Animafest’s film selection as part of the Silent Cinema program
The World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb, founded in 1972, is the second-oldest festival entirely dedicated to animation. For the seventeenth edition of INmusic Festival, Animafest presents three curated blocks. INmusic #17 audience will have the chance to watch the best films from the festival’s most recent edition, while the That’s What She Said vol. 2 block features works by female directors from Central and Eastern Europe, created in collaboration with festivals from the Animation Festival Network. The third program, Baker Boris and Friends, is designed for younger viewers and offers a series of short animated stories that gently explore important topics such as emotions, dreams, and togetherness through warmth and creativity.
As part of the Silent Cinema program, a new addition to INmusic Festival #17, Animafest Zagreb will present the following film selections:
BEST OF 2025:
Snow Bear (Aaron Blaise)
Psychonauts (Niko Radas)
Mother's Child (Naomi Noir)
Urosh (Mato Uljarević)
On Weary Wings Go By (Anu-Laura Tuttelberg)
Dull Spots of Greenish Colours (Sasha Svirsky)
Hurikán (Jan Saska)
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AFN Presents: That’s What She Said, Vol. 02
74’
The second collection of films by female directors from Central and Eastern Europe is once again composed of films screened by the members of the Animation Festival Network (Anifilm, Animafest Zagreb, Fest Anča, Animest and Animateka). This year’s selection was put together by the programme directors of the abovementioned festivals and premiered this February at the Clérmont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
The showcase offers various films and different views on the world and animation. It includes, for instance, the acclaimed film I Died in Irpin portraying the director’s personal experiences from bombed Ukraine, and another acclaimed, distinctly stylised and disturbing Polish puppet film Such Miracles Do Happen.
Keep Out (Tan-Lui Chan)
Czech Republic, 2023, 8’
A disturbing story set in the near future. People are holed up in their small dwellings and live in a virtual world. Everyone films and streams various videos. They don’t have a clue that they’re not free until one of them goes outside. But the discovery of the outer reality is something their virtual masters aren’t happy to see.
I Died in Irpin (Anastasiia Falileieva)
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, 2024, 11’
On February 24th in the morning my boyfriend and I decided to go from Kyiv to Irpin to see his parents. It is hard for me to recall the chronology of those days, my mind blocks and minimizes all the memories, erases them, but the only thing I know for sure is that every day everything rapidly became worse.
Buttefly (Sunčana Brkulj)
Croatia, Denmark, 2023, 8’
A community of garden creatures all contribute to the flow of life, using water from a fountain. When a butterfly gets stuck in the fountain, they’re faced with an unfamiliar situation.
Dream Rotation / Striedanie snov (Katarína Jelínková, Darya Sidorova, Viktória Zimmermannová, Rebeka Vakrčková)
Slovakia, 2023, 9’
A lost soul makes its way through the thicket of the forest at night. He wanders aimlessly until he comes upon a group of those like himself, sitting by a fire. Night and fire freed them, and now everyone is ready to share the story that brought them to this forest.
Such Miracles Do Happen / Takie cuda się zdarzają (Barbara Rupik)
Poland, 2023, 14’
An original, deep and visually daring puppet film in which all the statues in the area come to life, leave their roadside shrines and pedestals and calmly set off straight ahead, all in the same direction. People watch the phenomenon with growing anxiety. Only a little girl with a boneless body marvels at the procession of the unusual figures with pure fascination.
Three Birds (Zarja Menart)
Slovenia, Croatia, 2024, 8’
The wise birdwoman sends three birds to guide a girl into the dark unknown landscapes of her inner world. There she finds sadness, uncertainty, and death – but also the seeds of transformation and hope for what can sprout and bear fruit again.
Shoes and Hooves / Cipők és paták (Viktória Traub)
Hungary, 2024, 15’
A pedicurist in a small-town populated by human-animal hybrids, Paula the lonely centaur-girl longs to have human feet. When she meets Arnold the handsome crocodile-man, it is love at first sight, but their romantic idyll is soon shattered by conflict. Paula is faced with a choice: love or self-acceptance?
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Baker Boris and Friends
(Children and Youth Program, Family Program)
Baker Boris and Friends is a selection of six contemporary animated shots suitable for children aged 4 and above. Diverse in style and imagery, the films take children into a world of imagination, heart-warming stories and fun adventures, while opening up a space to talk about different emotions, such as jealousy, sadness and fear, about dreams that can be unpleasant, about the importance of self-acceptance, and about the importance of community and helping each other.
The educational material was produced within the scope of the Animation Festival Network (AFN) and with funding from the Creative Europe MEDIA sub-programme of the European Union.
Kukeleku (Jelle Janssen)
The Netherlands, United Kingdom, 2024, 3’04”
no dialogue
After discovering a squeaky toy, a voiceless rooster becomes the star of his coop – until he realises that being the king of the castle is not always fun.
Baking with Boris / La Boulangerie de Boris (Maša Avramović)
France, Switzerland, Croatia, 2023, 8’15”
no dialogue
Every morning, Boris the village baker makes a fresh batch of crusty bread and pastries for all his neighbours until… Achoo! He can’t stop sneezing. He has become allergic to flour. How will he manage to keep baking for everyone in the village?
Papa Is Big, I Am Small (Anya Ru, Maša Rumjantseva)
Italy, Russia, 2021, 3’12”
no dialogue
A little girl says goodbye to her beloved sailor father, who is leaving for a long journey. While eagerly waiting for him, her imagination will conjure up magical moments to fill the void of longing.
Somni (Sonja Rohleder)
Germany, 2023, 3’15”
no dialogue
The sun sets and the eyes are closing. Rocking from one green leaf to the next, the little monkey glides gently to sleep. Suddenly the world of dreams gets darker, more colourful and wild. Mysterious plants, creatures and shapes line the trajectory through the night. Somni is a cinematic lullaby.
Pond / Tümpel (Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust)
Switzerland, 2023, 8’30”
no dialogue
A shoal of herrings, adopting fantastic formations, roams the vast ocean. When seagulls suddenly attack, one small herring finds itself stranded in a tidal pool. As it searches desperately for a way out, it discovers many other sea creatures here. And now there is no time for fear: only by joining forces can they hope to defend themselves against the hungry seagull.
Dormouse / Siebenschläfer (Julia Ocker)
Germany, 2022, 3’37”
no dialogue
A dormouse is organising his birthday party, but his plans are at risk when he is overcome by an irresistible urge to hibernate.
