VARYA YAKOVLEVA is a Russian-born animator, illustrator, and director currently living in exile in France. Her award-winning films have screened at over 200 festivals, including Oscar-qualifying selections, and her artwork has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Europe and beyond.
MICHAELA MüLLER is an award-winning animation artist known for her signature paint-on-glass technique and acclaimed short films Miramare and Airport. Her work blends expressive, hand-painted imagery with powerful storytelling, often exploring themes of movement and human connection. In addition to filmmaking, she creates immersive multimedia performances combining live animation and dance.
THOMAS JOHNSON VOLDA is a multidisciplinary artist from Bath, England, working at the intersection of animation and performance art. Together with his partner Ivana Bošnjak Volda, he has directed three acclaimed stop-motion films that have screened at major international festivals and won numerous awards. His work has been featured across Europe, from galleries to puppet theatre stages.
ANA MARIJA MARINOV is a documentary and experimental filmmaker and producer, with degrees in journalism, political science, and experimental film from MET Film School Berlin. She has taken part in numerous workshops across Europe and is deeply engaged in working with children through film initiatives like KinoKino. What inspires her most is collaborating with passionate and creative people of all ages.
IRENA JUKIĆ PRANJIĆ (1973, Bjelovar) is a author of the comic book album Dnevnik snivanja i filozofiranja (2021), Emisija Ćomocija (Emotion Show) (2015) and Strip-mobil, an innovation that combines comics, animation and film. She worked within the comic book groups Divlje oko and Emisija Ćomocija. She edited the anthology Ženski strip na Balkanu (2010). Editor and director of the documentary television series Strip u Hrvatskoj (HRT3 2014/17 – 50 episodes). She is the author of numerous essays on comics, which she teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. In addition to comics, she is professionally involved in original animated films, illustration and pedagogical work.
PIERRE BOUVIER, a comics graduate from the Angoulême School of Art, spent about 30 years in animation. With Laure Calé, he co-founded Atelier TURUT, a French small press publishing experimental zines and art books since 2009. Their magazine freakshov Comics was nominated for the Alternative Comic Award at the Angoulême Festival.
MARKO STOJANOVIĆ (1978) is a comic book writer, editor, and scholar based in Leskovac, Serbia. He has scripted numerous works for international publishers, including La Croix Sanglante (Delcourt, France), Cross to Bear (Aftershock, USA), and a Liu Cixin adaptation for FT Culture (China). As the founder of the regional project Vekovnici and editor of Strip Pressing, he’s a key figure in Balkan comics, with work published in over 15 languages worldwide.
THE SHADOW by Petra Balekić
For its minimalist statement and bold filmic exploration of body’s gravity that penetrates us to the core.
SILENT CINEMA by Krste Gospodinovski
For the incredible work of camera which hypnotically guides us through the backwaters of time, highlighting particles of love to the art of cinema.
HOW by Marko Mestrović
A suggestive philosophical lament about the beginning and neverending of everything. This film is constantly wondering….
DOG ALONE by Marta Reis Andrade
A haunting melancholic film portraying the personal hardships of both leaving and being the last one left. This tender film is full of rich visual details and indelible imagery.
WHERE MEMORIES LIVE by Florencia de la Maza and Matías Yunge
Floating in the void, built out of boxes, this object of art is giving shelter to fading childhood memories from a family archive.
LIFE IS LIKE THAT AND NOT OTHERWISE by Lenia Friedrich
For immersing the audience through the disintegration of identity into fragments of memory and introspection.
THE LAST DROP by Anna Tokes
With precision of expression the relationship between a gymnast and her ruthless coach is elegantly described. The sound design in particular enhances the brittleness of steel and crunching of joints.
LORINC BARABAS — WHERE BLUE MEETS RED by Tomas Patrovits
This film utilizes a creative and minimal animation style, one where we can almost smell the ink on paper. A strong rhythmic playfulness dances along with the ephemerality of music.
SALO — DIY STORE by Marc Teuber
A relentless beat of Punkrock Music drives this chaotic, wild chase through a crude 3D hardware store, entertaining and a little bit nuts.
THE LEGEND OF THE HUMMINGBIRD by Morgan Devos
The Legend of the Hummingbird was chosen as the best film because it is an exciting story full of detail, with great characters who become unexpected heroes, also because we appreciated the animation, which clearly involved a lot of effort, as well as the film’s important message about helping others in need.
MONSTER by Eric Giessmann and Piers Goffart
We would like to give a Special Mention to the film Monster, which we really liked for its excellent character design, visual style, and strong storytelling.
STROLL by Darko Macan
For masterfully told personal, honest and heartbreaking story about loss, coping with pain and finding reason to carry on.
PSYCHO MOON SPACE ABBEY by Matija Pisačić
For being lavish but simple, for being varied but unified, for being rational in psychodelic, personal but universally understandable by making increadible credible.
KING OF NOTHING by Aleksa Gajić
For being beautifully nihilistic, graphicaly impressive, and visceraly bold!
PREFIX by Saša Paprić
For best editorial concept of a magazine with high artistic and design quality of execution.
SMALL CASES 2 by Dušan Cvetković
For managing to reach new highs after decades continous and inovative work in fanzines.