Animocje Festival 2026: All Highlights
With the impressive number of 3,178 submissions for animation shorts, the 15th edition of Animocje Festival (21-26 April 2026, Bydgoszcz, Poland) goes strong for one more year, choosing 98 short animation films.
The festival, which celebrates the strange and weird element as its theme this year, has selected a variety of shorts made to make you think and get artistically challenged at the same time. For instance, the meta-macabre 'A Round of Applause For Death' by the always capable Stephen Irwin, the direct-to-the-basics feminist film 'Because Today is Saturday' by Alice Eça Guimarães, or the imaginary stop-motion fantasy of 'The Pool or Death of a Goldfish' by Daria Kopiec. 26 animation shorts were selected overall.
Its Play-offs Animocje section consists of two screenings of animated films that weren't officially entered into the competition. One of the films (audience votes will take care of that) enters competition. This year's winner is 'WHALE 52 - Suite for a Man, a Boy, and a Whale', directed by Daniel Neiden.
Animocje Festival has a separate competition for music films (13 animation shorts were selected for this year's section); and, while it focuses on animation for adults, it still celebrates films made for children; 4 distinct, age-appropriate programs have been prepared (scroll to the end of the article for the full list)
Feature animation offerings (a non-competitive section) follow the general STRANGE theme of this year's Animocje Festival; we spot the classic 'Paprika' by Satoshi Kon, but also the children audience-oriented 'Ghost Cat Anzu' (Yôko Kuno & Nobuhiro Yamashita) and 'The Songbird’s Secret' (Antoine Lanciaux). The Canadian, Annecy-awarded 'Endless Cookie' (Peter & Seth Scriver) animation doc, and the sci-fi mermaid story 'ChaO' (Yasuhiro Aoki) complete the feature animation programme.
Endless Cookie
Three curated screenings correspond to the festival's concept of STRANGE and weirdness. Specially prepared for this year's festival, will feature animations exploring themes of emotions, relationships, identity, and the sense of time and space.
'Love, Rage, Repeat', on the emotional extremes of animation storytelling (curated by Ligia Soare and Mihai Mitrică / Animest Romania); 'Strange: Remember?' selection of animations submerged in various spaces (curated by Aleksandra Ławska); 'Places That Devour You' invites us to reconsider our relationship to the spaces we occupy. (curated by Daniel Šuljić)
Uncanny Valley, Paul Wenninger, one of the films of the Strange tribute Animocje programme
This year's Oscar-nominated films for Best Short Animation (including the winner, 'The Girl Who Cried Pearls' by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski) will be screened in a separate program. (The film 'The Three Sisters' has not been included in the program due to the recent controversy concerning both the pseudonym Konstantin Bronzit and the countries of attribution).
Animocje Masterclasses, Workshops and Exhibitions
Rotterdam-based animation artist Nienke Deutz, the Annecy Cristal winner for best short film with 'The Miracle' (2023) -her credits also include the awarded 'Bloeistraat 11' (2018)- brings her expertise to the Animoocje Festival, presenting a masterclass "Animated Documentary: An Exploration". Based on interviews with her neighbors in the Rotterdam district of Delfshaven, Nienke Deutz (together with Digna van der Put) created her latest film 'This is your captain speaking' (2025). This docu-animation explores storytelling through the use of imagination, superpowers, and voice-overs, and Deutz will be there to explain the whole process.
Nienke Deutz in the set
In the Alternative narratives in animation - 2 days of screenwriting meetings (in Polish), director, screenwriter, visual artist, and lecturer Ewa Borysewicz will invite participants to work with alternative narrative structures that go beyond the classic three-act model. Throughout the collaborative exercises, participants will analyze modernist, postmodernist, consecutive, and parallel narratives.
Young audiences will have the chance to immerse in Animated oddities - 2-day cutout stop-motion animation workshop (In Polish, with Marcin Roszczyniała, Karolina Rosińska-Roszczyniała, Karolina Drabik).
Japanese animation artist Sawako Kabuki (I'm Late) will have an exhibition, "Everything Leaks, Keep Walking," during the festival. A conversation entitled "Boundaries of the Body and Art: Conversations on Sexuality and Identity" will follow the opening (participants: Nastia Naumenko, Nadia Kostrzewa, Jakub Hartung‑Wójciak, moderator: Jagoda Ptaszyńska).
