The 2026 edition of the European Animation Awards (Emiles), held this year in Krakow (28 October, during the Etiuda&Anima Festival), crowned its winners across a wide geographical range (from Portugal to Estonia) and a number of techniques and themes.

The felt 'Dog Alone' animation short by Marta Reis Andrade (Portugal/France) won the Best of the Best Animation Short award (read our film review). The Estonian/Lithuanian short and a porcelain puppet meditation on nature, 'On Weary Wings Go By' by Anu Laura Tuttelberg, won Best Experimental Animation Short.

Individual animation awards went to the oil-painted-on-glass 'Weeds' (Czech Republic) by Pola Kozak, the French 'Earth Coal' by Bastien Dupriez, and the Dutch family story 'Mother's Child' by Naomi Noir. The respective awards go to the associated individual artists.

To be eligible for the Émile Awards long list, a film must win the Grand Prix at an Émile qualifying festival. The entire board selects three films from the long list in each category for Feature and Short Animated Films. A 5-member jury (Board members and appointed animation professionals) makes the final nominee selection.

In the feature animation categories, the coming-of-age stop-motion film 'Living Large' (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France 2024) by Kristina Dufková won the award. The Annecy Cristal-awarded 'Arco' by Ugo Bienvenu also took home two awards (for its backgrounds & character design, as well as its sound design and music); the Oscar-nominated 'Little Amelie' won the Best Writing for a Feature Film Award.

The European Lifetime Achievement Award – the Lotte Reiniger Achievement Award – was awarded to Polish animation filmmaker Witold Giersz.

Check the full list of winners and nominees:

The nominees and the winners (in bold) of the European Animation Awards 2026

FEATURE FILM CATEGORY

BEST WRITING IN FEATURE FILM:

Little Amelie or The Character of Rain, France 2025 (directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han) -winner
script by Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Eddine Noël and Aude Py
Memory Hotel, Germany, France 2024 (director Heinrich Sabl)
Sanatorium Under The Sign of Hourglass, United Kingdom, Poland, Germany 2024 (directors Stephen Quai, Timothy Quay)

BEST SOUNDTRACK IN FEATURE FILM

Arco, France 2025 (director Ugo Bienvenu) -winner
Composer: Arnauld Toulon, Sound designer: Nicolas Becker
Living Large, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France 2024 (director Kristina Dufková)
Sanatorium Under The Sign of Hourglass, United Kingdom, Poland, Germany 2024 (directors Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay)

BEST BACKGROUNDS AND CHARACTER DESIGN

A Boat in the Garden, France, Luxembourg 2024 (director Jean-François Laguionie)
Arco, France 2025 (director Ugo Bienvenu) -winner
Backgrounds: Ugo Bienvenu, Fabio Besse, Louise Seynhaeve / Character Design: Ugo Bienvenu
Savages, Switzerland, France, Belgium 2024 (director Claude Barras)

BEST ANIMATION

Little Amelie or The Character of Rain, France 2025 (directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han)
Memory Hotel, Germany, France 2024 (director Heinrich Sabl)
Savages, Switzerland, France, Belgium 2024 (director Claude Barras) - winner
Animation by Timothée Crabbé, Marcos Valin

BEST OF THE BEST

A Boat in the Garden, France, Luxembourg 2024 (director Jean-François Laguionie)
Arco, France 2025 (director Ugo Bienvenu)
Living Large, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France 2024 (director Kristina Dufková) - winner
Little Amelie or The Character of Rain, France 2025 (directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han)
Savages, Switzerland, France, Belgium 2024 (director Claude Barras)

Living Large

SHORT FILM CATEGORIES

BEST SOUND DESIGN AND MUSIC

Charbon de Terre / Earth Coal, France 2024 (director Bastien Dupriez) -winner
Sound design and music: Yan Volsy and Pierre Caillet
Lights, Haze, Georgia, Portugal, Belgium, Finland 2025 (director Tata Managadze)
Les Belles Cicatrices / Scars We Love, France 2025 (director Raphaël Jouzeau)
Signal, France 2025 (directors Mathilde Parquet and Emma Carré)
SKRFF, Austria 2024 (directors Corrie Francis Parks and Daniel Nuderscher)

BEST BACKGROUNDS AND CHARACTER DESIGN

Autokar, Belgium, France 2025 (director Sylwia Szkiłądź)
Dollhouse Elephant, Finland 2025 (director Jenny Jokela)
How To Make A Friend, France 2024 (directors Jinfei Ge, Bin He, Myrtille Huet, Julie Jarrier-Stettin, Yuqiang Zhang)
Mother’s Child, Netherlands 2024 (director Naomi Noir) -winner
Backgrounds & Character Design by: Naomi Noir, Lenke Duyvendak, Elisa Draeger, Lilien Galgóczi
On Weary Wings Go By, Estonia, Lithuania 2024 (director Anu Laura Tuttelberg)

BEST ANIMATION

Adios, United Kingdom 2024 (director José Prats)
Naive New Beaters. Star Feminine Band Ye Kou Si Kuo, France 2024 (director Lola Lefevre)
Mother’s Child, Netherlands 2024 (director Naomi Noir)
Sulaimani, France 2025 (director)
Weeds, Czech Republic 2024 (director Pola Kazak) -winner
Animator: Pola Kazak

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM

A Round of Applause for Death, United Kingdom 2024 (director Stephen Irwin)
Dull Spots of Greenish Colours, Germany 2024 (director Sasha Svirsky)
Lights, Haze, Georgia, Portugal, Belgium, Finland 2025 (director Tata Managadze)
On Weary Wings Go By, Estonia, Lithuania 2024 (director Anu Laura Tuttelberg) -winner
Yellow Orange Green Blue Red Cut, United Kingdom 2025 (director Peter Millard)

BEST OF THE BEST

Dog Alone, Portugal, France 2025 (director Marta Reis Andrade) -winner
God is Shy, France 2025 (director Jocelyn Charles)
Hunting, Switzerland 2025 (director Lea Favre)
Hurikán, Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024 (director Jan Saska)
Playing God, Italy, France 2024 (directors Matteo Burani and Arianna Gheller)

This year’s Emile Awards statuette (by Paweł Gąsienica-Marcinowski) pays tribute to Witold Giersz.

The Emiles - European Animation Awards Ceremony 2026 was held on Wednesday, 28 October 2026 in Małopolska Garden of Arts (Małopolski Ogród Sztuki), Krakow, Poland, hosted by the 33rd International Film Festival ETIUDA&ANIMA. You can watch the whole ceremony here.