Animest.20 International Competition: Experience 89 Animated Stories from Around the World

The 20th edition of the Animest International Animation Film Festival is redefining travel. During October 3-12, the only Academy Award-qualifying film festival in Romania will take over several of Bucharest’s silver screens to share 89 animated stories selected for Animest’s anniversary edition’s international competition. 43 short films will vie for the Animest Trophy, while another 34 shorts by students at top animation schools will compete for the Student Film Award. The International Feature Film Competition will premiere five films in Romania, while the VR Section will bring seven diverse, authentic stories ever closer to you. Savor the film itinerary of the Animest.20 Official Competition on the festival website: https://www.animest.ro/en/competition-2025/.

“Our 2025 anniversary selection is one of  the most interesting in the festival’s history. Many of  the animated stories submitted for selection were bizarre, some dark, many very colorful. It’s getting more challenging every year, so the 2025 selection will inspire contradictory emotions – some films are very funny, others very depressing, but all incredibly alive thanks to their subject matter. All of the short films in the competition are remarkably well-made, from student films to those submitted by experienced directors.

The Animest.20 competition is a montagne russe of emotions and experiences superimposed on the screen. We’re lucky to be able to watch the submissions on a big screen, 5m wide, with excellent sound quality, and not on a computer. This makes all the difference when you’re selecting for a festival,” shared Mihai Mitrică, Animest main programmer and festival director.

Selected at Annecy Festival in 2024 after its previous adaptation won the Annecy Festival’s Jury Award for a TV Series in recognition of its originality, courage, and innovative art, the animated feature film Flavours of Iraq / Le parfum d'Irak (directed by Léonard Cohen) brings forward an intimate portrait of Iraq, melding franco-iraqi journalist Feurat Alani’s 10,000+ 2016 tweets into a profoundly emotional and artistic cinematic experience. Blending autobiography, journalism, animation, and documentary, the film goes beyond the media portrayal of Iraq as it explores Feurat’s journey in the footsteps of his father Amir. A story about heritage, identity and the deep bonds between a son and his father’s motherland.

Competing in Annecy’s Feature Films Contrechamp section and winner of the ECFA Award for Best European Film for Children (Elements +6) at the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy, Tales from the Magic Garden, directed by four people from four different countries (David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, and Jean-Claude Rozec) is a charming stop-motion anthology presenting an emotional story about grief and the healing power of stories. Before its Annecy selection, the film premiered in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus section dedicated to productions of special interest to younger audiences. Tales from the Magic Garden features three kids spending a weekend with their grandfather for the first time since losing their beloved grandmother. The house is quiet; Grandpa is isolated. To fill the void left behind by Grandma’s tales, the kids start sharing their own fantastical stories. We meet a helpful, mysterious cat, a not-so-scary monster, and a daring flying man. Loss, compassion and empathy take center stage as family traditions and imagination are proven to mend broken hearts.

After winning Annecy’s Contrechamp Jury Prize and the Best Director Award at the Bucheon International Fantastic Animation Festival (BIFAN), Asia’s largest genre film festival, The Square / Phenian comes to Animest.20. The animated romantic thriller written and directed by South Korean Bo-Sol KIM explores the forbidden love story between Swedish diplomat Isak and local traffic officer Bok-joo, set in North Korea. As Isak’s mandate is nearing its end, Bok-joo suddenly disappears, shifting the mellow love story into a tense thriller. With surprise twists (such as Isak’s heritage) and a realistic animation style, the film captures the oppressive atmosphere that permeates a society where you are always under surveillance, while showing how humanity and the desire to connect weather all obstacles.

As one cannot enjoy just one thriller, we’ve got another, this time veering towards the metaphysical: Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s Death Does Not Exist premiered at Cannes in the Quinzaine des cinéastes (Directors' Fortnight), an independent, non-competitive film section that runs in parallel to the official film festival. After a failed armed attack on wealthy landowners, Hélène abandons her companions and flees into the forest. Manon, one of her friends and accomplices, returns to haunt her. Hélène has to revisit her personal and political convictions and choices in a valley where metamorphoses and great upheavals disrupt the natural order of things. Thus, a portrait of radicalism morphs into a profound reflection on the meaning of loyalty.

