Two Czech-produced Animation Shorts in the Oscar 2026 Spotlight

ZF Team 18 December 2025

The recently announced Academy Award shortlist for the 2026 Best Animation Short includes two films with Czech participation: 'I Died in Irpin' by the Ukrainian Anastasiia Falileiva and 'Hurikán' by Jan Saska.

Their themes differ: 'I Died in Irpin' is an autobiographical testimony to a toxic intimate relationship set against Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine; the film went on to win the 'Best of the Best Short Films' at the recent European Animation Awards.

'Hurikán' is a deep-fried Prague romance driven by the author of Happy End's distinctive humor.

Directors and Producers Talk

Anastasiia Falileieva: When I learned that my film had been shortlisted, it brought me a spark of hope that I had been deeply missing recently. This is not about triumph. It is about realizing that my very personal story of survival is now becoming part of a vital global conversation. And I am eternally grateful that the Academy is not turning away from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Martin Vandas, Maurfilm Producer: We secretly hoped that at least one film out of the 113 qualified titles might make it onto the shortlist. But achieving such a double was something we never dared to dream of. I congratulate all the filmmakers and thank the funds, co-producers, and partners for their support.

Kamila Dohnalová, producer: Jan Saska is a man of (moving) images and usually speaks very little. The shortlisting of Hurikán, as recognition of his work and that of a broad team from several European countries, means a great deal to him and he sums it up simply: ‘Super!’ The nine years that have passed since the shortlist of our previous film Happy End show that working on short films does not take a short time, but it is worth it.

Trailers

I Died in Irpin

'Hurikán

Info

'I Died in Irpin' was produced by Alena Vandasová and Martin Vandas (Maurfilm, CZ), Juraj Krasnohorský (Artichoke, SK) and Anastasiia Falileieva (Plastic Bag Studio, UA), financially supported by Czech and Slovak Audiovisual Funds. The world premiere happened at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and earned its first Oscar-qualifying awards at Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF) in October 2024, followed by five more Oscar-qualifying prizes at Clermont-Ferrand ISFF, Cinanima IAFF, Fest Anča IAFF, Manchester AF, and Animateka IAFF.

Hurikán was produced by Czech producers Kamila Dohnalová (Last Films), Martin Vandas and Alena Vandasová (Maurfilm), in co-production with Antoine Liétout and Ivan Zuber (Laïdak Films, France), Juraj Krasnohorský (Artichoke, Slovakia), and Mladen Đukić (AEON Production, Bosnia and Herzegovina) with support from national and regional funding bodies across all co-producing countries. The world premiere took place at the Annecy IAFF in 2024, where the film won the Audience Award. It was screened at more than 150 international film festivals, including Clermont-Ferrand ISFF, Sundance, SXSW, and HollyShorts Film Festival, where it received an Oscar-qualifying prize for Best Animated Film. Watch Hurikán on the MIYU Distribution Vimeo channel (rent/buy).

Nominations for the 5 Oscar animated short films will be announced on a live broadcast on the 22nd of January 2026.

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