CEE Animation Forum 2023: 28 Selected Animation Projects
28 animation projects in 4 categories (Short Films, TV Series, Feature Animation, Student / Rising Stars) to be pitched in the always high-profile CEE Animation Forum (8-9 November, Pilsen, Czech Republic).
2D animation features in the majority of projects, with new works by the Finnish Joni Mannisto; his 'Wrestlers (pr. Bohle Studio) is a queer-coded parallelism of athletics and lovemaking. 'Cockpera' artist and Croatian director Kata Gugić returns with a non-linear 'Nightbloom' short film project.
Polish director Joanna Kozuch, responsible for the acclaimed animation doc 'Once there was a sea', will pitch her refugee crisis-inspired 'LAST MINUTE'. The Ukrainian project 'Displaced Garden' by Kateryna Voznutsya picks up the issue of displaced persons from Donbas, Ukraine, where the war broke out in 2014.
5 feature animation films are to be presented in the CEE Animation Forum, from Poland, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Milorad Krstic (of 'Ruben Brandt, Collector') has his follow-up feature with 'MouMoush: The King of Plastic', a children's film, a 'scary and lovable film at the same time, ' as he describes it.
The TV series also boasts 5 projects, while the total budget of the 28 pitching projects reaches €29 million.
This year's event will introduce a new platform called the Market in order to facilitate one-to-one meetings between industry professionals.
The objective is to create a dedicated showcase for animated projects that are still seeking partners - regardless of the stage - Marta Jallageas, managing director of CEE Animation Forum.
The full 2023 lineup:
- Autopilot, dir. Patricie Švadlenková (Student/Rising Stars)
- Be still my heart, pr. Bella Szederkényi, dir. Melinda Kádár / CUB Animation (Short)
- Daisy, dir. Dorota Kaustová (Student/Rising Stars)
- Displaced Garden, pr. Yuliya Serdyukova, dir. Kateryna Voznutsya / yutopia films (Short)
- Dolls, pr. Stéphanie Launay, dir. Joachim Hérissé / Komadoli Studio (TV Series)
- Dr. Howl, Anna Mroczek, Anna Jasińska – Koronkiewicz / Likaon | WJT (Feature Film)
- Eruption, dir. Zoé Nagy (Student/Rising Stars)
- Faulas, pr. Nicola Contini, dir. Michela Anedda / Mommotty (TV Series)
- It is (not) Yours, dir. Santiago Ordoñez (Student/Rising Stars)
- LAST MINUTE, dir./pr.Joanna Kozuch / plackartnyj (Short)
- Magic Molly, pr. Maria Pavlou / Pixel giants (TV Series)
- MOSS, pr. Jordi B. Oliva, dir. Judith Colell / Imagic TV (Feature Film)
- MouMoush – The King of Plastic, pr. Radmila Roczkov, dir. Milorad Krstic / Mumus Production Ltd (Feature Film)
- My Grandmother is a Skydiver, dir. Polina Piddubna (Student/Rising Stars)
- My Little Heroes, pr. Ivan Agenjo, dir. Cristina Broquetas / Peekaboo Animation (TV Series)
- Nightbloom, dir. Kata Gugić, pr. Vanja Andrijević / Bonobostudio (Short)
- Nine Lives Left, dir. Zacharias Mavroeidis, pr. Maria Kontogianni / Wild At Heart (Feature Film)
- Period Drama, dir. Michaela Mihalyi, pr. Jakub Rálek (Short)
- Rainy Days, pr./dir. Ani Antonova Hristova (TV Series)
- Riamise, pr. Federico Turani, dir. Francesco Forti / IBRIDO Studio (Feature Film)
- Stuck in a wasp nest, dir. Agnes Milla Bereczki (Student/Rising Stars)
- The Heaviness of Absence, dir. Jalal Maghout, pr. Karsten Matern / Matern-Trigo-Maghout-Magnuska-Plucinska-Solomon-Ziółkowska Animation GbR (Short)
- The new suburb, pr. Edina Csüllög, Francesco Rosso / Red Sherberth (Short)
- The Treflix: Christmas Special, dir. Piotr Ficner, pr. Kazimierz Wierzbicki / KAZStudio
- The way out, dir. Dániel Diószeghy (Student/Rising Stars)
- Toxik, dir./pr. Bárány Dániel / Boddah (Short)
- Wrestlers, pr. Kimmo Sillanmikko, dir. Joni Männistö / Böhle Studios (Short)
- You Are My Light, pr. Zuzana Kučerová, dir. Hana Stehlikova (Short)

Nine Lives Left

The Wrestlers

The Heaviness of Absence

Displaced Garden

The CEE Animation Forum will take place on 8 and 9 November in Pilsen (Czech Republic). The design for this year's edition has been created by visual artist Vera van Wolferen, an animation director and set designer.





