Etiuda & Anima Festival 2026: Screenings Guide

The 33rd Etiuda&Anima festival (26-31 October 2026, Krakow, Poland), the only festival in Poland that puts together student live-action films and animation shorts (by both professionals and students) and features, continues (since 1994) its trajectory into the festival animation world. A number of stellar animation professionals have been invited this year to join as guests/jury; its animation programme (divided into the international Anima and the national Anima.PL competition) includes an always interesting-to-watch entourage of films.

This article is the first part of the festival highlights, focusing on the screening events, from competition to tribute programmes. Without further ado, here are the 33rd Etiuda&Anima festival screening highlights (industry events to follow).

Opening Film

A farewell to Bogusław Zmudziński, founder and longtime Artistic Director of the Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival, an outstanding film scholar, academic, cultural organiser, and a man who devoted his life to cinema, will open the festival.

Jan Švankmajer's 'Jabberwocky' (1971), a tribute to the late festival director, will precede the Polish premiere of the new animated feature 'Moonfish' (Daniel Zveref, Italy). Premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2026, the sci-fi animated film details the story of two people where Earth descendants are born into mining colonies and their tumultuous future.

Bogusław Zmudziński (1954-2026)

Feature Animation

The animated documentary, ‘My Favorite War’ by Ilze Burkovska-Jacobsen on her USSR childhood during the Cold War, will be screened. The 72-minute social realistic Brazilian film ‘Son of a Bitch’ (di. Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Sávio Leite, Tania Anaya) is part of the E&A programme. We check out Edmunds Janssons’ ‘Born in the Jungle’ 2D children’s animation film, a Latvian children’s adventure in Latin America (Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, 2026).

The Anima for Kids section also includes ‘Little Amelie’ by Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han (France, 2025), another story of immigrant children (a Belgian girl growing up in Japan), and an Oscar-nominated film. Also, the Cannes-premiered ‘Lucy Lost’ by Olivier Clert (France, 2026). ‘The Square’ by Bo-sol Kim (South Korea, 2026) is a tragic romance and spy story about a Swedish diplomat and a North Korean traffic officer living under surveillance.

A documentary, ‘Fanatics: The History of Polish Animated Film' by Marcin Giżycki, Jacek Knopp, and Michał Mróz (2025), will be screened. This journey spans roughly a century of Polish animation, from early experiments and the Polish school to digital animation and contemporary auteurs.

A tribute screening of Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ is also scheduled.

Son of a Bitch

European Animation, Professionals and Schools Tribute Programme

Etiuda&Anima hosts this year's edition of the Emile Awards, which celebrate excellence in European Animation. It has hosted a big tribute around that event, including:

• Black Sea Animation: Connections, Stories and New Voices (curator: Mariam Kandelaki). Films by participants/alumni of the Black Sea Animation Workshop plus recent Georgian animation, connecting voices from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Türkiye and Georgia. 'Grandpa is Sleeping' by Matei Branea (Bulgaria/Romania, 2025) and the experimental 'Abandoned Village' by Mariam Kapanadze (Georgia, 2020) are included here.
• Austrian animation (curator: Holger Lang). 12 Austrian animated films produced between 2017 and 2026, including 'Contouring' by Veronika Schubert (2019).
• European Film Schools – Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts Poznań. Films by young Poznań animation directors (76').
• Contemporary Estonian Stop-Motion films (curator: Ulo Pikkov). 6 recent Estonian stop-motion films, including 'A Serious Thought' by Jonas Taul (2026) and 'Dog Apartment' by Priit Tender (2022).
• Special Golden Dinosaur: Ülo Pikkov - Student Film Screening: Recent animation shorts from the Estonian Academy of Arts, including ‘Poppy Flowers’ by Evridiki Papaiakovou.

Poppy Flowers, Evridiki Papaiakovou (Estonian Academy of Art)

Other Special Programmes

Animation artist, musician and former Animafest Zagreb artistic director Daniel Šuljić prepares 'Trick or Treat – Watch Your Back and Front'. A 2-programme animated horror, ranging from classic literary/grotesque horror to splatter and contemporary unease. Don’t miss: ‘The Flesh Dress’ by Joachim Hérissé (France, 2026), ‘The Present’ by Joe Hsieh (Taiwan, 2013), 'Quai Sisowath' by Stéphanie Lansaque (France, 2025), 'Steakhouse' by Špela Čadež (Slovenia, Germany, France, 2021).

Self Portrait of Animation Artists programme includes Péter Vácz, Marta Pajek and Ülo Pikkov. The programme Green Etiuda&Anima concerns climate, ecology, social change, agency and the relationship between culture, nature and technology. Standouts: 'Visit Into Irradiated Land', by Anne-Sophie Girault (France, 2026).

