An Online Place Dedicated To Animation: Discover the Animation HUB (Interview with Lucia Dubravay Trautenberger)

Just before this year's 2026 Annecy Festival, we reported on a new platform for discovering animated films (of all varieties, from shorts to commissioned films to feature films). Animation HUB (or AHUB) is a  CEE Animation initiative that aims to guide animation filmmakers, professionals and researchers towards the films themselves, before and after their festival run.

To address the gap, this new curated platform has already hosted several animated shorts and is expanding its activities into a European animation network, supplementing existing on-site animation events and festivals.

Animation films are notoriously difficult to locate and study, so it's only natural to welcome every such initiative and check its particulars. We talked with  Lucia Dubravay Trautenberger, Project Manager of Animation HUB (her contribution below).

The Reasoning Behind AHUB

One of the biggest challenges in animation today is that many excellent films become very difficult to find once their festival run is over. During the festival circuit, producers usually limit online availability while pursuing premieres, sales, and distribution opportunities, and we fully respect that. The problem comes later, when films that have traveled the world and won awards often disappear from public view because audiences simply don't know where to find them.

We never wanted to build another streaming platform, but to create a place that helps people discover animated films and find legal ways to watch them. Whenever possible, we embed films directly on the platform. In other cases, we guide viewers to platforms or websites selected by the rights holders. For us, festivals are only one stage in a film's life. While fully respecting the distribution strategy chosen by their creators, we hope Animation HUB will help films continue reaching audiences long after their festival journey has ended.

Numbers and stats

At the moment, Animation HUB brings together more than 3,500 animated films, including almost 200 making-of videos. Short films make up the largest part of the catalogue, with around 3,000 titles, but we also include feature films, series, commissioned works, music videos and other animation formats.

At the same time, we want the catalogue to reflect the diversity of contemporary animation by representing different techniques, artistic approaches, countries and production contexts, while also paying attention to gender balance and the visibility of underrepresented creators whenever possible.

Children and young audiences are another important focus for us. Alongside a dedicated section featuring films for children and teenagers, we have developed the Young Audience Rating System in collaboration with child psychologist Martina Peštaj, designed to help parents, educators, and other adults make informed choices when selecting films for young viewers. It also offers filmmakers valuable insights into how children and teenagers experience stories, emotions, and complex themes at different stages of their development.

AHUB and CEE Animation: CEE Focus and Global Indie Animation Range

Animation HUB was initiated by CEE Animation, so naturally its roots are in Central and Eastern Europe. Supporting animation from the region remains one of our priorities, and one reason we started the project was to make CEE animation easier to discover internationally.

At the same time, from the beginning, Animation HUB has been about building bridges between regions rather than defining their boundaries. The idea was to create a place where European animation could be discovered in all its diversity, while also welcoming films and professionals from other parts of the world. The catalogue already includes films from across Europe, alongside selected works from outside the continent. We hope our catalogue will strengthen connections between European animation professionals and the wider international community.

Maestro, Géza M. Tóth

Modes of Cataloguing: Animation Films Curation

People don't all look for films in the same way. Some start with an animation technique, others with a theme, a country, a filmmaker or a specific audience. Users can browse films by animation technique or genre, including action, adventure, documentary, educational, experimental, music video, and science fiction. We have also introduced more than forty thematic tags that make it easier to explore the catalogue through topics, moods or viewing context (such as Animals, Bedtime Friendly, Family, Humor, Relationships, Death, and Surreal).

On top of that, films can be filtered by language, country of origin, target audience, narrative or non-narrative form, student productions, availability, or by a specific filmmaker, studio, or production company. We encourage users to explore the advanced search because it often leads to unexpected discoveries that would be difficult to make through traditional categories alone.

The New In Line Label

This label is dedicated to completed films that are about to begin their festival journey or are still waiting for their first festival premiere, a period that can sometimes last much longer than people realize.

The idea behind New In Line is to give those films a place where they can already be discovered without affecting their festival strategy. We present trailers, visuals and key information about the films, together with contact details for producers, distributors or sales agents, making it easier for festival programmers to find new titles and get in touch with the right people. We also hope the section will encourage animation enthusiasts to follow new films from the very beginning of their journey -instead of discovering them only after they have already collected awards.

Peasants, Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman

The AHUB Pro Animation Networking Point and its Connection to Animation Events and Festivals

Animation projects don't stop between festivals or industry events. Development continues, new materials become available, and conversations move forward long after an event has ended. We wanted to create a place that reflects that reality.

AHUB Pro is designed as a year-round professional environment. Producers, studios and creators will be able to keep their project, company and talent profiles up to date as their work evolves, while the Animation HUB team will curate practical industry resources such as festival calendars, funding opportunities and residency programmes.

Festivals and markets will remain an important part of the platform. Whenever relevant, projects can be grouped around a specific event, making it easier for festival programmers, sales agents, and other accredited professionals to discover participating projects, and connect with the right people. AHUB Pro is not a replacement for existing industry events but a tool that helps extend their impact before, during, and after they take place.

Cyclists, Veljko Popović

How to Submit and Feature an Animated Film

A significant part of the catalogue is built together with our project partners, who provide us with up-to-date information about films from specific countries, studios, or collections. We also follow official selections at a carefully curated list of festivals and continuously expand the catalogue through our own research. But filmmakers, production companies, film institutes, archives, and other organizations are welcome to submit films directly, either through our submission form or, in the case of larger catalogues, by contacting us.

For contemporary films, one of the main criteria is that they have been officially selected at one of the festivals included in our selection framework. We think this creates a good balance between openness and curation while ensuring that the catalogue remains relevant and reliable for both audiences and industry professionals.

Eeva, Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov 

The Development Roadmap for AHUB

During the next 18 months, we will continue expanding both the catalogue and the platform's functionality based on user feedback and the needs of the animation community. The next major milestone is the launch of AHUB Pro. After that, we will focus on improving the user experience through features such as bookmarking, creating and sharing personal playlists, and personalized recommendations that make discovering animation even easier.

We don't see Animation HUB as a project with a finish line. We prefer to develop it step by step, introducing features that people genuinely find useful rather than trying to do everything at once. Listening to users and adapting to their needs will remain an important part of how the platform evolves.

The Team Behind AHUB

Animation HUB has grown naturally out of the CEE Animation network. The platform builds on years of collaboration between filmmakers, producers, festivals, schools, film institutes, and many other organizations across Europe. We have experience in production, distribution, festivals, education, and international cooperation, so the platform is shaped by people who work with animation every day and understand the different perspectives of both professionals and audiences.

Our goal is simple: to create a place dedicated to animation that remains useful, relevant, and open to everyone who wants to discover it or work with it.

Animation HUB is financially supported by Creative Europe MEDIA and co-financed by the governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from the International Visegrad Fund, together with the Czech Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Audiovisual Producers’ Association, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and additional national and regional partners.

• The AHUB project website

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