The Animest.20 International Feature Film competition is rounded off by Annecy Jury Award winner ChaO, directed by Yasuhiro Aoki of the legendary Studio 4°C. The romantic comedy set in a future where humans and mermaids coexist starts as Stephan, a shy shipbuilding company  office worker, is suddenly proposed to by Chao, a mermaid princess. As two cultures meet, we watch as an unconventional pairing blooms into a touching story of love, acceptance, and discovery of inner beauty.

Watch the Feature Film Competition’s official teaser:

77 Short Films, One Very Desirable Trophy

The winner of the International Short Film Competition will receive the Animest 2025 Trophy, guaranteeing eligibility for the Academy Awards. These stakes only make the jury’s mission more challenging as they select among this year’s submissions. The competitive sections are entirely made up of films that defy the limits of imagination, lovingly crafted by many international artists. Animest 2023 winners Jean-Sébastien Hamel and Alexandra Myotte return with What We Leave Behind, which recently premiered internationally at the Locarno Film Festival. Animest 2020 Trophy laureate Agnès Patron now brings us To the Woods, previously screened at Cannes’ La Semaine de la Critique, which also included existentialist horror God is Shy (directed by Jocelyn Charles).

This year’s selection also includes The Night Boots, winner of three awards at Annecy 2025 (Cristal for a Short Film, Audience Award, André Martin Award for a French Short Film). Directed by Pierre Luc Granjon, whom Romanian cinephiles met last year at Animest, where he was part of the official jury. Another multi-laureate short film (Clermont Ferrand, Fest Anča, Ottawa International Animation Film Festival) Anastasiei Falileieva’s animated documentary I Died In Irpin is also competing in this year’s Animest. Watch the short film section’s teaser:

There’s more. You get to see the latest tales and techniques at the best animation schools in the world in the Student Film Competition: 34 short films from 22 schools including Gobelins, La Poudrière, Royal College of Art, University of Tokyo, FAMU, UMPRUM, and MOME.

Some of the student films were already part of the official selections of some of the most prominent festivals: Annecy (Hunting by Lea Favre, Bear Hunt by Chris Duffy), Tampere Film Festival (Fish River Anthology by Veera Lamminpää), Fest Anča (The Grind by Marty Müller), Animateka (Keep Out by Tan Lui Chan), Animafest Zagreb (Windy Day by Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Elise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez, and Camille Truding). The Student Film section teaser trailer is right here:

Seven Innovative Experiences Compete in the VR Section

This year’s official selection also showcases new techniques in virtual reality storytelling. Four of the competing titles were previously presented in the official lineup of the Venice International Film Festival, famous for putting forward one of the world’s strongest VR film competitions.

Premiering nationally at Animest.20 we have the unique universe of Nana Lou (directed by Isabelle Andreani); the interactive VR technology creates a poetic space where you can explore family, memories and the passing of time as you help Nana Lou revisit her memories and pass away in peace.

Murmuration (directed by Patricia Bergeron) invites you to follow a young Nigerian on his way to Europe; the story is inspired by the kids migrating from Africa to Sicily between 2015 and 2020. More contemplative experience than classic narrative, Lichtung (directed by Aria Wolf) takes us to a magical forest for a visual and auditory journey through a fairytale world. More in the mood for sci-fi? Max Q (directed by Joel Benjamin) is an intense action-adventure animated 6DOF VR film set on an ocean planet. If you’re ready to join the crew at Max Q – the maximum dynamic pressure, or most critical part of a rocket launch – and navigate the dangers of space exploration, strap in!

All of the Animest.20 International Competition movie milestones are mapped out on www.animest.ro. To book your all-included animation vacation with access to all of the festival’s screenings and events, visit the Eventbook platform!

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The Animest Festival is a project of the Animest Association, co-financed by AFCN–the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

This project does not officially represent the AFCN’s stance, nor may AFCN be held responsible for the festival’s content or outcomes – these are fully under the beneficiary’s responsibility.

Presented by: ING Bank

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