Age category: 7+
Subject: art, friendship, family, illness

PITCHING YOUR PROJECT - PART 1

Led by: Nancy Denney-Phelps
Duration: 2h

In this four hour workshop pitching coach Nancy Denney-Phelps will teach you how to successfully pitch your project whether it is a short animated film, a feature or a television series. The workshop is open to people with animated projects in any style and stage of progress from early script development to completed films looking for a distributor.
On day one be prepared to pitch your project. Nancy will give her rules for a successful pitch.
Day two you will give your pitching again following the rules that you learned the previous day.

Open to 12 participants. You must have a film in any state of production.
Pre registration required.

We accept applications until 10.10 at: olga.jozefiak@etiudaandanima.pl

The workshops will be held in English.

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/pitching-workshop-pitching-your-project/

Age category: 10+
Subject: acceptance, friendship, love, overweight

Led by: Agnieszka Kruk Inez
Duration: 3h

During the two-day workshop each participant will learn the basic principles of professional script development – from choosing an idea to writing the first draft of a short film script. We will learn the principles of formal record complying with effective standards and we will also receive tips on how to pitch a project.

The result of our work will be a notebook filled with practical notes and tips to be used in future projects, and first of all: we will create on our own our first script draft!

The workshops are also a great opportunity to meet people with similar interests, and also to ask the experienced instructor all the urgent questions.

The number of participants is limited. Prior registration is required.

Applications are accepted until October 10th via email: olga.jozefiak@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/screenwriting-workshops/

FAMILY PORTRAIT: Exhibition of puppets from Lea Vidaković's films

Internationally acclaimed visual artist and animator Lea Vidakovic has created her work Family Portrait in two ways in terms of presentation. In the first case, it is an animated film intended primarily for viewing in standard movie theatres and projection rooms, and in the second, it is a gallery installation composed of synchronized projections and artefacts (dolls and miniature models) arranged in the space, with which the animated material was realized. Therefore, the gallery presentation of Family Portrait – which is the subject here confronts visitors with two compatible or complementary realities: a two-dimensional virtual and a three-dimensional physical one.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-puppets-from-lea-vidakovics-films-family-portrait/

Exhibition of drawings from Simone Massi's films

Simone Massi with his drawings, with his animations, transports us into a world that is his and that is also mysteriously ours, in which he can show us what we otherwise risked losing. Thus, thanks to him, we enter a place of lost memories, of distant wonders, of suspended moments, of sudden revelations, of links with dreamed images. It does not take us by the hand, it does not accompany us: rather it allows us to whisper that perhaps we have lost something, that a shred of memory could recompose a piece within our mosaic of feelings and emotions that we always carry on, that guides our lives.


/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-drawings-from-simone-massis-films-black-wall/

The film was created using the technique of hand-painted watercolor on paper. And then watercolor painting under camera. The exhibition includes some of the watercolor bakcgrounds, as well as watercolor phases of the charachters from different shots.

Age category: 10+
Subject: family, friendship, health, revenge

Phil Mulloy
1948 - 2025

Phil Mulloy is an award-winning British/Irish animator born in Wallasey (Merseyside). He studied painting and film and worked as a live-action film writer and director all until the late 1980s, when he began pursuing animation. His animations are mostly described as “satirical grotesque.” In addition to portrayals of contemporary social, political and religious values in a humorous and often shocking way, depictions of the dark sides of human nature have been his favourite pastime.

Mulloy created many of MTV’s iconic idents during the 1980s and 90s. These included the much lauded Boxers to Lovers in which two boxers, depicted as crude stick figures, stop fighting and embrace one another, only to find themselves engulfed by the furious crowd of spectators baying for blood.

He made over 30 animated films and is best known from his trilogy Intolerance 1, 2, 3 (2000-2004), series Cowboys (1991) and The Ten Commandments (1994-1996). He has won many international awards and is an active mentor in workshops for upcoming animators.

Among his other award-winning projects over the past two decades were The Sound of Music (1995), The Wind of Changes (1998), Intolerance which won a special prize at Annecy in 2001, The Christies series for Spectre Films in 2006, the feature Dead but Not Buried, which won the top feature prize at the Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival in 2011). His final short film Endgame, which centered on two office workers who engage in war games over the weekend to relax, won the top prize at Animafest Zagreb in 2016.

Phil Mulloy presented his films at our festival in 2006 in the series Self-portraits of Animators.

Age category: 16+

Age category: 16+

Inauguration of the Simone Massi exhibition
The exhibition is open from 14th to 19th October 2025, from 12 AM to 8 PM in the hall of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Simone Massi was Born in Pergola (Pesaro-Urbino, Italy) on May 1970. Ex-worker, of peasants origin, he studied Film Animation at the Art School of Urbino. Independent animator, from 20 years he is trying -in a clean way- to make his passion for drawing become a job. Hei is internationally recognized as one of the most important authors of animation cinema. Throughout his career, he has gathered a total of 887 awards, including a David di Donatello, three Silver Ribbons, and a Flaiano Prize.

More about Simone Massi: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/simone-massi/

Age category: family
show with audio description

Age category: 16+

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WORKSHOP HAS BEEN CANCELED


Representing Sound - Workshops My Title and Polyrhythm Description

Led by: Kōji Yamamura

Two short workshops will be held over two days.