Steakhouse

European Animation Awards (Emile Awards)

The award ceremony and the screening of the award-winning European animation films. Find out:

• the Nominees
• the Jury

Non-Screening Events

Archive of an Unfulfilled Future – Exhibition (curator: Olga Bobrowska): "The seven installations created by artists from the Institute of Art and Design of the UKEN University of the National Education Commission in Kraków consist of traces that the future has perhaps left behind. These artists reconstruct neither hyper-optimistic nor catastrophic visions of progress; rather, they allow us to contemplate the entanglement of what is being reborn, reconfigured, and inevitably dying away in our perception of the future. Archiving the unfulfilled future is not a declaration of its end, but rather signals a break" (festival description).

EARTHING: sound etudes (Jakub Kawula and Bartek Uryga): A music event centered around sound and image, which are to provide guidance for fluttering emotions and feelings. To wrap oneself in sounds, lose oneself in images, be aware of the point of contact with the ground.

Selected Animation Films for the Anima Competition

Jury: Sylwia Szkiłądź (Poland/Belgium), Holger Lang (Austria), Peter Vacz (Hungary)

ˌaɪs ˈkriːm, aɪ skriːm, dir.: Natalia Domini, Estonia 2025, 10’10’’
A Rose, dir.: Simone Massi, Italy 2026, 5’00’’
Anaglyph, dir.: Valle Comba, Spain 2025, 9’00’’
Autumn 2026, dir.: Wojciech Sobczyk, Poland 2026, 18’39’’
And I Would Be Beautiful, dir.: Mathilde George, France 2025, 10’12’’
Backstreet Birds, dir.: Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė, Lithuania 2025, 7’22’’
Balconada, dir.: Iva Tokmakchieva, Bulgaria, France 2025, 8’18’’
Because Today is Saturday, dir.: Alice Eça Guimarães, Portugal, France, Spain 2025, 12’24’’
Canva, dir.: Malena Martinez, Argentina 2024, 2’20’’
Carla und ihre Beine/Carla and her legs, dir.: Christoph Büttner, Germany 2026, 14’11’’
Conductor, dir.: Antanas Skucas, Lithuania 2026, 8’46’’
Dziś wstanie słońce/The Sun Will Rise Today, dir.: Bruno Bednarski, Poland 2026, 4’30’’
Fire in My Pocket, dir.: Janka Feiner, Hungary 2026, 10’02’’
Hunting, dir.: Lea Favre, Switzerland 2025, 10’50’’
jam, dir.: Keiichi Yonehara, Japan 2026, 6’43’’
Jam and Wood, dir.: Elena Walf, Germany, Croatia 2025, 5’13’’
Jump Zoo, dir.: Lyza Jarvis, Estonia 2025, 4’52’’
Kkogdu, dir.: Jin Woo, Poland 2026, 12’00’’
Little Boarlet, dir.: Atsushi Wada, Japan 2026, 3’37’’
Long Distance, dir.: Iulia Voitova, France 2025, 8’17’’
Misfolding, dir.: Soetkin Verstegen, Belgium 2026, 5’15’’
My Bellyaching Skin, dir.: Etienne Bonnet, France 2025, 6’12’’
Nissa Scrim, dir.: Marcel Tigchelaar, Netherlands 2025, 9’40’’
Off-Time, dir.: Nata Metlukh, USA, Japan, Ukraine 2025, 10’45’’
Ostrich, dir.: Marie Kenov, Switzerland 2025, 8’33’’
Our Walls, dir.: Živa Divjak, Czech Republic 2026, 7’35’’
Owsiankowy potwór/Porridge Monster, dir.: Izabela Plucińska, Poland, Germany 2026, 9’33’’
Paradaïz, dir.: Matea Radic, Canada 2025, 9’28’’
Penguin, dir.: Kaspar Jancis, Estonia 2026, 14’55’’
Pictures for Piano (1), dir.: Diek Grobler, South Africa 2025, 3’00’’
Spowiedź/The Confession, dir.: Maria Gryczewska, Poland 2026, 2’56’’
Tar, dir.: Fariba Farzanfar, Kaveh Sistani, Iran 2026, 5’00’’
Territory, dir.: Barbara Synak, Poland 2025, 6’47’’
The Collector, dir.: Mahsa Shoja, Iran 2026, 12’39’’
The End, dir.: Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Sweden, France, Denmark 2026, 15’
The Girl Who Cried Pearls, dir.: Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski, Canada 2025, 17’28’’
The Spring Sea, dir.: Koji Yamamura, Japan 2025, 7’45’’
Thousands of Hours, dir.: Barbora Vanická, Czech Republic 2025, 6’19’’
Top 10 Things To See, dir.: Mikhel Reka, Estonia 2025, 14’15’’
Tortoise, dir.: Mawgran Shaw, Australia, Canada 2025, 6’00’’
Ultra Strong, dir.: Catherine Lepage, Canada 2026, 9’35’’
What’s a Star without You?, dir.: Jolie "Yojo" Gutierrez Calixto, Mexico 2025, 3’27’’
When The Mountains Shook, dir.: Daiyu Li, Japan 2025
Winter in March, dir.: Natalia Mirzoyan, Armenia, Belgium, Estonia, France 2025, 16’22’’
Wish You Were Ear, dir.: Mirjana Balogh, Hungary 2025, 10’14’’
Żuczki/Beetles, dir.: Piotr Chmielewski, Poland 2025, 9’51’’

