Fresh Frames: Films Made by Teenagers at Animest.20

Want to see your animation at Animest? Submissions are now open for the second edition of Fresh Frames – the section dedicated to animations created by teenagers at the Animest Bucharest International Animation Film Festival.

The selection is open to animated short films made in any technique and on any theme, created by teenage animators from Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The creators must have been between 14 and 19 years old and enrolled in high school or a preparatory/foundation year at the time of the film's production.

Directors of the selected films will be invited to attend Animest.20 (October 3–12, 2025) as festival guests.

The films will be selected by the Teen Jury from Animest.19 – Alesia Iancău, Marta Crețu, and Ilinca Popa – under the guidance of the Animest organizers and the Animation Incubator. Find out more about the Teen Jury at Animest here.

Deadline: July 15, 2025

Send your animation!

Rules:

• The director(s) must have been between 14 and 19 years old and enrolled in high school or a prep/foundation year at the time the animation was made.
• The animation must be made by directors/animators from Romania or the Republic of Moldova.
• The animation must have been completed after January 1, 2023.
• The festival accepts animated films of any genre and on any theme, as long as they do not exceed 30 minutes in length.
• Films must be submitted by July 15, 2025; selection results will be announced in August 2025.
• If the film contains dialogue in a language other than Romanian, it must include subtitles (in .srt or .sub format) in both Romanian and English. If the dialogue is in Romanian, English subtitles are required.
• Films that promote hate or discrimination against specific individuals or social groups will not be accepted.
• Once submitted, films cannot be withdrawn from the festival.
• Selected directors must be prepared to provide additional information and a projection version of the film, as per requirements.
• Selected directors will have the opportunity to attend the festival as invited guests.
• The organizers may use excerpts (up to 60 seconds) from the films for festival promotion purposes. The submitted information will be used in the festival catalog, website, and social media pages. Selected films may be screened multiple times during Animest.
• The selection of films will be carried out by members of the Teen Jury from the previous festival edition.

Artwork: Clara Amariței, Clara Cândea