One is "Polyrhythm" and the other is "My Title". Both workshops are based on the relationship between sound and animated images.

In "Polyrhythm", you will create three characters and calibrate the screen to match three rhythmic sounds. The difference in rhythm will create an animation with a narrative quality.

"My Title" is a workshop where participants create an animated story using a short randomly selected song title and five sound effects.
Both animation techniques are free, and they ask how ideas and stories can be created under limited conditions.
Additional information
Participants are requested to bring their own devices (laptop, iPad, etc.) and apps that they use for animation and film and audio editing.

/ FREE ADMISSION /
The number of participants is limited

Registration for workshops: jadwiga.wasacz@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/animation-workshops-with-koji-yamamura/

A set of short animations exploring important areas of our role in consciousness, often using animal metaphors. The screening was preceded by a lecture and I met with a film educator.

Age category: 6 - 10
Subject: friendship, neighborhood, help, cooperation, social and family relations

PITCHING YOUR PROJECT - PART 2

Led by: Nancy Denney-Phelps
Duration: 2h

In this four hour workshop pitching coach Nancy Denney-Phelps will teach you how to successfully pitch your project whether it is a short animated film, a feature or a television series. The workshop is open to people with animated projects in any style and stage of progress from early script development to completed films looking for a distributor.
On day one be prepared to pitch your project. Nancy will give her rules for a successful pitch.
Day two you will give your pitching again following the rules that you learned the previous day.

Open to 12 participants. You must have a film in any state of production.
Pre registration required.

We accept applications until 10.10 at: olga.jozefiak@etiudaandanima.pl

The workshops will be held in English.

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/animation-pitching-workshop-pitching-your-project/

Age category: 15+

We believe that culture and art have the power not only to awaken our sensitivity, but also to address key elements of reality. Our responsibility as cultural organisers is to harness this potential and include in the festival programme works that address socially important issues, shaping not only our reality but also the future of subsequent generations, and not only human ones.

The climate catastrophe and climate change are undoubtedly the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced, and we want to talk about it in the language we understand and feel best – through the silver screen.

In the Zielona Etuda&Anima series, we present specially selected etudes and animations that address in a unique way the topics of our contact with the natural environment, social change, agency in the era of ecological crisis, and the mutual influence of culture, nature and technology.

Led by: Agnieszka Kruk Inez
Duration: 3h

The number of participants is limited. Prior registration is required.

Applications are accepted until October 10th via email: olga.jozefiak@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/zapisz-sie-na-warsztaty-scenariuszowe/

FAMILY PORTRAIT: Exhibition of puppets from Lea Vidaković's films

Internationally acclaimed visual artist and animator Lea Vidakovic has created her work Family Portrait in two ways in terms of presentation. In the first case, it is an animated film intended primarily for viewing in standard movie theatres and projection rooms, and in the second, it is a gallery installation composed of synchronized projections and artefacts (dolls and miniature models) arranged in the space, with which the animated material was realized. Therefore, the gallery presentation of Family Portrait – which is the subject here confronts visitors with two compatible or complementary realities: a two-dimensional virtual and a three-dimensional physical one.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-puppets-from-lea-vidakovics-films-family-portrait/

Exhibition of drawings from Simone Massi's films

Simone Massi with his drawings, with his animations, transports us into a world that is his and that is also mysteriously ours, in which he can show us what we otherwise risked losing. Thus, thanks to him, we enter a place of lost memories, of distant wonders, of suspended moments, of sudden revelations, of links with dreamed images. It does not take us by the hand, it does not accompany us: rather it allows us to whisper that perhaps we have lost something, that a shred of memory could recompose a piece within our mosaic of feelings and emotions that we always carry on, that guides our lives.


/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-drawings-from-simone-massis-films-black-wall/

The film was created using the technique of hand-painted watercolor on paper. And then watercolor painting under camera. The exhibition includes some of the watercolor bakcgrounds, as well as watercolor phases of the charachters from different shots.

Age category: 14+

Creative work on the feature film and the entire production process of "My Grandfather's Demons"

Led By: Nuno Beato

The first 14 minutes use 2D animation but exactly when Rosa steps foot on the dirt of Sarranco Valley, the CG world turns into stop motion. This transformation is a representation of the core of My Grandfather’s Demons. Although aesthetically impressive, the 2D animation of the first act is flat and a little too perfect; it doesn’t have the level of detail that the stop motion world has. When we step into Rosa’s hometown, there’s an enhanced realism and everything comes to life in an organic way. The models are not perfect but you can sense the life in them.

Of course, the contrast between animated atmospheres is no mistake. My Grandfather’s Demos is a tale of community. Rosa is exhausted by the urban way of life and even though she feels discomfort at first (nightmarish demons don’t help her cause), she learns to reconnect with herself and others while in this rural town. She finds peace and starts noticing and enjoying little things that the frantic city life might not allow her to. This is why the stop motion worlds feel so real while the 2D one is a bit lifeless.

Director and producer Nuno Beato will talk about this and other aspects of making the film.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

More About Masterclass: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/masterclass-nuno-beato/

Age category: 14+

Age category: 16+

We invite you to the next meeting of the series of open talks for animators and animation directors, this time in a unique format, as part of the Etiuda & Anima Festival 2025.

