for animated projects in development, short films, and series or television specials. In addition to the pitching competition, the forum is equally dedicated to giving emerging filmmakers and artists a boost through its New Talents 2018 initiative. This year’s class of the best animated debuts, according to the panel appointed by the Visegrad Animation Forum, includes Bond by Judit Wunder, mARRY jESUS gALAXY by Mery Gobec, Asja Trist and Ines Sampaio, Tutti by Marek Jasaň, Lucija Bužančič’s Process, Paulina Ziolkowska’s Oh Mother!, Wireless by Szandra Pataki, Oh God! by Betina Božek, Petra Balekić’s The Stranger in My Head, Barbara Bárková’s Contrast, Mukumu by Pavla Baštanová, and Kateřina Karhánková’s The Fruits of Clouds.

The sixth edition of the event aims to broaden the scope to include feature-length animated projects in development. The organisers have cited the strong presence of Central and Eastern European animated productions as the main impetus for this move. The inaugural selection will introduce the Wojciech Stuchlik-produced Fatima and the Secret Treasure, directed by Bartek Kik and Damian Nenow from Poland, an adventure tale about a girl trying to cheer up her father, an ornithologist; a Hungarian project directed by László Nyikos and Csaba Fazekas, Helka, about a 13-year-old princess who must bring freedom and happiness back to her homeland; the Czech project Jack Russel the Planet Rescuer by Ondřej Pecha, based on the comic of the same name about an intelligent dog and his human friend who stand up to a powerful entrepreneur in a futuristic city; the first animated Macedonian feature film, John Vardar vs the Galaxy, directed by Goce Cvetanovski; another Czech project, Of Unwanted Things and People by the Czech-Slovakian-Slovenian-Polish team of directors David Súkup, Ivana Laučíková, Leon Vidmar and Agata Gorzadek, a story of two orphans and a magical cat; and the Polish project Schlemiel, produced by Włodzimierz Matuszewski, a tale of courage and friendship in difficult times. 

The winning project will proceed directly to Cartoon Movie 2019, where it will compete alongside 60 other projects in front of more than 850 cinema professionals from 40 countries and have a chance to gain key partners for the project. The audience at the Visegrad Animation Forum will get the opportunity to pick the winner of the special Nespresso Award.

The Visegrad Animation Forum unspools from 1-3 May in Třeboň, Czech Republic.