A poster exhibition by Wrocław artist Jakub Zasada (born 1985) will also take place; more than 20 posters from different years, both commissioned and non-commissioned (on films, social cases, music, and the animal world). Check also AniBattle & Dynasonic - a concert with a visual animation battle, in which participants from two different Universities and their Arts branches (the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk vs. the University of Fine Arts in Poznań) will be mixing animation live ("the soul will dance").
Theatre, film, and dubbing actor Zbigniew Suszyński is this year's winner of the Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship’s Film Award for Special Achievements in Dubbing (26 April 2026), an award that Animocje Festival constantly bestows to dubbing actors of animation films.
The full list of animation short films selected for Animocje Festival 2025:
Jury: Nienke Deutz, Sawako Kabuki, Jakub Zasada
Jury ZEF FIlm Educators Team: Katarzyna Jaruszewicz-Kot, Kamila Szwarc, and Hanna Kroczek
Junior Jury: Maja Stańczyk, Wera Bukowska and Maja Turkiewicz.
Main Competition
A Round of Applause For Death, dir. Stephen Irwin, United Kingdom 2024, 4’42’’
Because Today is Saturday/ Porque hoje é Sábado, dir. Alice Eça Guimarães, Portugal 2025, 12’24’’
Blessed, dir. Birute Sodeikaite, Canada 2025, 7’42’’
Brown Morning/ Matin Brun, dir. Carlo Vogele, France, Luxembourg 2025, 9’02’’
Can you hear me?/ Czy Ty mnie słyszysz?, dir. Anastazja Naumenko, Poland 2025, 15’
Cold Home/ Zimny Dom, dir. Alicja Liss, Poland 2025, 8’22’’
Free the Chickens, dir. Matúš Vizár, Slovakia 2024, 15’
Hello, Headquarters/ Halo, Centrala, dir. Zuzanna Zofia Heller, Poland 2025, 4’55’’
Hunting/ Qui part à la chasse, dir. Lea Favre, Switzerland 2025, 10’50’’
Tears/ Rozdarcia, dir. Paulina Ziółkowska, Poland 2025, 8’48’’
Tennis, Oranges, dir. Sean Pecknold, USA 2024, 10’53’’
The Pool or Death of a Goldfish/ Basen albo śmierć złotej rybki, dir. Daria Kopiec, Poland 2025, 13’47’’
TV or The Disturbance on Forest Hill Road/ TV oder Die Ruhestörung an der Waldbergstrasse, dir. Frederic Siegel, Switzerland 2025, 14’09’’
To the woods/ Une Fugue, dir. Agnès Patron, France 2025, 15’05’’
Wish You Were Ear, dir. Mirjana Balogh, Hungary 2025, 10’14’’
Long Distance, dir. Iulia Voitova, France 2025, 8’16’’
Butterfly Kiss, dir. Zohar Dvir, Germany 2024, 10’33’’
Challenges of a solitary mind, dir. Astrid Rothaug, Austria 2025, 3’
Dollhouse Elephant, dir. Jenny Jokela, Finland 2025, 11’14’’
I died in Irpin, dir. Anastasiia Falileieva, Slovakia, Ukraine 2024, 11’29’’
The Sycamore, dir. Jared D. Wess, USA 2025, 3’35’’
Tonight I’ll Dream About Water/ Dzisiaj przyśni mi się woda, dir. Adrianna Matwiejczuk, Poland 2025, 14’03’’
Who Killed Narin G**** ?/ Qui a tué Narin G**** ?, dir. Ayce Kartal, France 2025, 4’42’’
Nissa Scrim, dir. Marcel Tigchelaar, Netherlands 2025, 9’40’’
Ploo, dir. Jon Frickey, Germany 2025, 15’08’’
The Graffiti, dir. Ryo Orikasa, Japan 2025, 12’33’’
Hello, Headquarters/ Halo, Centrala, dir. Zuzanna Zofia Heller
Music Films Competition
Porosty - Dog, dir. Jacek Gabis, Poland 2024, 3’35’’
SAKANAMON - Supponpon, dir. Hoji Tsuchiya, Saigo no Shudan, Japan 2024, 3’27’’
Signal, dir. Emma Carré, Mathilde Parquet, Belgium, France 2025, 16’44’’
Choolers Division - Capitaine T, dir. Monsieur Pimpant, Belgium 2025, 4’53’’
Oberka - Wildbait, dir. Lee Oz, Eliška Oz, Czech Republic 2025, 3’05’’
