MOVIE NEWS – Hungarian animation creators achieved significant successes once again this year at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the world’s most prestigious animation event. Béla Klingl’s short film Creation won the Vimeo Staff Pick Award, while Balázs Turai’s animated project in development, Killin’ It, received the Ciclic Prize in the MIFA Pitch short film category, which comes with €35,000 in support and a six-month creative residency programme in Vendôme. Hungary was represented at the world’s most important animation showcase and film market by five films in competition, seven pitch projects and a national stand run by the Hungarian Animation Producers Association with the support of the National Film Institute.
Béla Klingl’s animated film Creation was selected for the festival’s short film competition programme. The poetic, visually rich work explores the process of creation and the independent life of the work that is born from it. In the film, a canvas comes alive, with abstract forms and subtly human stories unfolding across it.
Alongside the official jury, several professional partners also present their own awards at the Annecy festival. The Vimeo Staff Pick Award is granted by Vimeo’s editorial team to works that deliver outstanding artistic, creative or technical achievement. The award also means that after its online premiere, the film will automatically receive the Vimeo Staff Pick distinction, one of the platform’s most important professional recommendations, which provides the work with significant international visibility.
“After last year’s guest-of-honour appearance, it is particularly gratifying to see that Hungarian animation was once again so strongly represented in Annecy this year. The competition films, the projects in development and the international collaborations show that the stories told by Hungarian creators are reaching ever wider audiences around the world. For the Hungarian Animation Producers Association, it is especially important that producers and creators can attend these prestigious international events and represent their work in person, which is why we support their professional presence at the festival and film market,” said Dr. Ildikó Takács, producer, board member of the Hungarian Animation Producers Association and programme director of last year’s Annecy guest-of-honour programme.
Balázs Turai’s project wins the Ciclic Prize at the MIFA Pitch forum
One of the most important events in the professional programme of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival is MIFA Pitch, where the world’s most promising animated projects in development are presented to investors, producers and industry partners.
Only 13 projects received invitations to this year’s short film pitch forum, including Balázs Turai’s animated film project Killin’ It. The project addresses numerous issues in the contemporary world, from identity politics and social change to artificial intelligence. The international jury awarded the work the Ciclic Prize in the short film category, which comes with €35,000 in support and a six-month creative residency programme in Vendôme, France.
“Hungarian animation today is not only successful from an artistic perspective, but also represents an internationally competitive creative and industry ecosystem. Domestic studios are taking part in an increasing number of international productions, while films by Hungarian creators regularly appear at the world’s most important festivals. The conscious development of international professional relationships and co-production partnerships is strategically important for the competitiveness of Hungarian animation and for sustainable growth across the sector,” stressed Réka Temple, producer and president of the Hungarian Animation Producers Association.
The Danse Macabre controversy
One of this year’s most debated works was Danse Macabre, which screened in the competition programme and counts the Hungarian Cinemon Entertainment among its co-producers. Debate emerged shortly after its selection because the filmmakers had used artificial intelligence-based tools at certain stages of production. Director Hisko Hulsing, however, communicated transparently from the outset that the film’s visual world is based on his own hand-painted works, while artificial intelligence was used as an experimental technical tool in the production process. The screening at the film’s Annecy premiere was also accompanied by protest, although the festival’s artistic director, Marcel Jean, publicly supported the creators, stressing the complexity of the creative process and the importance of artistic intent. The debate highlights that one of the animation industry’s most important current questions concerns the role of artificial intelligence, the way it is used and the future of creative authorship.
The Marcell Jankovics Award
The legacy of one of Hungarian animation’s greatest figures also received special recognition in Annecy. Twelve original drawings from Marcell Jankovics’ Oscar-nominated film Sisyphus, donated to the museum by his widow Éva Rubovszky, will enter the collection of the newly opened Annecy Animation Museum. In connection with the occasion, the festival’s artistic director Marcel Jean announced that from 2027, the festival will establish the Marcell Jankovics Award, which will be presented to the best film in the Perspectives section. The new recognition will preserve the intellectual legacy of the world-renowned Hungarian animation creator in a worthy manner within the international animation community.
