Artichoke premiered two short films in official selection in Annecy this year, Hurikan by Jan Saska and I Died in Irpin by Anastasiia Falileieva. Both films recieved a warm response from the audience, with Hurikan winning the Audience Award.
To read a full report on Slovak strong presence in Annecy 2024, you can download the Press Release of the Slovak Association of Animated Film Producers.
Here’s a summary of the Press Release:
A record number of Slovak and co-produced films were presented at the 48th International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, with three out of six Slovak films receiving awards from international juries. This marks the greatest success for Slovak animation at Annecy to date.
- Feature Film Awards:
- The Czech-Slovak-French film “Keď život chutí” (Living Large), directed by Kristina Dufkova, won the Jury Prize in the Contrechamps feature film competition. The film addresses important themes of self-love and overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges.
- Short Film Awards:
- “Ahoj leto” (Hello Summer), a short animated film directed by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová, won the Young Audience Award for the best children’s film. The film, a Slovak-Czech-French co-production, is distributed by the new Slovak company Bear With Me Distribution.
- Audience Award:
- The short film “Hurikán” by Czech director Jan Saska, co-produced by the Slovak company Artichoke, won the Audience Award. The company also presented the short documentary “I Died in Irpin” by Ukrainian director Anastasiia Falileieva in the Perspectives competition.
- Other Notable Films:
- The short film “Free the Chickens” by Matúš Vizár, produced by Slovak company nutprodukcia, and the feature film “Diplodokus” directed by Wojtek Wawszczyk, co-produced by Slovak company Dayhey, were also part of the festival program.
Additionally, the festival featured MIFA, the largest global market for animated film professionals, where Slovak producers showcased their work under the CEE Animation delegation. The Slovak company Blue Faces demonstrated technological innovations in animation using Motion Capture and presented their new production management software, Soko.
There is a growing international recognition and success of Slovak animated films and country’s robust and innovative contributions to the animation industry.
