Animafest Zagreb once again brings together the pinnacle of world animation in June
From 8 to 13 June 2026, Zagreb will host the 36th edition of the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb, one of the longest-running and most internationally respected festivals dedicated to animation. According to announcements by the organizers, this year's programme brings more than 300 works from 47 countries, along with competition selections, premiere screenings, retrospectives, professional meetings, workshops and programmes intended for different generations of viewers. The festival is taking place in a period also confirmed by the Zagreb Tourist Board, and the programme is being announced as a broad overview of contemporary auteur animation, from short and feature-length works to student films and works for children and young people.
Animafest grew out of the foundations of the Zagreb School of Animated Film, whose authors in the second half of the 20th century strongly shaped the international perception of animated film as an artistic, and not merely entertainment, medium. According to data from the Animation Festival Network, the festival was founded in 1972 and is ranked among the most important animated film festivals in the world, and it is regularly held in Zagreb at the beginning of June. It is precisely this tradition that gives this year's edition additional weight: it represents not only a showcase of new films, but also the continuity of a cultural platform that connects authors, producers, critics, researchers, students and audiences.
More than 300 films from 47 countries
For 2026, the organizers have announced a programme which, according to the official announcement on the short-film competition, includes more than 300 films from 47 countries. Some titles will be screened as premieres, some for the first time outside their countries of origin, while films that have already been presented at major world festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Annecy and Ottawa, are also arriving in Zagreb. Such a schedule confirms Animafest's role as a place where local audiences and festival guests can encounter works that already have an international festival life, but also new authors whose films are only beginning to position themselves on the world scene.
According to Animafest data, 2055 submissions from 95 countries were received in the selection process for the short-film categories. More than 1000 works were submitted for the Grand Competition Short Film, of which 37 were selected, while 38 films were chosen for the Student Competition from almost 1000 student submissions. The Croatian Competition brings 19 films, meaning domestic production remains a visible part of the festival programme, not as a separate addition, but as an integral segment of the international context.
This year's edition will also be important for authors of feature-length animation. According to the festival's official announcement, the Grand Competition Feature Film includes eight titles from different production environments, including France, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, China, Brazil and Japan. The organizers described the selection as an overview of contemporary animation in which artistic vision, innovation and creativity meet, from intimate stories to visually ambitious films that explore the boundaries of the medium. The programme includes, among others, the films Dandelion's Odyssey by Momoko Seto, Death Does Not Exist by Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Decorado by Alberto Vázquez, Dukla by Gejza Dezorz, Light Pillar by Zao Xu, Matamortes by Thiago Martins de Melo, Samurai Ballerina - L’étoile de Paris en fleur by Goro Taniguchi and Son of a Bitch by a group of authors from Brazil.
Competitions that open the way to international awards
The competition programmes of Animafest Zagreb 2026 include short-film, feature-film, student, Croatian and films for children and young people programmes. According to information from the Animation Festival Network, Animafest winners qualify for important international awards, including the Oscar, Annie Awards, BAFTA Film Awards and European Animation Awards – Emile Awards. The festival's original announcements particularly emphasize that the Animafest Grand Prix directly leads toward qualification for the award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives the Zagreb festival additional importance in the professional calendar of animated film authors and producers.
The Grand Competition Short Film remains the most prestigious festival segment. In the May announcement, the organizers emphasized that this year's selection brings classically told stories, ironic views of the social and psychological problems of contemporary life and strong auteur perspectives. According to the same source, the competition also includes films by previous Animafest winners, including Yumi Joung, Georges Schwizgebel, Sasha Svirsky and Joe Hsieh, as well as works by authors who have already been recognized at international festivals. Croatia is represented in that segment by School Show by Ana Horvat and Strive by Krešimir Pernek, the festival states.
Part of the programme also reflects current themes of contemporary animation: the relationship between technology and identity, life in urban communities, ecology, migration, the consequences of war, growing up, loneliness, gender relations and social control. According to the festival announcement, this year's short-film competition also includes films that combine a documentary approach, puppet animation, rotoscopy, computer 3D animation, traditional drawing and experimental techniques. This confirms that animated film in the festival context is not a genre limited to children's audiences, but an exceptionally diverse auteur space in which political, psychological, intimate and social themes can be addressed.
Joanna Quinn receives the Lifetime Achievement Award
One of the central names of Animafest Zagreb 2026 will be the British animated-film author Joanna Quinn, who, according to the decision of the Festival Council, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Animafest states that the recognition will be presented to her at the ceremonial opening of the festival. Quinn is one of the prominent authors of British and world animation, recognizable for her energetic drawing, humour, pronounced sense of physicality and characters who often speak about gender relations, social pressures and personal freedom.
According to biographical data published by Animafest, Joanna Quinn was born in 1962, and she discovered animation during her studies of graphic design at Middlesex University in London. Her graduation film Girls Night Out won three major awards at the International Animated Film Festival in Annecy in 1987 and introduced the character Beryl, who would mark a significant part of her creative work. Beryl later also appeared in the films Body Beautiful and Dreams & Desires - Family Ties, and in these works Quinn developed themes of the female perspective, social expectations and humour that simultaneously liberates and criticizes.