Ordinary Life/ 普通の生活（Futsu no Seikatsu), dir. Yoriko Mizushiri, France, Japan 2025, 9’48’’
Yangbans - HBC, dir. Léon Moh-Cah, South Korea 2025, 3’40’’
Psychonauts/ Psihonauti, dir. Niko Radas, Croatia 2025, 7’57’’
The Sky Was Candy, dir. Anh Tú Nguyen, Germany 2025, 2’59’’
Presto Agitato, until we all vanished, dir. Yeoleum Choi, USA 2025, 2’36’’
Birdlife/ Vogelleben, dir. Lukas Wind, Estonia 2025, 2’44’’
Ovary-Acting, dir. Ida Melum, United Kingdom 2025, 12’26’’
Visiting the Zoo, dir. Maria Zilli, Italy 2025, 3’45’’
Visiting the Zoo, dir. Maria Zilli
Films for Children and Young Adults Competition
3+
Pucio and the Crocodile/ Pucio i krokod, dir. Marta Stróżycka, Poland 2025, 7’12’’
First Flight, dir. Adrian Jaffé, Germany 2025, 3’18’’
Once Upon a Time in Dragonville, dir. Marika Herz, France, Switzerland 2024, 9’15’’
Penguin Benjamin/ O pingwinie Benjaminie, dir. Daria Solak, Magda Pilecka, Poland 2025, 3’10’’
The Rumble-Bumble Rally/ Morgenfugl og Murmeldyr: Rydderacet, dir, Annette Saugestad Helland, Johan Kaos, Norway 2024, 8’40’’
The Rabbits' House at Number 968/ 兔子巷968號, dir. Jai-Xin Wu, Taiwan 2025, 5’21’’
Sketches on Ice/ Esquisses sur glace, dir. Marion Auvin, Belgium, France 2025, 4’05’’
I don't know what to do, dir. Akshita Tyagi, Leyla Belarbi, Lia Macruz, Brazil, India, Italy, Spain 2024, 4’30’’
7+
Beetles/ Żuczki, dir. Piotr Chmielewski, Poland 2025, 9’51’’
The Magic Portal/ Le portail magique, dir. Collective 18 children, Belgium 2024, 10’45’’
Writing Home/ O lýkožroutce, dir. Eva Matejovičová, Czech Republic 2024, 12’04’’
How the Bear Composed a Song, dir. Kristína Bajaníková, Slovakia 2024, 6’57’’
I found a box/ J’ai trouvé une boîte, dir. Éric Montchaud, France 2025, 9’
The Weather's Hot Today/ Il fait chaud aujourd'hui, dir. Liv Ronzon, France 2025, 5’26’’
Glowberry, dir. Jessica M. Fisher, USA 2025, 4’45’’
Grandpa is sleeping, dir. Matei Branea, Romania 2025, 13’
The Song of Storms, dir. Caroline Attia, France 2025, 26’20’’
White Carousel, dir. Nadya Neo, Singapore 2025, 3’59’’
City in the Fox, dir. Mikael Lindskov Jacobsen, Germany 2026, 8’53’’
Apocalypsis, dir. Nicolas Sanabria, Emmanuel Alcalá, Andrés Llanezas, Argentina 2024, 4’12’’
12+
Dog Ear, dir. Péter Vácz, Hungary 2025, 20’45’’
Grandpa has a broken eye and mom is an adventure/ Morfar har et ødelagt øye og Mamma er en adventure, dir. Marita Mayer, Norway 2025, 8’13’’
Out For Ice Cream/ Crème à glace, dir. Rachel Samson, Canada 2024, 9’11’’
The 5-Second Rule, dir. Yura Boguslavsky, Armenia 2025, 1’32’’
Dream, dir. Semiramis Mamata, Greece 2025, 4’44’’
Holy Shit, dir. Taxiarchis Deligiannis, Vasilis Tsiouvaras, Greece 2025, 4’38’’
I Am Not Here Anymore/ Już Mnie Nie Ma, dir. Nawojka Wierzbowska, Poland 2025, 14’59’’
I Think I'm Going to Die, dir. Ning Xuan Tan, Singapore 2024, 5’10’’
The Laser, dir. Wren Edwards, USA 2025, 3’45
The Elephant Who Wasn't the Last/ Nie taki ostatni słoń, dir. Grzegorz Koncewicz, Poland 2025, 10’26’’
15+
Dear Leo Sokolosky/ Drogi Leo Sokolosky, dir. Weronika Szyma, Poland 2024, 8’
My Brother, My Brother, dir. Abdelrahman Dnewar, Saad Dnewar, Egypt 2025, 14’57’’
On Saint Nicholas' Eve/ În Seara de Moș Nicolae, dir. Emy Mirel Ivasca, Romania 2025, 11’
Ostrich, dir. Marie Kenov, Switzerland 2025, 8’33’’
S The Wolf, dir. Sameh Alaa, France 2025, 10’30’’
Dipolar Bipolar, dir. Quankai Li, Japan 2025, 8’50’’
Autokar, dir. Sylwia Szkiłądź, Belgium, France 2025, 17’27’’
Bugss, dir. Jacopo Degl'innocenti, USA 2025, 2’13’’
Póg mo Pigeon, dir. Clíodhna Lyons, Ireland 2024, 6’45’’
