New names have joined established festival favourites in competitive and non-competitive sections. Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic by Paul Bush, the experimental filmmaker and animator known for pushing the boundaries between documentaries, fiction, and animation, will compete for Best Animated Short. Others making a welcome return include Vera Neubauer with her film Tricky Women in Extremely Short Section of Extremely Short Films, and director Theodore Ushev with Apocalypse is Under the Blanket in World Panorama.

1244 films from 67 countries were submitted to the 14th Fest Anča International Animation Festival 2021. The official selection features special thematic sections, including one specifically tailored to this year.

Main competitive section
This section will resonate with films by renowned artists and award-winners such as Affairs of the Art (a film directed by Joana Quinn and written by Les Mills, recently awarded at Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival), and last year’s Altötting (by Andreas Hykade, awarded at Ottawa International Animation Festival and nominated at Annecy). “The main competitive section has diverse films of the highest quality this year, and we’re sure our audience will love them,” states Ivana Sujová, festival director and pre-selection committee member. 

_Marmalade

Student films
Fest Anča has seen more submissions from primary art schools, such as the competitive section’s Uninvited guests: a hand-drawn animated film by Jakub Mereš from Poprad art school, that depicts an encounter between two incompatible worlds. Other titles from primary art schools are also in the non-competitive section. “This shows the growing number of young animators in Slovakia – it’s great,” comments
Jakub Spevák, dramaturge and member of the pre-selection committee on the quality of
the Slovak selection.

Animated films for kids
“It’s great to see filmmakers find creative ways of storytelling that stimulate children’s fantasy and respect young audiences’
intelligence,” comments Ivana. “The short Bulgarian film Marmalade from the Kids’ competitive section impressed us with its rather atypical approach to animation and a motivating message. The author, Radostina Neykova, tells the story of a boy and girl via embroidery in movement,” says Peter Gašparík, pre-selection committee member. The non-competitive section features Kata Strofová and the Secret of Snowflakes by Slovak animator and visual artist Veronika Kocourková.

_Alaska

Special sections
A special new section created exclusively for this year’s festival has been added: Anča in a Facemask. “The section reflects upon the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic from animators’ perspective. Some films capture the experience of life in the pandemic and a certain new reality we find ourselves in, others are more personal and deal with the topic of isolation,” explains the dramaturge. “It’s a time capsule, really,” he adds. The section is a follow up to the Domased exhibition of illustrations that was part of Fest Anča 2020’s programme and followed artists’ experience of living through the pandemic.

Regular Anča visitors are familiar with the many specialised sections such as Anča in Mordor and Anča in Wonderland, and this year will also feature Short Animated Document.

The festival’s annual programme includes international competitions of short animated films and music videos, as well as thematic and special focus film sections. Fest Anča has presentations, exhibitions, workshops, screenings for kids, and many more accompanying events.