The programme of the 19th International Animation Festival Fest Anča, taking place from 30 June to 5 July 2026, includes nearly thirty contemporary Slovak animated films. The Slovak Film Institute (SFI) will also present eight classic animated films from its collections at Fest Anča.
The Slovak Competition of Shorts will introduce six selected titles, five of which are Slovak productions. Competing are the experimental film Bardo by Viera Čákanyová (prod. guča films, world premiere at FIDMarseille), the children’s adventure Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe! directed by Andrea Szelesová (SK co-prod. ansze, world premiere at the Berlinale), and the relationship drama Tourists directed by Mária Kralovič (prod. NOVINSKI, world premiere at Clermont-Ferrand). The selection is completed by three student films: The Sign of Power by Šarlota Ema Horáčková and Bubble by Wanda Przeworska, both produced at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, and Quantum Leap by Šimon Mészáros, a Slovak-born student at Prague’s FAMU.
The non-competitive section Slovak Short Films will present ten works. Slovak productions include the children’s films What Do We Do with the Dough Though? by Olívia Jánošíková, Golem, directed collectively by Baruh Kapustin, Karina Shaposhnikova, Veronika Shaposhnikova, Asia Tkachova, Nika Tkachova, Danyil Tkachov, Viktoryia Ustsimenka, Masha Luschikova, Ester Strashun, and David Strashun, and Pests by Michal Sulan. They are joined by the experimental films Lower Resolution – Head (feat. Lena Lies) by Marian Vredík, Virtual Magical Rock as a Native Soil by Lukáš Sobota, the collaboratively created Transformations, directed by Marina Martynova, Pavel Martynov, Matej Juhas, Makar Kreminsky, Vadim Kim, Toma Sebova, Yaryna Dmytrenko, Ekaterina Brokhina, Varvara Isakova, Nadja Buryan, Masha Luschikova, together with participants of Dobrý trh, and the philosophical VŠMU film The Gatekeepers by Katarína Jelínková. Slovak-born filmmakers are also represented by two Czech productions – Meal by Laura Matušáková and the children’s film Treasure Trouble by Ľubica Makóová – as well as the Italian-Czech experimental film Replica by Franco Milec.
The Feature Films section will present the puppet feature-length film Dukla by Gejza Dezorz (prod. Slovak Motion Picture). The film recently competed at Animafest Zagreb and was also released theatrically in Slovakia.
The Fest Anča Specialties section will screen three Slovak films: Dream Rotation, directed by Katarína Jelínková, Darya Sidorova, Viktória Zimmermannová, and Rebeka Vakrčková, Boiling Shapes by Samuel Škrabálek, and the award-winning I Died in Irpin by Anastasiia Falileieva. The section also includes Overture by Slovak-born director Jakub Hronský, produced at Prague’s UMPRUM, which won last year’s Slovak competition.
The Short Animated Documentary programme includes Branching Light and Flickers of a Dawn by digital artist Paula Malinowska (world premiere at MFDF Ji.hlava). Festival director Ivana Sujová has selected Sh_t Happens by directing duo Michaela Mihályi and David Štumpf for her programme Ivana Sujová: My Ten Years with Anča. The Curator’s Pick will also include the Czech short Bodies of Water by Slovak-born director Niko Mlynarčík.
Films intended primarily for young audiences are presented in the Children Programme. The section includes the VŠMU student film Journey of the Stars by Klaudia Grancová, the episode Pony, directed by Veronika Zúbek Kocourková, from the educational series Aha svet, and seven episodes of the television series The Forest Five, directed by Ivana Šebestová (Treasure, Sir Emil and The Oak’s Children), Ivana Laučíková (The Secret Keeper, I Can Throw the Farthest), Andrej Gregorčok (Gemstones), and Timotej Lukovič (Long Ago). The section concludes with the animated feature The Websters: Spider Adventures, directed and produced by Katarína Kerekesová (Fool Moon), which combines the final six episodes of the eponymous television series into a feature-length film.
This year, the SFI continues its tradition of launching new DVD and Blu-ray editions in cooperation with Fest Anča. In 2019, the festival introduced the DVD Pictures – Folksongs, a four-part puppet series by Helena Slavíková-Rabarová inspired by the four seasons and Slovak folklore. Three years later, at the festival’s 15th edition, the DVD Jaroslava Havettová. Selected Works, dedicated to the pioneering lady of Slovak animated film, was officially launched. This year, the SFI will present the Blu-ray edition Vladimír Pikalík. Selected Works, which contains ten short animated films. In parallel, the festival will screen seven of Pikalík’s films in the programme section bearing his name, celebrating one of the key figures of Slovak puppet animation. The selection of classic films from the SFI archives is completed by Rudolf Urc’s short film First Class, presented in tribute to the influential dramaturge and publicist whose work shaped several generations of Slovak animators. The film will be screened as part of the festival’s opening ceremony.
The accompanying programme includes a case study by Marek Jasaň, Not a Director, Still Essential (Careers in Animation), in which he will focus on his role as a lead animator. Within the Slovak Industry Days programme, Viera Čákanyová will present a short case study of her film Bardo, and contemporary animated projects in development or in various stages of production will also be showcased, created by local filmmakers, animation studios, and students from universities and secondary schools focused on animation.
More information can be found on the Fest Anča website.
