The central event of the Animafest Zagreb 2026 Children and Youth Programme is the Films for Children and Youth Competition, an international selection of 32 films from 15 countries worldwide.

Films in the Films for Children Competition were selected by the Slovenian media psychologist and editor of Children and Youth Programming with Radio Television Slovenia Martina Peštaj, while the films in the Films for Youth Competition were selected by film programmer and critic, media expert and educator Nino Kovačić.

FILMS FOR CHILDREN COMPETITION 1 (AGE 3-6)

· COCOON, Ana Gabriela Tijerina Cabrera, Emilia Sibilla García, Mariajosé González Hinojosa, Dayana Gutiérrez Sánchez (independent production / Mexico / 2025)
· ENTHUSIASM, Alžběta Škretová (The Film Academy of Miroslav Ondricek in Pisek / Czech Republic / 2025)
· FIRST FLIGHT, Adrián Jaffé (independent production / Germany / 2025)
· FOUND!, Juliette Baily (La Boîte,… Productions, Les Films du Nord / France, Belgium / 2025)
· KONIGIRI-KUN LET'S EAT!, Mari Miyazawa (NHK Enterprises, Inc. / Japan / 2025)
· SEED, Vjekoslav Živković (Recircle Studio / Croatia / 2025)
· THE MOTHERLESS EGG, Elena Walf (Minya film i animacija, Studio FILM BILDER GmbH / Germany, Croatia / 2025)

FILMS FOR CHILDREN COMPETITION 2 (AGE 7-10)

· BATTERY GRANDMA, Seungbae Jeon (Toyville Studio / South Korea / 2026)
· CLOUD FISH, Noe Garcia (La Boîte,… Productions, Les Films du Nord / France, Belgium / 2025)
· DUET, Léo Brunel (eddy / France / 2025)
· IN A FARAWAY FOREST: APPLE OF DISCORD, Timon Leder (Dagiba / Slovenia, Croatia / 2026)
· PICCOLO PICCOLO, Marta Gennari (Folimage, Nadasdy Film / France / 2025)
· PROUT, Marc-Henri Wajnberg (Wajnbrosse Productions / Belgium / 2025)
· THE EAGLE AND THE KINGLET, Paul Jadoul (La Boîte,… Productions, Les Films du Nord / Belgium, France / 2025)
· TICKLER, Jenni Koljonen, Elina Mikkola, Juulia Niiranen, Anna Rohesalu (Turku University of Applied Sciences / Finland / 2025)

BATTERY GRANDMA

FILMS FOR CHILDREN COMPETITION 3 (AGE 11-14)

· BACKSTREET BIRDS, Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė (Kadrų Skyrius / Lithuania / 2025)
· CITY IN THE FOX, Mikael Jacobsen (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH / Germany / 2026)
· LOC LAC, Bun Chai Ly (Les Films du Nord / France / 2025)
· POCKETS FULL OF PEBBLES, Elise Kerob (EMCA / France / 2026)
· THE DAY I LICKED A PEBBLE, Flavie Eliézer, Chloé Bernuchon, Goli Atefi, Maud Kolasa, Nathan Jauze, Maud Pijollet (Ecole MoPA / France / 2025)
· THE GIRL WHO WASN’T AFRAID OF BEARS, Lea Vučko (CUB Animation, Invida, Jaka produkcija, Octopics / Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia / 2025)
· WHERE IS MY HOME?, Hyelin Yoon (independent production / South Korea / 2025)

FILMS FOR YOUTH COMPETITION (15+ yrs)

· BEFORE YOU GONE, Xie Chia-Ping (Tainan National University of the Arts / Taiwan / 2025)
· CULTIVATION, HARVESTING AND DISPERSAL OF THORNS, Jeanne Girard (Novanima Production / France / 2025)
· LOOK AT ME, Fabrice Garcia-Carpintero (Black-out / France / 2025)
· ON THE OTHER SIDE..., Mingyu Wang (Tama Art University / Japan / 2025)
· Q, Masataka Kihara (Tama Art University / Japan / 2025)
· STAR FISH, Alissar Derwiche, Costa Micheletti, Yohji Suzana (Atelier de Sèvres / France / 2025)
· THE AUTOHARP CRUSHING ON HOT GUYS, Antonie Zavadilová (FAMU / Czech Republic / 2026)
· THE SCARLET TAMAGOCHI, Francisco Visceral Rivera (Pista B / Chile / 2025)
· TIME, Max Mörtl, Robert Löbel (independent production / Germany / 2025)
· VISTA MARE, Nicola Bartoleschi, Nicoletta Busto, Emanuele Ricciardi (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia / Italy / 2025)

LOOK AT ME

Animafest Zagreb 2026 will be held from 8 to 13 June 2026.

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