Animest for All: Accessible Screenings, Adapted Workshops and Open Dialogue about Inclusion

True to our mission of bringing animated art ever closer to every viewer, Animest.21 proposes a growing series of inclusive events, with support from institutional partners and NGOs in the field.

On the very first day of the festival, Friday, October 2, at 11 AM at Cinema Elvire Popesco, we're screening the children's film Born in the Jungle / Secretele junglei in its national preview. Directed by Latvian filmmaker Edmunds Jansons and presented this year at the Annecy Festival, the film is set in spectacular 1950s Venezuela and follows Elisabetha, a 9-year-old girl whose vacation turns into a brave jungle rescue mission in search of her younger brother. Jansons will be present for the screening, which will offer full sensory accessibility: descriptive subtitles (SDH), interpretation in Romanian Sign Language (LSR), and audio description (AD). The event marks the debut of the Animated Nature cultural project, co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN).

On Sunday, October 4, at 6.30 PM, Cinema Elvire Popesco will screen Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants, a Franco-Belgian production directed by Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo, awarded the César Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Already known for its spectacular hybrid style that overlays 3D animation on real natural landscapes from French national parks, the film depicts the comical and suspenseful confrontation between two ant colonies over an abandoned sugar box at a picnic. No dialogue is needed to convey the tension, but the film does feature a brave ladybug helper. The screening is made accessible through descriptive subtitles (SDH) and audio description (AD) available via headphones, and is part of a more comprehensive collaborative project with the Dacia Foundation for Romania.

During the second weekend of the festival, we are focusing on the needs of neurodivergent audiences during Olga's Films at Animest, an event hosted on Sunday, October 11, at the Goethe-Institut:

• 10.30 AM: Adapted Animation Workshop facilitated by Nicoleta and Andreea Miron, alongside the Supereroi printre Noi (Heroes Among Us) Association, students specializing in special education, and volunteers, guaranteeing a warm welcoming space for exploration.

• 12.30 PM: Special Short Films Screening, either without dialogue or made accessible, hosted in a sensory-friendly room, with balanced sound and a nightlight kept on during the viewing. This initiative is carried out together with the Superheroes Among Us Association and is co-financed by the Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB.

This community-focused program will be rounded off by a 4 PM roundtable on inclusive practices in cultural festivals, bringing together organizers and specialists from Bucharest, Timișoara and Iași. Our main objective? Build the foundations of a future national guide for accessible festivals, an initiative that marks the debut of a new project by the Animest Association in partnership with the Dacia Foundation for Romania.