We will not beat around the bush: Animateka is one of our favourite animated film festivals. The atmosphere is great, we love breakfasts with authors and guests, parties are fun, people are motivated, festival locations are close, films are fantastic... That’s why we are even happier to return from Ljubljana with four awards!

And the awards are really something because they were handed out by each jury member individually. What a jury! Chris Landreth’s Special Mention went to Planemo (Veljko Popović): “For showing us that your solitude can be your salvation, where solitary wanderers can become the sentinels of our galaxy. For a film of real emotional punch about real people.”

Paul Bush’s Special Mention went to Dota (Petra Zlonoga). In Paul’s words: “In the complex world it is a difficult and courageous to look for simplicity. Serenity, beauty and elegant form is what makes the film stand out from the competition.”

Joni Männistö awarded: “An ironic and charming portrait of a disreputable character. A film that mocks, condemns and celebrates our fatal attraction to alcohol.” You recognize it: Nighthawk by Špela Čadež which also won HOPIN Slovenija Audience Award. Here you can find the list of all awarded films.

Before we say goodbye until next Animateka, here’s a little overview of what we did in Ljubljana this December. In the international competition, we presented five films from our production and distribution: Dota, Nighthawk, Peter’s Forest, Planemo and Travelling Country. In special programmes (3D Computer Animated Film Retrospective), we screened old hits: Flower of Battle, Plasticat and She Who Measures. And we had a presentation of work in progress: a new film by Darko Vidačković Just Swimming.