Festival Description

Anibar International Animation Festival is the only animation festival in Kosovo, and one of the biggest cultural events in the country. Since the beginning, the festival is organized and held in various settings in Peja. The 2026 festival theme was expressed in the following words: "From past themes to those that preoccupy us today, instead of focusing on just one, this year we are allowing them to manifest through the selected films that will be screened across five cinemas, in discussions with filmmakers and festival guests, in workshops and masterclasses suited for every curious mind, as well as in exhibitions, picnics, and music shared among friends. Among other things, this year the festival invites us to briefly disconnect from the rhythm of the digital world, reminding us to be present with one another in time and space, as well as with the creative process itself. Throughout the festival, we will explore our relationship with the senses, nature, materials, and memory."

Anibar Festival Coverage

2025 

• Notes on Anibar Animation Festival 2025
• 'We Have to Do In Animation What Europe Is Strong In’: An interview with Draško Ivezić of Adriatic Animation

Anibar Festival Call for Entries

2027 Anibar Festival call for entries - Currently not open. Submission details will be reported here when announced by the festival.

(2026 Archive)

The submission is open to any audiovisual animation created frame by frame, including computer-generated animation, experimental, and combinations of live-action that are completed after January 1st, 2025 can participate, films completed prior to the stated date cannot participate. 

 The duration of the films must be less than 30 minutes (including credits) for all categories. 

Competition Categories

• International Competition
• Student Competition
• Balkan Competition
• Human Rights Competition
• Animated Music Videos Competition
• Kids and Teen Competition

 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
– Best International Award
– Best Balkan Award
– Best Student Award
– Best Human Rights Award
– Best Animated Music Video Award
– Best Young Audience Award
– Best Audience Award

• Deadline: 31 March  15 April 2026
• Full regulations and submission form via FilmFreeway

Past Anibar Coverage

2014: The fifth Anibar Festival strengthened its international profile while maintaining a strong Balkan component. Tomek Ducki's Polish short 'Baths' won the International Competition Grand Prize, while Ana Nedeljković and Nikola Majdak Jr.'s Serbian political satire 'Rabbitland' won the Balkan Competition. Daisy Jacobs' 'The Bigger Picture' was another important winner. The festival was already establishing the mixture of international independent animation, regional filmmaking and outdoor screenings that would become characteristic of Anibar.

2017: The eighth edition adopted 'Reclaim the City' as its central theme, connecting animation with questions of public space and urban social consciousness in Peja. Its extensive competition programme comprised 213 films, divided among International, Student, Balkan and Animated Music Video competitions, alongside Panorama, Kids and Teen programmes. Films included 'Nighthawk', 'Manivald', 'Dead Horses' and 'Impossible Figures and Other Stories II'. Anibar also highlighted Kosovar filmmaker Edvin Susuri, reinforcing the festival's commitment to developing and presenting local animation alongside its international programme.

2018: The ninth Anibar Festival expanded to 220 screened films, of which 152 competed in five categories: International, Student, Balkan, Feature Film and Animated Music Videos.  The edition was organized around gender equality, including a deliberate 50/50 approach and discussions of gender inequality within animation. The festival continued using Peja itself as part of its identity, with screenings at the historic Jusuf Gërvalla Cinema as well as the Lake and Cubes open-air cinemas.  Zippy Frames also covered Anibar's crowdfunding campaign connected with the Jusuf Gërvalla Cinema, demonstrating how the festival's cultural role extended beyond its annual screenings to the preservation of local film infrastructure.

2019: Celebrating its 10th edition, Anibar chose 'ARTivism' as its theme. The festival explicitly connected artistic expression with civic engagement, human rights and social, political and environmental change. The theme reflected Anibar's evolution into a festival in which animation was not treated solely as entertainment or an artistic medium, but also as a means of encouraging public debate and social participation in Kosovo. The anniversary edition built directly on initiatives such as 2017's 'Reclaim the City'.  Anibar was also developing international cooperation with animation organizations and partners across Central and Eastern Europe.

Alongside its 10th-anniversary focus on civic engagement, Anibar strengthened its educational and journalistic activities. A five-day Film Criticism and Journalism Masterclass led by Olga Bobrowska combined theory with practical festival reporting: participants wrote reviews and analysis, conducted interviews with filmmakers and contributed to 'Anibar Press'. The initiative was part of a wider cooperation project connecting the Western Balkans with the Visegrad Group and illustrates Anibar's increasing role in professional development as well as exhibition.

2020: During the COVID-19 period, Anibar adopted 'Humans' as its theme. Rather than concentrating exclusively on the pandemic, the festival used the disruption as an opportunity to reconsider relationships between individuals, communities and their environment. It celebrated people whose often-unrecognized work sustains society—from healthcare workers and teachers to artists, journalists and volunteers. The festival took place in Peja from 17–23 August, maintaining its cultural and social orientation despite the exceptional circumstances.

2021: The 12th edition developed these concerns further through the theme 'Isolation'. Anibar treated isolation as a paradox: solitude could encourage imagination and creativity, but social and political isolation could also produce xenophobia, intolerance and exclusion. The theme had particular resonance in Kosovo, where restrictions on freedom of movement had long preceded the pandemic. Anibar contrasted such isolation with its own philosophy of bringing together different cultures, languages and ideas through animation and open-air screenings. The festival ran 23–30 July 2021.  

2022: For its 13–19 July edition in Peja, Anibar selected 'Superstition' as its annual theme. The festival explored superstitions as traditions transmitted across generations—from lucky charms and spells to beliefs surrounding good and bad fortune—and considered both their irrational aspects and their cultural function in helping people deal with uncertainty. Anibar also emphasized similarities between superstitions across cultures, using the theme to promote diversity, multiculturalism and social connection

Browse the Festival Coverage Archive

NB: 2027 Festival Dates are tentative