Paradaïz, dir.: Matea Radic

41 Selected Films for the Anima.PL competition

Jury: Vladimir Leschiov (Latvia), Paweł Prewencki (Poland), Mariam Kandelaki (Georgia/Germany)

A Good Heart/Dobre Serce, Aleksandra Kubisa (Poland, 2024)
Almost There or a Weenie/Prawie nad Morzem czyli Parówa, Alicja Jasina (Poland, 2025)
Amazon/Amazonka, Aleksandra Piekarska (Poland, 2025)
And Don't Call Me Crazy/I nie mów o mnie wariat, Doroty Skupniewicz (Poland, 2024)
Anxietyborns/Lękorodne, Katarzyna Lenarczyk (Poland, 2026)
Are You Sleeping?/Śpisz?, Olha Cherpak (Poland, 2026)
Autumn 2026/Jesień 2026, Wojciech Sobczyk (Poland, 2026)
Beetles/Żuczki, Piotr Chmielewski (Poland, 2025)
Birds of Paradise/Rajskie ptaki, Tomek Ducki (Poland, France, 2025)
Cold Home/Zimny Dom, Alicja Liss (Poland, 2025)
Death, Julia Medoń (Poland, 2025)
Fisheye, Łukasz Rygał (Poland, 2026)
Fist Talk/Mowa pięści, Wiktoria Konopczyk (Poland, 2026)
Frankie the Rabbit’s Final Preparations/Ostatnie przygotowania królika Frania, Marianna Mrozek (Poland, 2026)
I feel like a fish/Czuję się jak ryba, Joanna Płatek (Poland, 2025)
I'm Not Here Anymore/Już mnie tu nie ma, Nawojka Wierzbowska (Poland, France, 2025)
I'm painting a self-portrait, but all I see is my sister's face/Maluję swój autoportret, a wychodzi mi moja siostra, Helena Stańczyk (Poland, 2026)
Kkogdu, Jin Woo (Poland, 2026)
Kosmogonia, Karolina Chabier (Poland, 2025)
Love/Aşk, Magdalena Özen (Poland, 2026)
Margo, Michalina Sąsiadek (Poland, 2025)
Not All Pigeons Go to Heaven/Nie wszystkie gołębie idą do nieba, Anna Woltańska (Poland, 2025)
Pearl against the Sun/Perła pod Słońce, Karolina Walas (Poland, 2025)
Physarum Polycephalum, Kamila Tomczyk (Poland, 2024)
Procrastination Yoga!, Paulina Ziółkowska (Poland, Germany, 2026)
Remote PE/Zdalny w-f, Zuzanna Kalinowska (Poland, 2025)
Saturday/Sobota, Paweł Golonko, Jakub Zboiński, Marcel Maksym Kamiń (Poland, 2025)
Scherzo, Wojciech Wojtkowski (Poland, 2025)
Survival, Hieronim Neumann (Poland, 2025)
Territory/Terytorium, Barbara Synak (Poland, 2025)
The Confession/Spowiedź, Maria Gryczewska (Poland, 2026)
The Crooked Heads/Na krzywe łby, Jakub Krzyszpin (Poland, 2025)
The Horse, The Dog & The Blonde/Pies, koń i blondynka, Rozalia Kaleta (Poland, 2025)
The Pool or Death of a Goldfish/Basen albo śmierć złotej rybki, Daria Kopiec (Poland, 2025)
The Voices of Crisis/Głosy kryzysu, Katarzyna Małyszko (Poland, 2025)
There is Plenty of Fish in the Sea/Wszystkie rybki śpią w jeziorze, Joanna Szlembarska (Poland, 2025)
Three Cups of Coffee/Trzy filiżanki kawy, Natalia Krawczuk (Poland, 2026)
Tonight I’ll Dream About Water/Dzisiaj przyśni mi się woda, Adrianna Matwiejczuk (Poland, Estonia, 2025)
Underneath the Mountaintop/U Wierzchu Gór, Irina Karapetyan (Poland, 2025)
Valentine's Day/Walentynki, Sonia Mossoczy (Poland, 2025)
Well, This Was Meant to be a Birthday Present/Więc to miał być urodzinowy prezent, Kamil Wójcik (Poland, 2025)

The 2026 Etiuda&Anima poster designed by Vladimir Leschiov.

The 33rd Etiuda & Anima Festival will take place 26-31 October 2026, in Krakow, Poland. Full schedule at etiudandanima.pl.