Continuing the mission to build a community of creators, we will meet to share our knowledge, experiences, and inspirations. This time we will have the great pleasure of welcoming a renowned and award-winning director Ewa Borysewicz, who will tell us about her work, production challenges, and her journey to success in the animation industry.

The second part of the event is space for you. A time for open conversation, asking questions, and sharing your own ideas. It is time to get feedback from the invited director and other artists, ask for advice on production or career development, as well as establish direct contacts that often turn into future collaborations.

We want these Krakow-based meetings to become the place for vibrant dialogue and mutual support and being a part of the Etiuda & Anima Festival gives them an international character.

Places are limited – registration is open through the link FORMULARZ ZGŁOSZENIOWY

Join us and contribute to the creation of a community that transforms Polish animation!

A retrospective of Finnish animation, comprising three sets of films, was prepared for us by Joni Männistö.

"Why the name of the screening? A Finn doesn’t waste words. Even this text was originally shorter but there was a kind request to add more words. Coincidentally or not this selection of films seems to be mostly without dialogue”.

Finnish animation is over 110 years old so the local pioneers started early to use the advantages of the unique medium. Some of the films are lost forever, some of them exist only in film stocks and are gathering dust in the archives. Finnish animators got their inspiration from such names as Jiří Trnka and Norman McLaren and started to do their own experimentations with film and abstraction as well as the narrative form. This program is presenting a wide selection of Finnish animation starting from the 60’s and covering every decade until the latest years. It showcases a wide range of techniques and works from pioneers, professionals and students.

Finally a warning, the screening contains plenty of Finnish melancholic dark humour. Finns don’t laugh either but maybe others will! :)

What a home! Place in Lea Vidakovic's is as immaculately designed and adorned as ever in each her films.

“I am fascinated by the power and visual density of stop-motion animation, which is almost like a painting in space. The crafted miniature worlds have a unique ability to tell stories without telling them, simply by conveying certain atmospheres and using objects that carry their own history. The quality of light and space often conceals a story, and this was particularly suited to the film, as it required this specific form of narration. I spent a lot of time exploring light in different paintings, especially those by Danish Intimist painters like Hammershøi, Ilsted, and Hølsøe. Finding an actual old villa in a village in northern Serbia was valuable, as it gave insight into how to study space and light, and how to recreate the most important character of the film — the house. The house acts as a mirror for everything that happens within it and beyond.”

More about Lea Vidaković: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/lea-vidakovic/
Lea Vidaković official website: www.leavidakovic.com

Age category: 16+

/ FREE ADMISSION /

INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION WORKSHOPS Krakow/Lanckorona 2025

As part of ETIUDA&ANIMA Festival 2025 we present films from the recent Workshops, a brief overview of the scope and artistic activities of the participants of this year`s edition and the films by the instructors. They are preliminary stages of film concepts, sketches, animatics, visual and motion design tests.
Practical classes during the Workshops took place from 5th to 14th September in Lanckorona.
This presentation confirms the functioning of this artistic and educational undertaking uninterrupted for over thirty years.

The formula of the Workshops, developed over the years, takes the from of masterclasses. It mainly focuses on helping each participant to shape their artistic identity, to refine their individual film language, the way of communicating with the audience.
The workshops initiate new film projects, help to develop dramatic structure and create the environment for comprehensive film preparation and production. The participants work in creative contact with artistic authority figures. The possibility to work with outstanding artists and pedagogues in an international environment gives the Workshops a broad essential dimension.
The location of the practical part of the Workshops in Lanckorona enables the participants from Poland and all over the world to work in full focus, surrounded by the Polish landscape.

Over the years, several hundred artists have participated in the Workshops. Among its instructors and guest lecturers have been some of the most outstanding artists, historians, and theorists of animated film:
Jacek Adamczak (Poland), Otto Alder (Switzerland), Gil Alkabetz (Germany: Potsdam-Babelsberg), Ernst Ansorge (Switzerland), Rolf Bächler (Switzerland), Giannalberto Bendazzi (Milan), Frank Braun (Switzerland), Mariola Brillowska (Hamburg), Suzanne Buchan (London), Andrzej Chrzanowski (Moscow), Oksana Cherkasova (Yekaterinburg), Lutz Dammbeck (Germany), Jean Marie Demeyer (Ghent), Borivoj Dovniković (Croatia), Paul Driessen (Kassel), Piotr Dumała (Poland), André Eckardt (Dresden), Robert Engler (Switzerland, Taiwan), David Ehrlich (USA), Hedda Gehm (Germany), Marcin Giżycki (Poland, USA), Felix Gönnert (Babelsberg, Germany), Martina Großer (Germany), Rolf Hofmann (France), Jerzy Kalina (Poland), Max Knoth (Germany), Grzegorz Koncewicz (Poland), Ralf Kukula (Germany), Anri Kulev (Sofia), Raimund Krumme (Germany), Gillian Lacey (London), Jan Lenica (Poland), Caroline Leaf (Canada, USA), Claude Luyet (Switzerland), Jurate Leikaite (Lithuania), Joško Marušić (Zagreb), Bärbel Neubauer (Austria), Andrzej Orzechowski (Poland), Christine Panushka (USA), Izabela Plucińska (Poland), Bretislav Pojar (Prague), Jonas Raeber (Switzerland), Marjut Rimminen (London), Raoul Servais (Ghent), Jan Švankmajer (Czech Republic), Georges Schwizgebel (Switzerland), Nicole Salomon (France), Hubert Sielecki (Vienna), Roze Stiebra (Riga), Gabor T. Steisinger (Germany, USA), Sabine Scholze (DIAF Dresden), Otto Sacher (Germany), Lutz Stützner (Germany).