Play-off
Hurikán, dir. Jan Saska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Slovakia 2024, 13’07’’
Kyiv Cake, dir. Mykyta Lyskov, Estonia, Ukraine 2025, 22’10’’
ima wa ima, dir. Chun Yam Keung, Hong Kong, United Kingdom 2025, 4’41’’
As If the Earth Had Swallowed Them Up/ Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado, dir. Natalia León, France 2025, 14’02’
WHALE 52 - Suite For Man, Boy, And Whale, dir. Daniel Neiden, USA 2025, 11’17’’
You Are Not Part of The Cake, dir. Ting-Jui Chen, Taiwan, USA 2025, 4’33’’
There it is - the brain/ Oto mózg, dir. Natalia Modrzewska, Poland 2025, 5’38’’
The Eating of an Orange, dir. May Kindred-Boothby, United Kingdom 2025, 7’29’’
Thank You Dr. Farsi, dir. Samaneh Shojaei, Iran 2025, 8’09’’
Siri Wonder, dir. Andreas Sven Granér, Sweden 2025, 13’35’’
Potlems, dir. Alberto Allegri Rodríguez, Denmark 2025, 4’16’’
Murmur, dir. Veronika Valentová, Czech Republic 2024, 6’26’’
More Than Happy, dir. Wei Keong Tan, Singapore 2025, 6’58’’
Lucus, dir. David Fidalgo, Spain 2025, 13’59’’
Lined up, dir. Barbora Vanická, Czech Republic 2025, 3’14’’
Letters From Little Jimmy, dir. David John Graham, Finland 2025, 3’48’’
Jump Zoo, dir. Lyza Jarvis, Estonia 2025, 4’52’’
Lapkričio Dvidešimtosios Orkestras - Dragas, dir. Robertas Nevecka, Lithuania 2025, 4’42’’
Creaky Chompers/ Craque Ganache, dir. Étienne Bonnet, France 2024, 3’36’’
The Crooked Heads/ Na krzywe łby, dir. Jakub Krzyszpin, Poland 2025, 8’25’’
Bar Croquette freestyle/ Bar Krokiet freestyle, dir. Maria Dakszewicz, Poland 2025, 5’14’’ – the film has been withdrawn by the director
More Than Happy, dir. Wei Keong Tan
The Full Festival Programme:
15th International Animated Film Festival Animocje -April 21-26th / Kino Orzeł / City Culture Centre in Bydgoszcz / Poland
Play-offs
02.04., Thursday | Kino Orzeł
6.00 PM Play-off I - short film competition screening, 80’, 16+, 10 zł
03.04., Friday | Kino Orzeł
6.00 PM Play-off II - short film competition screening, 85’, 16+, 10 zł
Animocje on Tour
17.04., Friday | Centrum Kultury „Browar B.”, Włocławek
11.00 AM The Best of Animocje 2025 - Kids, 65’, 7+, 5 zł
6.00 PM The Best of Animocje 2025, 16+, 85’, 5 zł
18.04., Saturday | CSW Toruń, Kino Centrum
2.00 PM The Best of Animocje 2025 - Kids, 65’, 7+, 10 zł
4.00 PM The Best of Animocje 2025, 16+, 85’, 10 zł
15th International Animated Films Festival Animocje
21.04, Tuesday
9.00 AM Films for Children and Young Adults Competition 3+ IN POLISH ONLY, 46’| Kino Orzeł, 3 zł
10.00 AM - 2.00 PM Echolight – two-day mapping workshops – workshops for students of the Bydgoszcz Art High School | Leon Wyczółkowski PLSP, for students of PLSP
11.00 AM Films for Children and Young Adults Competition I, 7+ IN POLISH ONLY, 55’ | Kino Orzeł, 3 zł
11.00 AM -3.00 PM Alternative narratives in animation - 2 days of screenwriting meetings IN POLISH ONLY| Galeria Wspólna, 20 zł/ two day ticket / registration:
5.00 PM Main Competition I, 69’, 16+ |Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
6.30 PM ChaO, dir. Yasuhiro Aoki, Japan 2025, 90’, 16+ |Kino Orzeł, 15 zł
8.20 PM Music Films Competition, 78’, 16+ |Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
22.04, Wednesday
9.00 AM Films for Children and Young Adults Competition, 12+ , 84’ | Kino Orzeł, 3 zł
11.30 AM Films for Children and Young Adults Competition, 15+, 89’ | Kino Orzeł, 3 zł
4.00 PM Q&A with guests and authors, 50’ | Music Cafe Szpulka, free entry
