Animest International Animation Film Festival to screen short and feature films for 18th edition

The 18th edition of the Animest International Animation Film Festival is set to take place between October 6-15 in Bucharest. The festival is the only cinematic event in Romania that qualifies films for the list of eligible Oscar candidates.

A total of 63 animated short films will compete for the Animest Trophy this year. 25 other films made by students from some of the world's most prestigious schools enter the competition for the dedicated section prize. Five more films will have their first screening in Romania, as part of the International Feature Film Competition.

In 2018, the novel "Lonely Castle in the Mirror" made a splash in the Japanese book market, captivating over half a million readers. Among them was the multi-award-winning director Keiichi Hara, known for films like "Miss Hokusai" and "Colorful." Fascinated by the story of teenagers discovering that mirrors in their rooms function as portals to an enchanted castle, he transformed it into a captivating animated production, presented for the first time internationally in competition at the Annecy Festival. At Animest, the film will compete in the Feature Film Competition.

Also from Annecy, where this year he was rewarded with the Jury Prize, comes the Romanian premiere of "Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light." The debut film by Czech director Filip Pošivač is a stop-motion puppet animation celebrating diversity through the story of a boy who can hide his superpower of shining.

French filmmaker and choreographer Jean Charles Mbotti Malolo, a special guest at Animest.18, will analyze the films in the Feature Film Competition alongside Portuguese director José Miguel Ribeiro, director of the film "Nayola," winner of the section at Animest in 2022, and Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen (Latvia), director of the feature film "My Favourite War," awarded at Annecy with the Contrechamp Award and the French film critics' award.

The three members of the feature film competition jury will also watch the selection of Romanian short films and will award the prize dedicated to the best voices in the domestic industry.

One of the 63 short films selected in the International Competition will take home the Animest Trophy 2023, which will automatically secure a spot on the list of eligible candidates for an Oscar nomination, awarded by the American Academy of Film. The selection brings to the big screen not only stories that surpass the imagination but also animated documentaries competing for the ANIDOC section award.

Animation enthusiasts will discover at this edition the most extensive and diverse selection of short films to date. Animest.18 will surprise them with animated productions of all genres, remarkable stylistic approaches, and surprising stories.

Those curious to explore new visions from the world of animation will appreciate the short films in the Student Film Competition, productions from some of the world's most prestigious animation schools. The selection includes 25 short films made by students from Gobelins, Rubika, Poudrière, Filmakademie, Famu Prague, or MOME Budapest - films that dare to use surprising techniques to address mature themes such as violence, bullying, and even the complexity of the human psyche.