This year, the Workshops were once again supervised by Jerzy Kucia, and the guest instructors were Jacek Adamczak, Otto Alder, and Piotr Dumała.

The International Animated Film Workshop project was founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of Jerzy Kucia (Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Animated Film Studio), Bogusław Zmudziński (Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival), and Myriam Prongue (Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia).

Over the years, the Workshop has been supported by partners:
Pro Helvetia, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Municipality of Kraków, the Polish Film Institute, the Polish Filmmakers Association, the Municipality of Lanckorona.
The permanent international partner of the Workshops is currently the Deutsches Institut für Animationsfilm.

This support has enabled the Workshops to operate for such a long time. It has motivated the organizers to support the art of animated film and its creators.

Screening of the International Animation Workshops 2025 (63’)

Brief film presentation of this year`s edition:

- Anna Benner - fragment of the animatic
- Sławomir Zalewski - motion sketches
- Oktawia Derybowska - visual and motion design tests
- Zofia Ancukiewicz - fragment of the animatic
- Seung-eon Yi - animatic of the film The House of Memory
- Mayuko Kudo - work on the film My Map

Films by the participants and the instructors:

/ FREE ADMISSION /

Pitch your crew is an alternative to stressful pitching! You prepare a presentation about your good friend from the film crew and introduce them to other people at the event -
who knows, maybe someone is looking for your best friend to join them on their set.

You have 3 only minutes! Who is this event for? For everyone!

We invite you to the meeting with us.

TEAM4SET PLATFORM
Team4set is an online social platform and a collaboration tool for young audiovisual creators — students of film schools, theatre academies, and art schools — aimed at facilitating their cooperation and the realization of film projects.

https://www.team4set.pl/

Representing Sound - Workshops My Title and Polyrhythm Description

Led by: Kōji Yamamura

Two short workshops will be held over two days.

One is "Polyrhythm" and the other is "My Title". Both workshops are based on the relationship between sound and animated images.

In "Polyrhythm", you will create three characters and calibrate the screen to match three rhythmic sounds. The difference in rhythm will create an animation with a narrative quality.

"My Title" is a workshop where participants create an animated story using a short randomly selected song title and five sound effects.
Both animation techniques are free, and they ask how ideas and stories can be created under limited conditions.
Additional information
Participants are requested to bring their own devices (laptop, iPad, etc.) and apps that they use for animation and film and audio editing.

/ FREE ADMISSION /
The number of participants is limited

Registration for workshops: jadwiga.wasacz@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/animation-workshops-with-koji-yamamura/

Age category: 8 - 12
Subject: history, World War II

The first part will start at 11:00 and will consist of presentations from Polish animation studios, indicating the competences and skills they are looking for in employees and collaborators.

The presentation part of the event is open to all interested parties.

For One-to-One meetings, registration is required until October 12, 2025, using the form: https://forms.gle/d3rTBqj1UAivxdBT9

Meet the Producer Talent Market is an event organized in collaboration with the Polish Animation Producers Association. It's an opportunity for students, graduates, and aspiring animation creators to meet with representatives of Polish animation studios and learn about the market from the inside.

More about Talent Market: https://etiudaandanima.pl/poznaj-producenta-talent-market-2025/

At 12:00 PM, a two-hour one-on-one meeting will begin. Qualified participants will have the opportunity to speak directly with studio representatives, present their portfolios, and learn about opportunities for collaboration and career development in the animation industry.

For One-to-One meetings, registration is required until October 12, 2025, using the form: https://forms.gle/d3rTBqj1UAivxdBT9

This will be an opportunity for participants to learn about the animation market in Poland and the professionals who work in animation on a daily basis. This will allow them to understand the expectations of producers and the direction in which they should develop their skills, portfolios, and projects.

List of participating studios:
- Animoon
- Animation Center in Krakow
- Letko
- Marmolada Films

More about Talent Market: https://etiudaandanima.pl/poznaj-producenta-talent-market-2025/

Age category: 6+
Subject: siblings, adventure, understanding

Led By: Marcin Podolec

Do creating comics and animated cartoons go hand in hand? Of course they do. Are they sometimes mutually exclusive? And how! What if you added film production and university teaching to the mix...? That's a recipe for a beautiful disaster. Or a truly fascinating masterclass. Marcin Podolec invites you to join us.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

