CEEA Talks: Pavel Horáček & Zuzana Kučerová about Anifilm – Edition 2025 “Proudly embracing the new generation”
We live in fascinating times, especially for those passionate about the Central European animation film landscape. Growing production offers room for new formats and styles. And since the new Audiovisual Act, a wave of optimism has been rolling over the Czech Republic. But apart from policy and production, is this trend making itself felt in the festivals too? For example, in Anifilm, the biggest Czech animation film festival that will soon take place from 6 to 15 May? But first we have another pressing question.
What do you know about hypoallergenic, permeable, perforated plastic adhesive tape for veterinarians?
Pavel Horáček: Uhm… Can you repeat that question, please?
I came across this tool for veterinarians when googling ‘anifilm’ – “Discover our veterinary adhesive tapes, for all your surgical needs”. But let’s talk about the festival that roamed around for some time before finding its home in Liberec.
Horáček: Our previous location Trebon had become too small for an event of our size. After some wanderings, we found the perfect spot in Liberec. We are supported in a great manner by the city and the region, and local facilities are excellent, including hotels and restaurants. I hope we can pitch our tents here for a long time; I am tired of roaming around.
The festival celebrates the revival of animation in the Visegrad countries, after the dark ages at the end of the 20th century. How would the festival catalogue have looked in those days?
Horáček: In that perspective, the catalogue from our first edition in 2002 looks significant. It was mainly about archive films, with retrospectives of Jiří Trnka and Karel Zeman, plus a selection of maximum 15 shorts that had been made over the last 15 years in the Czech Republic. That was it! The festival was called AniFest, but there wasn’t much to celebrate – in terms of production, the situation was truly desolate.
Because the industry was – and is up to this day – standing on the shoulders of giants.
Horáček: The festival started as a tribute, and in a way it still is. This endlessly looking back is like a disease that keeps running through our blood. Personally, I have a background in film studies, I’m an archivist and still a lot of films from that era are forgotten by history and waiting to be discovered. It’s our challenge to find those hidden gems and put them in the spotlight. This is an old-fashioned approach we want to maintain.
But such giants can play a discouraging role. For many years, their shadow hung heavily over new generations.
Horáček: That shadow for sure has been there. Until a tacit agreement was made to stop talking about the old generation; we only wanted to think ahead. Where we stand today, we fondly think back to the old masters, while proudly embracing the new generation.
Zuzana Kučerová: Young talents like Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Daria Kashcheeva, Martin Smatana, Jan Saska and many others are successful at the international festivals. They make us realise how much the young generation has to offer.
Did Anifilm play its role in that revival?
Horáček: I believe we did. But credit also goes to a generation of young producers, brave enough to invest in animation. The Czech Audiovisual Fund’s support for young talents has made a significant difference. Only through the financing from the Fund can we survive as a festival. I do not expect the new Audiovisual Act to have an immediate strong impact on our operation as a festival, but we do hope to maintain our favourable position within the Fund.
Kučerová: We offered this generation a chance to network in person with directors, authors, producers and decision makers from around the world through our masterclasses, which are an important part of our industry programme. At the CEE Animation Market, an environment is created that stimulates international cooperation and co-production. Another partner is the PPF Foundation, committing a grant endowed with €40,000 to the Czech Horizon pitches, which is a unique opportunity to get your project financed.
How would you then describe the role of CEEA?
Horáček: Together, we create the best possible atmosphere and facilities for profound networking. The CEEA network does a great job in connecting us with the international industry. Moreover, it’s always a pleasure to collaborate with such nice people.
The myth in the festival world goes like this: in the middle of the great Film Festival Forest is a clearing where fairies and magical creatures gather to celebrate… and that’s the animation film festivals.
Horáček: Animation film festivals generally are a place for nice people to gather, indeed. In a festival like Anifilm, you can easily chat with filmmakers in person. Every night guests – from jury members to students – gather in the castle or the tent; those are the main meeting points.
Kučerová: Last year, we organised our first so called ‘Fuck Up Night’ where filmmakers came to talk not only about the highlights in their projects, but also about their struggles and mistakes. That openness among professionals is so refreshing.
I guess students might add to this lively atmosphere?
Kučerová: We have competitions for students both in the film and – from this year on – the game section. Especially in the industry programme, some events are tailor-made to get them involved. In the Creatoola Animarket – a showcase for VR, postproduction studios and game production – they meet industry representatives in one-on-one meetings; I often see them discussing internship opportunities. In our pitches, students observe young professionals, sometimes preparing their first original project after graduating from university. Not only Czech education programmes send their students here to collect study credits. We are part of a network of animation festivals, together with Animafest Zagreb (Croatia), Fest Anča (Slovakia), Animateka (Slovenia) and Animest (Romania), who are all sending students, as a way to acknowledge the importance of young talents enriching our sector with fresh inspiration.