5.00 PM Main Competition II, 55’ + a film from play-offs, 14+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
6.30 PM Love, Rage, Repeat, a short film programme, 72’, 18+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
8.00 PM A thorough choice of posters – exhibition opening, posters by Jakub Zasada | MCK foyer / Kino Orzeł, free entry
9.00 PM Paprika, dir. Satoshi Kon, Japan 2006, 90’, 16+ | Kino Orzeł, 15 zł
23.04, Thursday
9.00 AM Films for Children and Young Adults Competition, 3+ IN POLISH ONLY, 46’ | Kino Orzeł, 3 zł
11.00 AM Films for Children and Young Adults Competition II, 7+ IN POLISH ONLY, 61’ | Kino Orzeł, 3 zł
4.00 PM Q&A with guests and authors, 50’ | Music Cafe Szpulka, free entry
5.00 PM Main Competition III, 70’, 16+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
6.30 PM Endless Cookie, dir. Peter & Seth Scriver, Canada, 2025, 97’, 16+ | Kino Orzeł, 15 zł
8.30 PM Echolight – audiovisual walk | MCK foyer / Kino Orzeł, free entry
24.04, Friday
11.00 AM Ghost cat Anzu, dir. Yôko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Japan, France, 2024, 97’, 12+ | Kino Orzeł, 5 zł, accessible screening: Polish Sign Language (PJM), subtitles, audio description
12.00 AM Animation at the Academy, seminar and networking meeting, 180’ |Academy of Music, fIlm studio room U.158, free entry / registration
4.00 PM Q&A with guests and authors, 50’ | Music Cafe Szpulka, free entry
5.00 PM Main Competition IV, 73’, 14+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
6.30 PM Strange: Remember?, a short film programme, 70’, 16+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
8.30 PM AniBattle & Dynasonic, concert with a visual animation battle | Mózg Club, free entry
25.04, Saturday
10.00 AM -2.00 PM Animated Oddities - two-day cutout stop-motion animation workshops IN POLISH ONLY | Galeria Wspólna, 20 zł/ two-day ticket 20 zł/ registration:
1.00 PM Animated documentary; an exploration. Masterclass led by Nienke Deutz, about 90’ | Kino Orzeł, free admission/ registration:
5.00 PM Everything Leaks, Keep Walking, exhibition opening, works of Sawako Kabuki | VELVET speciality coffee | art gallery, free entry
5.30 PM Boundaries of the Body and Art: Conversations on Sexuality and Identity | VELVET speciality coffee | art gallery, free entry
7.00 PM Places That Devour You, a short film programme, 73’, 16+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
8.30 PM Announcement of the competition winners, about 60’ | Music Cafe Szpulka, free entry
10.00 PM Squeeze Quiz - animation pub quiz, about 90’ | Music Cafe Szpulka, free entry
26.04, Sunday
11.00 AM Little Animocje: The songbird’s secret IN POLISH ONLY, dir. Antoine Lanciaux, France, Belgium 2025, 77’, 6+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
2.00 PM Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films 2026, 52’, 14+ | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
5.00 PM Meeting with Zbigniew Suszyński, winner of the Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship’s Film Award for Special Achievements in Dubbing IN POLISH ONLY, about 70’ | Music Cafe Szpulka, free entry
7.00 PM The Best of Animocje 2026 - awarded titles | Kino Orzeł, 12 zł
Ticket and festival pass info, also workshop registration info and free access
The 15th Animocje Festival Poster
Animocje Festival takes place between 21 and 26 April in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
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