More About Masterclass: https://etiudaandanima.pl/masterclass-marcin-podolec/

FAMILY PORTRAIT: Exhibition of puppets from Lea Vidaković's films

Internationally acclaimed visual artist and animator Lea Vidakovic has created her work Family Portrait in two ways in terms of presentation. In the first case, it is an animated film intended primarily for viewing in standard movie theatres and projection rooms, and in the second, it is a gallery installation composed of synchronized projections and artefacts (dolls and miniature models) arranged in the space, with which the animated material was realized. Therefore, the gallery presentation of Family Portrait – which is the subject here confronts visitors with two compatible or complementary realities: a two-dimensional virtual and a three-dimensional physical one.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-puppets-from-lea-vidakovics-films-family-portrait/

Exhibition of drawings from Simone Massi's films

Simone Massi with his drawings, with his animations, transports us into a world that is his and that is also mysteriously ours, in which he can show us what we otherwise risked losing. Thus, thanks to him, we enter a place of lost memories, of distant wonders, of suspended moments, of sudden revelations, of links with dreamed images. It does not take us by the hand, it does not accompany us: rather it allows us to whisper that perhaps we have lost something, that a shred of memory could recompose a piece within our mosaic of feelings and emotions that we always carry on, that guides our lives.


/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-drawings-from-simone-massis-films-black-wall/

The film was created using the technique of hand-painted watercolor on paper. And then watercolor painting under camera. The exhibition includes some of the watercolor bakcgrounds, as well as watercolor phases of the charachters from different shots.

Age category: 10+
Subject: acceptance, friendship, love, overweight

Discussing the possibilities offered by the use of AR technology in contemporary visual communication design, based on the example of own work and students' work.

Led by: Kaja Renkas

/ FREE ADMISSION /

KAJA RENKAS
A designer, poster artist, and artist working both in traditional graphic design (screen printing) and experimenting with the latest digital technologies, such as augmented reality. She creates her works using collage, both digital and traditional.

A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, she earned a degree in printmaking. She continued her education at the Faculty of Art of the Institute of Art, University of Silesia, where she earned a postdoctoral degree. She currently works there as a professor in Game and Virtual Space Design.

Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions at numerous prestigious venues worldwide, including: Haight Street Art Center, San Francisco, USA; Gallery 215, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA; 2600 Cherokee Street, St. Louis, USA; Galería Luis Nishizawa, Mexico City, Mexico; Gallery of the Belarusian Academy of Fine Arts, Minsk, Belarus; Gallery Zed, Leuven, Belgium; Polish Poster Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Gallery Kotlawnia, Kosice, Slovakia; Dydo Poster Gallery, Kraków, Poland.

Currently, her work is on display in a temporary exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Book promotion: Anima. Masters of Polish Animation

Author: Jerzy Armata
Publishers: Ewelina i Eugeniusz Gordziejukowie (Egofilm)
Warsaw 2025

/ FREE ADMISSION /

ANIMA. MASTERS OF POLISH ANIMATION is a publication that comprehensively presents the achievements of Polish auteur animation – from historical and genre perspectives – by discussing the work of its most outstanding representatives, from the times of Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk to the youngest artists who already enjoy a well-established position on the global animation scene, with Marta Pajek being a prime example.

The book contains 50 essays discussing the artistic output of the greatest masters of Polish animation (+ an epilogue devoted to up-and-coming young artists with modest output to date). It is accompanied by 4 DVDs with 53 films created by the artists featured in the book.

”At the beginning of this century, I produced a 36-episode documentary series for Polish Television titled Anima, devoted to the output of the most outstanding Polish animation artists. This album, containing an analysis of the leading fifty artists (to be precise – there are 52 of them), complemented with a selection of their best films (to be precise – there are 53 films), is an extension of that concept”, writes the book’s author in the introduction. The essays devoted to the masters of Polish animation are preceded by an Intro (A Bit of History) and concluded with an Outro (Towards Mastery). The book also includes a documentary section (Biofilmographies / Bibliography / Discography / Filmography).

More about book promotion: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/promotion-of-jerzy-armatas-book/

Student etudes, short films

Marcel Łoziński
1940 - 2025

One of the most renowned Polish documentalists. An Oscar nominee for 89 mm from Europe in 1994. Winner of, among others, the European Film Award for Poste Restante, four awards at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen and as many as twelve at the Krakow Film Festival. Author of such films as Maturity Exam (1979) – Bronze Lajkonik at the Krakow Film Festival; The Katyn Forest (1990) – Silver Sesterce at Visions du Réel in Nyon; Anything Can Happen (1995) – Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival; How to Do It (2006) – Grand Prix White Cobra at the Man in Danger Media Festival; and Father and Son on a Journey (2008) – Silver Horn at the Krakow Film Festival. In 2018, he was awarded the Platinum Castle at the OFF CINEMA Festival in Poznan. He was also awarded the Special Golden Dinosaur for Outstanding Artist and Pedagogue at the Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival in 2009.

Marcel Lozinski was born on 17th May 1940 in Paris in a family of Polish immigrants. His mother`s sister`s husband was the film director Jean Vigo. In 1971 he graduated from the Directing Department of Lodz Film School and obtained his diploma five years later. Having returned to the Documentary Film Studio, he joined the so-called New Change in documentary filmmaking, co-founded by, among others, Paweł Kędzierski, Bohdan Kosiński, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Tomasz Zygadło. The trend, which they represented, was characterized by distance towards the Polish People`s Republic. Not only what, but also how was important to Marcel Lozinski and many artists of his generation. The characteristic feature of films made by those artists is creation, staging or even artistic provocation.

