Fantoche International Animation Film Festival 2026

Event Description

Fantoche is Switzerland’s most prestigious animated film festival and is one of the leading events for the medium in the world. It takes place every year in September over the course of six days in the Swiss town of Baden. The festival, which benefits from broad media coverage, attracts both industry professionals and the general public – over 25,500 ticket sales were recorded in 2015.

Fantoche is an officially accredited festival for both the Academy Awards® and BAFTA, qualifying selected films for consideration.

Fantoche Festival Call for Entries

2027 Call for Entries — Currently not open. Submission details will be reported here when announced by the festival.

(2026 Archive)

The competitions are open to any audiovisual animation, created frame by frame, with a maximum running time of 40 and completed after the 31st of December 2024.

Categories:

• International Competition:
  The main criterion for film selection is innovation. Fantoche’s “International Competition” principally offers a forum for animated films which veer away from conventions of the genre in terms of aesthetics, content or technique, which scrutinize them skillfully or which are audacious enough to turn them on their head.
• Swiss Competition:
  The selection criteria for the “Swiss Competition” correspond to those of the “International Competition”: We want to see new trends, fresh talents and interesting experiments, alongside established auteur films and animation.
• Kids Film Competition:
  Every year, Fantoche screens current animated film productions for kids and young people in two programmes of short films for the age groups 4 to 7 and 8 to 12. Since 2009 the films have been judged by a children’s jury and by the younger members of the public.

Awards & Prizes:

• International Competition: Total prize fund 22'000 CHF
• Swiss Competition: Total prize fund 20'000 CHF
• Kids Film Competition: Total prize fund 3'000 CHF
• Youth Award for Best New Talent: 3'000 CHF
• Golden Wings Award

Important information:

• Full regulations and film submission via FilmFreeway
• Deadline: 3 May 2026

Browse Fantoche Festival Coverage Archive