[Annecy 2025] A Tribute to Hungarian Animation

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival highlights the rich and culturally diverse feature films and shorts from Hungary, along with the vibrancy of contemporary Hungarian productions that have recently been awarded at Annecy.

Marcel Jean, Artistic Director of the Annecy Festival, stated:

Despite political turmoil, the historic richness of Hungarian animation has never faltered. For over twenty years, numerous student films have heralded the emergence of a new wave in Hungarian animation. The recent successes of filmmakers like Flóra Anna Buda (27), Balázs Turai (Amok), Nadja Andrasev (Symbiosis), and Áron Gauder (Four Souls of Coyote) have further reinforced this development, showcasing the cultural vibrancy and profound originality of Hungary’s productions.

The visual identity for the Spotlight combines Annecy’s iconic rabbit symbol with essential elements of Hungarian visual culture, embodying both a fresh and contemporary approach. Levente Szabó, the internationally recognised freelance graphic designer and illustrator responsible for the new identity, remarked:

The Annecy Festival is known worldwide, so it was a great honour to take part in this project. Beyond the excitement of the theme, the real challenge was to create a visual concept that simultaneously reflects the uniqueness of the festival and the distinctive qualities of Hungarian animation.

Three Hungarian jurors will participate in different categories: Director of the Film Archive at the National Film Institute of Hungary György Ráduly (Official Feature Films Jury), film director, Production Manager and Executive Producer Nadja Andrasev (Contrechamp Feature Films Jury), and film director Réka Bucsi (Graduation Films & Off-Limits Short Films Jury). Also present will be Máté Józsa, Emma Nyári, and Máté Horesnyi for the Perspectives Jury.

The spotlight on Hungarian animation will provide festival goers with an opportunity to explore the depth of this production through nine programs selected by Anna Ida Orosz, an animation specialist at the Film Archive of the Hungarian National Film Institute. The selection includes a range of commercial films, award-winning shorts and feature films, and graduation films from the prestigious MOME University, showcasing the entire history and diversity of Hungarian animation on the screens of the Annecy cinema theatre.

Marcel Jean added:

The significant efforts by the Hungarian National Film Institute to digitise and restore works will also allow for the presentation of classic Hungarian animation in optimal conditions at Annecy 2025.

The featured films include:
– Bubble Bath by György Kovásznai (1980)
– Son of the White Mare by Marcell Jankovics (1981)
– Heroic Times by József Gémes (1982) – the first feature film to win a Cristal in 1985
– The District! by Áron Gauder – Cristal for a Feature Film at Annecy in 2005

At the Festival, Hungary will also hold several free exhibitions around the city for everyone to enjoy; host a free open-air screening of Four Souls of Coyote by Áron Gauder; present a Hungarian music videos program in the “Video Clip Geniuses” category; feature a Midnight Special and a “Making of” devoted to Ruben Brandt, Collector by Milorad Krstić; showcase a work-in-progress film, Fairyheart by Anita Doron.

The Mifa will host a Hungarian pavilion in the new area located on the 1st floor of the Exhibition Area, where there is a new space especially for Mifa’s companies and delegations. The presence of a significant delegation demonstrates the dynamism of this industry within the international market.

Director Áron Gauder, who won the Jury Award at Annecy in 2023 for Four Souls of Coyote, will serve as Patron of Le Campus Mifa, the area dedicated to nurturing upcoming talents.