During martial law he stopped making documentary films, but he made films on commission, for example a film about alcoholism for the Warsaw Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, and together with his friends from the Documentary Film Studio he recorded important events from the life of the underground Solidarity movement. He returned to making his own documentaries in mid-1980s. In 1990s he made most of his films in the Kalejdoskop Film Studio.

Lozinski`s films received several dozen of awards, honorary mentions and nominations. He himself received several individual and state awards. Among others, he was awarded the Dragon of Dragons for his lifetime achievements at the 56th Krakow Film Festival. Since 1974 he was a member of Polish Filmmakers Association. Since 2002, he ran the DOK PRO Documentary Course at the Wajda School. He taught at the FEMIS Film School in Paris and at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. He has also conducted documentary workshops, among others, in Moscow, Kyiv, Helsinki, and Beijing. He was the initiator of the Dragon Forum — international documentary film workshops. He was a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the European Film Academy. He was awarded the Andrzej Wajda / Philip Morris Freedom Prize, the Polityka Passport Award, and the Grand Prize for Polish Culture.

Age category: family

Age category: 16+

A retrospective of Finnish animation, comprising three sets of films, was prepared for us by Joni Männistö.

"Why the name of the screening? A Finn doesn’t waste words. Even this text was originally shorter but there was a kind request to add more words. Coincidentally or not this selection of films seems to be mostly without dialogue”.

Finnish animation is over 110 years old so the local pioneers started early to use the advantages of the unique medium. Some of the films are lost forever, some of them exist only in film stocks and are gathering dust in the archives. Finnish animators got their inspiration from such names as Jiří Trnka and Norman McLaren and started to do their own experimentations with film and abstraction as well as the narrative form. This program is presenting a wide selection of Finnish animation starting from the 60’s and covering every decade until the latest years. It showcases a wide range of techniques and works from pioneers, professionals and students.

Finally a warning, the screening contains plenty of Finnish melancholic dark humour. Finns don’t laugh either but maybe others will! :)

Shorts by David Lynch: Dynamic 01

The experience of digital revolution in David Lynch`s career! The “Dynamic: 01” set constitutes a collection of seven shorts from 2001-2004, originally published on the internet website DavidLynch.com. The director plays here with various narration styles and film genres – from “Boat” and “Lamp”, both bringing to mind Jonas Mekas`s poetic proto-videoblogs to “Experiments with time”, formally close to James Benning, to absurdist comedy created on the basis of his own dream – “Out Yonder: Neighbor Boy”.

The collection also includes productions alluding to other Lynch`s projects or announcing them: “Industrial Soundscape” brings to mind “Eraserhead”, “Bug Crawls” would perfectly fit into the artist`s very early shorts, and “The Darkened Room” heralds the themes and esthetics of “Inland Empire”.

CAUTION! The quality of film screenings depends on the quality of original materials. At times one can get the impression that they were made with the proverbial calculator, but that is also the charm of these productions – a nostalgic charm of 1990s, straight from an old VHS rental.

Polish Filmmakers Association gala – presenting the awards for the best animated films of 2024
Screening of awarded films

This is the fourth time the Board of the Animated Film Section has the pleasure to present industry awards for authors and coauthors of animated films. The aim of presenting industry AWARDS is, first of all, to honour and to award in professional categories which result from, among others, the stages and process of animated film production. The originator and initiator of the Awards is the Board of the Animated Film Section of the Polish Filmmakers Association. This year’s Winners of the Award’24 were selected by the members of the Competition Jury consisting of the Chair of the Jury – Alicja Witkowska – director, animator, scriptwriter and lecturer; Daria Kopiec – theatre and film director
and animator; Zbigniew Czapla – director, animator; Ewa Sobolewska – producer; Piotr Matysiak – director, animator.

The awards will be given in the following categories:
- The award for the best auteur film
-The award for the best film/series for children
– The award for the best debut
- The award for the best animation in a film
- The award for the best graphic design
– The award for the best screenplay
– The award for the best
– The award for the best sound/music
- The Władysław Nehrebecki Award for the best student film

Animation workshops for kids , age 9-13: "Good Letters", part 1

Led by: Radostina Neykova

Two-day workshops (Saturday – Sunday) will allow young artists to create short animations.

Animation with letters, words and poetry. Animation workshop using letters, words and original, old handwriting sent letters. An Animation Workshop will introduce kids the power and magic of animated visualization of simple personal letters, whole words, parts and excerpts from letters.
The workshop will encourage the participants to think figuratively, try to move individual letters, words and build a poetic movement of shapes construct from the individual letters. For the creation of the image the participants will use the original old letters, written by hand. Workshop participants will be able to create typefaces and tell stories by using the vision of real letters.

Artistic target is to discover poetry in both words and animated movement. During the work, the participants will make up stories about the simple letters and words, that they use them every day, and the all visual part of the real letters, sent years ago. And to find the poetry, the music, the rhythm of all that elements.

