8th ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival Concludes
The 8th ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival, held from September 3–7, 2025, in Baku at the Nizami Cinema Center, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs Complex, and other venues, has successfully concluded its program.
The 8th ANIMAFILM Festival was organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Cinema Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ARKA), the Azerbaijan Animation Association, and “PERI FILM” LLC. The festival’s main media partner was Ictimayi TV. Festival partners included the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Azerbaijan, KYNO, Nizami Cinema Center, Baobab, YUVA, Pet Care, Dynamic Box Studio, Skwigly Animation Magazine, the Union of Filmmakers of Azerbaijan, Handicraft, and CorpoPlus. Ticket sales partner: Iticket.az.
The International Festival, with its main theme “Cats”, brought together over 1000 viewers who watched more than 60 films from 25 countries. Dedicated to the union of creativity and compassion, a portion of ticket sales revenue will be donated to local initiatives supporting the welfare of cats. The festival featured four programs: Competition, Non-Competition, Accompanying and Professional Programs. The full program was presented in the official festival catalog.
This year, 317 films from 62 countries were submitted for the competition section across four international and one local category. A selection committee of seven members reviewed all submissions and selected 39 films from 20 countries for the competition. Among them, 10 films were in the local category, while 29 competed internationally. Films were judged both by a five-member international jury and by audience votes, with the winners announced at the festival’s closing ceremony.
The festival opened on September 3 at the Palace of the Shirvanshahs Complex. The highlight of the opening ceremony was the screening of Tales from the Magic Garden, an animated film co-produced by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and France, which premiered earlier this year at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. The ceremony also featured the official festival trailer Where Are These Cats Going? produced by ANIMAFILM Studio and ANIMAFILM School students, and the trailer for the short animated film Boom-Boom, produced by the Azerbaijan Animation Association with support from the Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations of the republic of Azerbaijan. The film is based on the children’s poem of the same name by the national poet Vagif Samadoghlu.
Over the following days, more than 30 events took place.
The competition program at the Nizami Cinema Center featured screenings in the following categories:
- Best Azerbaijani Short Animated Film
- Best Short Animated Film – GRAND PRIX
- Best Student Short Animated Film
- Best Short Animated Film for Children
- Best Short Animated Film About Cats
The non-competition program included:
- “2025 OSCAR Specials” animation collection
- The feature-length animated film Akira (1988)
- “Skwigly x ANIMAFILM: All About Cats” animation collection
- The short animated film Nargiz (2024)
- Films by Nine Senses Animation Studio (Harry Potter and Ninesensesburg, Zombies)
- Children’s animated films (Black and White, Tears of Ice)
The professional program included the 1st ANIMAFILM Pitching Competition, aimed at supporting Azerbaijani animation projects in development, pre-production, or production stages. It also featured master classes and creative talks, including:
- “Stop-Motion Master Class with Ayan Novruz”
- “Flip-Book Master Class with Mehriban Aliyeva”
- “Become a Character in an Animated Film with Ken Sheikh”
- “90 Years of African Animation” lecture by Mohamed Ghazala
- “Making of: Bum-Bum” presentation
- “Storytelling for Animation” master class with Matthew Lyon
For the first time, the Accompanying Program featured a “Game Showcase” presenting Azerbaijani computer games, curated by Dynamic Box Studio. Guests discovered two local games: Madness Afloat (Dynamic Box) and Greedshot (Massive Paradox). The Accompanying Program also included filmmaker breakfasts in various cafes, the interactive Skwigly Quiz and festival parties.
The closing ceremony took place on September 7 at the Nizami Cinema Center. The festival’s director, filmmaker, producer, and Chairman of the Azerbaijan Animation Association Rashid Aghamaliyev shared detailed information about the event. Rashad Azizov, the Cinema Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ARKA), emphasized the importance of increasing the number of animated films and fostering international collaborations.
The jury members Aaron Wood (UK), Mohamed Ghazala (Egypt), Anastasiya Verlinska (Ukraine), Ulviya Akhundova, Farid Rasulov (Azerbaijan), the pitching competition jury Shahin Aliyev and Nazrin Aghamaliyeva and festival team member Aydan Kazimova announced the winners. The ceremony was attended by animation professionals, film industry representatives, Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan Milan Sedlacek, Deputy Head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy Guy Bonvi, musician Seher Mustafazade, Huzoor meditation app founder Khayala Hasanova, and festival team member Khayala Zulfuqarova.
Winners of the 8th ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival:
- Best Short Animated Film – GRAND PRIX: TV or The Disturbance on Forest Hill Road (TV oder Die Ruhestörung an der Waldbergstrasse), Director: Frederic Siegel, Switzerland.
- Best Short Animated Film for Children: Forevergreen, Directors: Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears, USA.
- Best Short Animated Film About Cats: A Walk into the Afterlife, Director: Jiyun Jeong, Luxembourg.
- Best Student Short Animated Film: Fountain, Director: Hazhir As’adi, Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Best Azerbaijani Short Animated Film. A trip to Annecy Festival Award by the Ministry of Culture and ARKA: Soyuz: Graviton, Director: Emil Shiran, Azerbaijan.
- Special Jury Prize: 9 Million Colors (9 milionů barev), Director: Bára Anna, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway.
- Special Jury Prize: Oh! Mother, Mother…, Director: Khatuna Tatuashvili, Georgia.
- Audience Award: Oh! Mother, Mother…, Director: Khatuna Tatuashvili, Georgia.
- Winner of the 1st ANIMAFILM Pitching Competition. A trip to Annecy Festival Award by the Ministry of Culture and ARKA, Dynamic Box Studio Award of 500 AZN: Komble (TV series), Directors: Mehriban Aliyeva, Petre Tomadze.
- Winner of the 1st ANIMAFILM Pitching Competition. ANIMAFILM Studio Award of 500 AZN: The Sled (short film), Director: Polina Knyazeva, Producer: Firangiz Baghirova.
Photo: AZERTAC – Azerbaijan State News Agency
