Rise and Shine 2026: Selection Results

CEE Animation, Animafest Zagreb, and Animateka Festival present the selection results from the 2026 edition of Rise & Shine for emerging animation artists and directors.    

Some numbers: 80 applications received, 11 animation projects have been selected for the three-part programme. Scriptwriter and pitching mentor Anna Vášová will guide the applicants, joined by screenwriter, director, and producer Pedro Rivero, and Academy Award–winning animator and director Chris Lavis (The Girl Who Cried Pearls).

The three-part storytelling, development, and pitching lab will take place in June 2026 at the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb in Croatia, continue online in October 2026, and culminate in December 2026 at the Animateka International Animated Film Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

We are very excited to welcome the fourth generation of inspiring projects and talents for Rise & Shine this year. We are sincerely thankful to our tutors and team, and previous participants, as they are not only helping us to enjoy as we embark on this creative journey every year, but also to promote the programme as unique and useful, helping us reach quality projects with each new edition - Matea Milić and Saša Bach - Rise & Shine project managers

Selected 'Rise & Shine' Projects 2026

A Walk in Nature - d. Matej Mihályi, p. Jakub Rálek, Divize, Czechia

Jozef, a factory worker in a post-apocalyptic underground city, finds himself outside in nature. The above-ground world has been reborn since its destruction. But Jozef needs to have a smoke — and he’s all out. What follows is a surreal quest through nature to make himself a cigarette.

Belutak - d. Maja Ćetojević, p. Igor Đurić, Studio Dashak, Bosnia and Herzegovina
A mute girl meets an older man who claims he can restore her voice. The healing, however, soon begins to change more than her words.

Cornucopia - d. Matei Monoranu, p. Constantine Benea/Bruno Caetano, Eye Collapse/ COLA Animation, Romania/Portugal
Strawberry, Banana, and Orange put their friendship to the test while playing a game of Hide and Seek.

Dolphin Kicks - d. Iva Tokmakchieva, p. Vessela Dantcheva, Compote Collective Ltd, Bulgaria

An awkward synchronization swimmer is out of sync with her teammates. Bonded together by long-term training, their loyalty is put to the test when a gang of roller skaters invades their swimming pool.

Meat Jelly - d. Emilė Maigytė, p. Marija Lenkutyte Bartosevic, Art Shot, Lithuania
Through memories of family and culture, a young woman grapples with body dysmorphia, until a small, humorous shift in perspective opens the door to self-acceptance.

Melatonin - d. Gwenola Heck, p. Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez, Blaue Pampelmuse UG, Germany
Marla fights a nocturnal battle against her intrusive thoughts that attack and harass her physically while her restless bed runs through the night under a pulsating, psychedelic sky.

Melt - d. Paulina Ziolkowska, p. Justyna Rucińska, Marmolada Films, Poland
As her body begins to melt in a warming world, M. becomes stranger to herself—mirroring a society dissolving under climate and migration crises, where identity, borders and belonging lose their shape.

Starving Pig - d. Laura Martinović, p. Lucija Mrzljak, Adriatic Animation, Croatia
Burdened by years of shame about her own body, a young girl wages a silent battle with compulsive overeating, while from the shadows she is haunted by her grandmother’s cruelty.

Sun in Retrograde - d. Adél Szegedi, p. Barnabás Tóth-Justh, Boddah, Hungary.
Tilda, a young translator, returns to Budapest after years abroad — and spends a summer rewinding through fragmented memory-shreds, while she slowly understands how she lost touch with herself.

Truth Be Told it’s Mostly Empty Space! - d. Bibi Erjavec, p. Tina Smrekar, Finta Film, Slovenia

A lone nervous system struggles to comprehend the vast emptiness of a subatomic world it was never built to perceive.

Volcano - d. Adina Oana Enache, Maria Zilli & Sara Priorelli
The cam footage of an unknown traveler records the holiday of a group of tourists in Iceland.

Participating projects will compete for several awards:  Rise & Shine Audience Award, CEE Animation Forum Award (granting direct selection to CEE Animation Forum 2027), the Rise & Shine Film Centre of Montenegro Award, and attendance at the Short Film Market Clermont-Ferrand.

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