/ FREE ADMISSION /
The number of participants is limited

Registration for workshops: jadwiga.wasacz@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/animation-workshops-for-children-aged-9-13/

Sync or Swim: Navigating the Currents of Visual Storytelling

Led by: Nik Phelps
Duration: 4h

Music breathes life into film. It shapes emotion, guides narrative, and deepens the cinematic experience in ways both subtle and profound. Yet, while technology has transformed the tools of engineering and composition, the essence of scoring—the symbiotic dance between sound and image—remains unchanged.

In this masterclass, composer Nik Phelps unveils timeless principles of integrating music with film, tracing a journey through the evolution of scoring techniques and exploring how modern innovations have refined and streamlined the creative process. Nik will first explore how our brains process audio and visual information, revealing how sound and image intertwine to shape perception and emotion. Along the way, he will give insights into the nature of sound and how sound can be manipulated to make music and sound design. From the earliest days of cinema—when music and dialogue were played alongside moving pictures—to the groundbreaking moment when sound was physically embedded into film, he will then trace this evolution step by step, illustrating and demonstrating how these innovations have transformed storytelling and streamlined the composer’s craft.

As part of this immersive exploration, Nik will curate a screening of his favorite animated films—each a masterwork showcasing the seamless fusion of sound and visual storytelling.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

The event will be held in English.

Age category: 7+
Subject: art, friendship, family, illness

Promotion of the book "The Social Worlds of the Small Film Forms Studio "Se-Ma-For" in Łódź"
Ciszewska Ewa, Hofelmajer-Roś Agata, Pabiś-Orzeszyna Michał, Szul Szymon, University of Lodz Publishing House, Lodz 2025

A monograph devoted to one of the most important Polish film institutions – “Se-Ma-For” Studio of Small Film Forms in Lodz. This book is an insightful analysis of social worlds of animation production between 1946 and 1999. The authors delve into the Se-Ma-For arcana and shed new light on traditional research into the history of Polish cinematography.

/ WSTĘP WOLNY /

More about book promotion:: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/book-promotion-social-worlds-of-se-ma-for-studio-of-small-film-forms-in-lodz/

FAMILY PORTRAIT: Exhibition of puppets from Lea Vidaković's films

Internationally acclaimed visual artist and animator Lea Vidakovic has created her work Family Portrait in two ways in terms of presentation. In the first case, it is an animated film intended primarily for viewing in standard movie theatres and projection rooms, and in the second, it is a gallery installation composed of synchronized projections and artefacts (dolls and miniature models) arranged in the space, with which the animated material was realized. Therefore, the gallery presentation of Family Portrait – which is the subject here confronts visitors with two compatible or complementary realities: a two-dimensional virtual and a three-dimensional physical one.

/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-puppets-from-lea-vidakovics-films-family-portrait/

Exhibition of drawings from Simone Massi's films

Simone Massi with his drawings, with his animations, transports us into a world that is his and that is also mysteriously ours, in which he can show us what we otherwise risked losing. Thus, thanks to him, we enter a place of lost memories, of distant wonders, of suspended moments, of sudden revelations, of links with dreamed images. It does not take us by the hand, it does not accompany us: rather it allows us to whisper that perhaps we have lost something, that a shred of memory could recompose a piece within our mosaic of feelings and emotions that we always carry on, that guides our lives.


/ FREE ADMISSION /

More about exhibition: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/exhibition-of-drawings-from-simone-massis-films-black-wall/

The film was created using the technique of hand-painted watercolor on paper. And then watercolor painting under camera. The exhibition includes some of the watercolor bakcgrounds, as well as watercolor phases of the charachters from different shots.

We have a festival surprise for you! On Saturday, October 18th, you'll have a unique opportunity to go home with a drawing from one of the masters of animation who are visiting our festival! Everyone is welcome – adults, young people, and parents with children.

Guests will be: Peter Lord, Marcin Podolec and Koji Yamamura

/ FREE ADMISSION /

During the event, three outstanding artists will create spontaneous drawings live – small works of art that you can take home as a festival souvenir.

No preparation is necessary. Just come and let the creativity of our guests enchant you. The artists will create quick drawings based on their own ideas, each in their own distinctive style.

No need to bring any materials. Everything will be provided. However, if you prefer, you can bring your favorite notebook, sketchbook, or marker.

Led by: Marek Bukowski, PhD

/ FREE ADMISSION /

Workshops Program:
1. Audiovisual work and its authors and co-authors.
2. Ownership and acquisition of rights to audiovisual work, and the rights of the film producer.
3. Moral and economic copyrights.
4. License agreements and assignments of economic copyrights.
5.Copyright clauses in contracts with the film producer. 
6.Copyright status of student etudes and diploma films.
7. Distribution of films during screenings, festivals, and on social media platforms.
8. Remuneration rights for filmmakers collected via collective management organizations.

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/workshops-copyright-in-audiovisual-works/

Age category: 6+

A set of short animations exploring important areas of our role in consciousness, often using animal metaphors. The screening was preceded by a lecture and I met with a film educator.

Age category: 6 - 10
Subject: friendship, neighborhood, help, cooperation, social and family relations

Special Golden Dinosaur - award for an outstanding artist and pedagogue Koji Yamamura
Student Film Screening

More about Koji Yamamura: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/koji-yamamura/

Promotion of the book Nancy Denney-Phelps: On the Animation Trail: 20 Years of Animation Festival History

/ FREE ENTRY /

The book promotion will be conducted in English.

