Our animated film festival summer starts this year on June 5th, on the opening day of Animafest Zagreb and continues until June 17th, on the last day of the festival in Annecy. Between those two dates our days will be filled with meetings, greetings, friends, and new animated films. In Bonobostudio, we can be again very happy with the selection results from both festivals.

Animafest Zagreb (June 5 – 10) will present in the Grand Short Competition Program Eva Cvijanović’s film Hedgehog’s Home – fresh from Berlinale with a Special Mention – and Špela Čadež’s Nighthawk, who flew back last week from Berkeley (GLAS Animation Festival) with a Best Narrative Short Award. Both films were co-produced by Bonobostudio, and both will be additionally featured in the Croatian Competition Program at Animafest Zagreb. We are also very happy to announce a new film by Dalibor Barić, Astronaut of Featherweight – a Bonobostudio production – premiering in the Animafest Zagreb Croatian Competition Program. Hedgehog will also be presented at the special ‘making of’ exhibition, but more about that later!

After Zagreb, the animation universe will be transported to Annecy, to a festival which always manages to surprise with an immense number of programs, content for professionals, and audience. Four Croatian (co-production) films will be competing for Annecy’s crystals, and half of those are coming from Bonobostudio. Yes, we are very proud! Hedgehog’s Home is competing in the new Young Audience Competition Program, and Nighthawk in the prestigious Short Film Competition.

A small reminder for the end: Špela Čadež’s Nighthawk is a Finta Film, RTV Slovenia and Bonobostudio co-production; it has won seven awards since September 2016 (including DOK Leipzig Special Mention), and it has been screened at more than thirty film festivals so far. Hedgehog’s Home is a NFB & Bonobostudio co-production; the film premiered in February 2017 at Berlinale, where it was awarded with a Special Mention in the Generation Kplus Competition.