The festival recalls that Quinn further strengthened her international reputation with the 1993 film Britannia, and that the latest film with Beryl, Affairs of the Art, brought a new Oscar nomination in 2022. According to Animafest, her films have won numerous international awards, including four BAFTAs, three Emmys and two Oscar nominations. The organizers also highlight her pedagogical work, as well as honorary doctorates from three British universities and the status of Honorary Fellow of London's Royal College of Art. For the Zagreb festival, her recognition also has a personal dimension because, according to the festival announcement, Quinn has participated in Animafest multiple times, and her works have been awarded and gladly screened there.
A panorama of contemporary production and programmes of great authors
Along with the competition sections, Animafest 2026 also brings non-competition programmes that give audiences a broader insight into recent production. The World Panorama programme, according to the festival's official announcement, will screen 20 original, innovative and auteur-bold titles from new global production. It includes films from Estonia, Iran, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland, Ukraine, Germany, Spain, Poland, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Ireland and Portugal, which shows the international breadth of this year's programme.
The special non-competition programme Time for the Masters is focused on recent works by authors who have left a strong mark on the history of the festival. According to Animafest, this programme will screen films by Bruno Collet, Dennis Tupicoff, Cordell Barker, Theodore Ushev and Donato Sansone. These are authors whose works are often associated with recognizable stylistic signatures, technical inventiveness and auteur consistency, so this programme functions as a link between the history of the festival and the current moment of world animation.
Animafest also traditionally cultivates a professional dimension, and this year's edition includes the international scholarly symposium Animafest Scanner XIII. According to the festival's official call, the symposium is intended for film and media researchers dealing with animation, its theory, aesthetics, technology and social contexts. Such a programme confirms that the festival is not only a screening platform, but also a place for the exchange of knowledge, critical reflection and the connection of artistic practice with academic research.
Zagreb as a festival centre of animation
Animafest Zagreb was founded in 1972 on initiatives connected with the international reputation of the Zagreb School of Animated Film, and over the decades the festival has grown into one of the key places on the world animation scene. According to the Animation Festival Network, it was launched thanks to the reputation of authors such as Dušan Vukotić, Vatroslav Mimica, Zlatko Grgić, Nedeljko Dragić and Borivoj Dovniković, whose works helped affirm Zagreb as one of the historical centres of auteur animation. In its first decades, the festival was held biennially, and since 2005 artists, producers, students and animation researchers have gathered in Zagreb every year.
Such continuity is also important for the cultural life of the city. The Zagreb Tourist Board, in its events calendar, confirms the Animafest dates from 8 to 13 June 2026, with a note that changes to the programme, schedule and other organizational details are possible and are under the authority of the organizers. For visitors coming to Zagreb because of festival screenings and professional programmes, practical information about the schedule, locations and tickets will be important as the final programme details are published, and accommodation offers in Zagreb during Animafest may also be useful.
At the same time, the festival also has a broader international effect. For animated-film authors, participation in Animafest means entering a festival space recognized among professionals, selectors, distributors and other festivals. For audiences, meanwhile, Animafest offers the possibility of seeing in a few days films that often do not reach regular cinema distribution, especially shorter forms and experimental works. Precisely for that reason, the Zagreb edition in June is not only a local cultural event, but part of an international chain of festival exchange in which animation functions as an independent and equal film art.
A programme for audiences, authors and young creators
According to the information published so far, Animafest will again this year combine screenings, discussions, educational programmes and meetings of professionals. Student programmes, workshops and project-development laboratories are especially important for young authors, because the festival provides an opportunity to meet more experienced artists and become acquainted with international production standards. On its pages, Animafest has also highlighted the Rise & Shine programme, a development and pitching laboratory for young talents and short films, whose 2026 selection was announced ahead of the festival edition.
The programme of films for children and young people also has a special place because it shows that animation can at the same time be accessible to younger audiences and artistically demanding. Such programmes are often the first more serious festival experiences for the youngest viewers, but also a space in which parents, teachers and film educators can encounter titles that avoid the commercial patterns dominant in children's production. In this sense, Animafest continues to develop audiences not only by screening films, but also by creating a context in which animation is discussed as a language, technique, art and way of understanding the world.
The 2026 edition is thus being announced as a combination of tradition and current production: from the legacy of the Zagreb School of Animated Film and the recognition of Joanna Quinn to the latest short-film and feature-film titles from dozens of countries. According to the programme published so far, the festival will once again bring together authors of different generations and aesthetics, from recognized masters to students and debutants. At the centre remains animated film as a form that is constantly changing, but retains the ability to present complex themes through image, movement, rhythm, sound and a personal auteur signature.
Sources:
- Animafest Zagreb – official information on the 2026 edition, programme and festival announcements (link)
- Animafest Zagreb – announcement on selected films in the short-film, student and Croatian competitions (link)
- Animafest Zagreb – announcement of the Grand Competition Short Film and information on more than 300 works from 47 countries (link)
- Animafest Zagreb – announcement of the Grand Competition Feature Film (link)
- Animafest Zagreb – announcement on the Lifetime Achievement Award for Joanna Quinn (link)
- Animafest Zagreb – announcement of the World Panorama and Time for the Masters programmes (link)
- Zagreb Tourist Board / Infozagreb – events calendar and dates of Animafest Zagreb 2026 (link)
- Animation Festival Network – profile of Animafest, festival history and international context (link)