"So you want to write a book"

This book charts the history of the last 20 years of animation festivals. From Annecy, the oldest animation festival in the world, to Beirut, or the founding of the festival in Peja, Kosovo, Nancy-Denney Phelps has recorded not just the films screened but also the people and what makes each festival unique.

What is it like to travel to China, Beirut, or Kosovo for an animation festival? Spend a week on a boat with 200 animators from around the world or be thrown off a train in Belarus. All of this and much, much more has happened to Nancy Denney-Phelps in her many years as an animation journalist.

Documenting over 20 years of travels, this book will appeal to all those with an interest in animation. If you are a young animator and want to know what festival life is like, this is the book for you. If you are a seasoned veteran and want to bring back some memories of festival past this book should bring some smiles to your face.

Bulgarian student animations

National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts “Kr. Sarafov” (NATFA) is the first higher theatre school in Bulgaria. Since its establishment in 1948, the Academy is one of the most prestigious European and Bulgarian educational institutions in the field of stage and screen arts. NATFA is the only educational institution in Bulgaria in this specialized field, financed primarily by the Ministry of Education and Science.

The Animation programme at NATFA was founed in 1980 by Todor Dinov, the doyen of Bulgarian animation cinema. The prominent Bulgarian animation director Donyo Donev was a long-standing tutor and lecturer in the Programme. The films of NATFA are highly recognized at national and international festivals and have won audience appreciation and critical acclaim. Some of the prominent titles, which have enjoyed cult status among several generations of viewers are Cucoo by Velislav Kazakov, Canfilm by Zlatin Radev, which received the Oscar Academy Award Nomination for the Best Student Film and Sunday Evening by Kalina Vutova which won the Annecy Crystal Award for Best Graduation Film.
Today NATFA is a modern educational institution with well-established programmes that correspond to the educational standards. We work in partnership with prestigious scientific, cultural, non-profit, production and business organizations on diverse national and international programmes. We also cooperate actively with international universities and art academies.

The aim of this educational programme is to develop capacities and skills of students to be able to undertake positions such as classical and 3D animators, layout artists, colorists, painters, and other technical positions for all animation genres. After an interdisciplinary education during the first academic year, priorities focus on the classical drawn animation, 2D and 3D animation, classical puppet and stop-motion animation, digital image processing and computer graphics.

Special Golden Dinosaur - award for an outstanding artist and pedagogue Koji Yamamura
Author's show

More about Koji Yamamura: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/koji-yamamura/

A retrospective of Finnish animation, comprising three sets of films, was prepared for us by Joni Männistö.

"Why the name of the screening? A Finn doesn’t waste words. Even this text was originally shorter but there was a kind request to add more words. Coincidentally or not this selection of films seems to be mostly without dialogue”.

Finnish animation is over 110 years old so the local pioneers started early to use the advantages of the unique medium. Some of the films are lost forever, some of them exist only in film stocks and are gathering dust in the archives. Finnish animators got their inspiration from such names as Jiří Trnka and Norman McLaren and started to do their own experimentations with film and abstraction as well as the narrative form. This program is presenting a wide selection of Finnish animation starting from the 60’s and covering every decade until the latest years. It showcases a wide range of techniques and works from pioneers, professionals and students.

Finally a warning, the screening contains plenty of Finnish melancholic dark humour. Finns don’t laugh either but maybe others will! :)

Awarding of prizes of ETIUDA, ANIMA and ANIMA 60'+ competitions
Screening of selected award-winning films and animations

A detailed list of films in this event will be available during the announcement of winners and awardees during the closing gala of the 32nd Etiuda&Anima IFF.

Animation workshops for kids , age 9-13: "Good Letters", part 2

Led by: Radostina Neykova

Two-day workshops (Saturday – Sunday) will allow young artists to create short animations.

Animation with letters, words and poetry. Animation workshop using letters, words and original, old handwriting sent letters. An Animation Workshop will introduce kids the power and magic of animated visualization of simple personal letters, whole words, parts and excerpts from letters.
The workshop will encourage the participants to think figuratively, try to move individual letters, words and build a poetic movement of shapes construct from the individual letters. For the creation of the image the participants will use the original old letters, written by hand. Workshop participants will be able to create typefaces and tell stories by using the vision of real letters.

Artistic target is to discover poetry in both words and animated movement. During the work, the participants will make up stories about the simple letters and words, that they use them every day, and the all visual part of the real letters, sent years ago. And to find the poetry, the music, the rhythm of all that elements.

/ FREE ADMISSION /
The number of participants is limited

Registration for workshops: jadwiga.wasacz@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/animation-workshops-for-children-aged-9-13/

The workshops will take place in collaboration with Krakow Multilab Technology Park

Led by: Michał Korzeniowski
Duration: 7h

/ FREE ADMISSION /
The number of participants is limited

ZRegistration for workshops: olga.jozefiak@etiudaandanima.pl

More about workshops: https://etiudaandanima.pl/en/workshops-sound-in-film/

Age category: 6+
Subject: siblings, adventure, understanding

Screening of selected films awarded in the ETIUDA competition
Age category: 16+