Broadening your audience reach, you invite families to open-air screenings. What about my bitter struggle to convince outsiders that animation is not just for kids?
Horáček: It’s a difficult matter. In Liberec again, we are confronted with the public’s erroneous perceptions. We regularly get complaints from parents who bring their kids to a screening, and then are surprised to learn that the programme is not intended for children. It takes some time for a local audience to grow that understanding. But every evening we offer open-air screenings of animated features that deserve a wider audience. Families gather in the square with chairs and blankets; the people of Liberec grew fond of it.
Kučerová: I have little time to attend public screenings during the festival, but when observing the people in the square, I feel genuinely happy and proud.
There’s more to be proud about. Like… a list of recent Czech animated features! Including TONY, SHELLY AND THE MAGIC LIGHT, LIVING LARGE, EVEN MICE BELONG IN HEAVEN, and partly TALES FROM THE MAGIC GARDEN…
Horáček: I admire these films! They still draw to the old puppet technique that is iconic for Czech animation. It’s no longer commonly used nowadays, but they carry on the tradition and make it look great! The multiple awards for these films (for example in Annecy) are proof of international recognition. Unfortunately, admissions in Czech cinemas could be better.
Kučerová: Getting audiences to the cinemas for films that aren’t blockbusters is a challenge worldwide. But Czech animated films aren’t doing too badly. EVEN MICE BELONG IN HEAVEN scored nicely, TONY, SHELLY AND THE MAGIC LIGHT did a bit less, but still found its audience. In the screening that I attended, children reacted to it so beautifully. The same goes for LIVING LARGE – these are films that tend to have a longer lifespan in cinemas and can also perform well on VOD platforms and television.
Anifilm itself is not a total stranger to distribution. Something called Anifilm Distribution is part of the big Anifilm Universe.
Horáček: A particularly small part though. There is a small number of titles for which we try to find screens. Convincing cinema owners to offer us a screen is a complicated mission, for which we have no additional budget available; we use from the festival budget to boost mainly Czech content, such as A COLOURFUL DREAM by Jan Balej. And then there’s ‘Echoes of Anifilm’, a project disseminating a selection of titles in libraries, art galleries, etc. We cover around 30 locations every year in the Czech Republic.
Just as in the new Audiovisual Act games result under the classification of ‘animation’, the official denomination says that the festival is for animation and games. But in your communication, movies put the game element in the shadows.
Horáček: Something remarkable was happening in the Czech gaming industry since Jakub Dvorsky, initially an animation student, founded Amanita Design, a company that developed fantastic visual games like MACHINARIUM and SAMOROST. People like him, entering the gaming industry with a background in animation, made us realise that games are somehow a part of the animation industry. Games were being developed with very particular designs, in an independent, non-commercial environment, very different from the big industry. This growing industry feels like a natural part of the animation network. You’d be surprised by the quality of the works presented in our student competitions for games. There was no Czech platform for them to showcase their work, and now we are happy to offer it.
Kučerová: In the second edition of our Game Pitch (endowed with €10,000 awards), besides the big players also the small independent companies are represented. Games can be played in the festival’s Game Zone, and there will be masterclasses for students who aspire to a career in the gaming industry.
Would this be an indication about the future of Anifilm? What is your perspective?
Horáček: I hope the Czech Republic can follow a similar growth path as the Irish animation, resulting in a similar scale. The new Audiovisual Act creates a positive production climate; I believe this will result in more films and series being made. Anifilm is not a premiere festival – we need to accept our place in the calendar, before Annecy and Cannes. But it is nice to feel genuinely proud of the films being screened, especially if these are Czech productions. And I’d be delighted if they would agree on having their first screening in Liberec.
Kučerová: I hope the festival will continue to focus on the element in our profile that I think is most important: creating places where people can meet in person.
Let’s dig into your most cherished memories… Do you remember a screening in which you were looking at the audience, thinking: yes, this is why I’m doing it?
Horáček: I have many fond memories of master classes in the Varšava Cinema, our main festival venue (that unfortunately will be closed during the upcoming edition, due to reconstruction works). Last year, Emma De Swaef did a great masterclass there about puppet animation. And I vividly remember the premiere of the Czech feature animation RALLY, a rather underground-punk production by a collective of animators called Televize Estráda. It was a full house and they were so happy to see their film on the big screen.
Kučerová: In the first edition of the Czech Short Film Pitching, there was a young woman called Terezie Unzeitigová; she courageously pitched her project MACHINE MOUNTAIN. Seeing her pitch awarded was proof that our jury had the capacity to see the potential in small, independent projects. When Terezie also found her producer at Anifilm, I knew that what we do truly makes sense. The project got support from the Czech Film Fund and is currently in production.
Fun question: Can you pick the ultimate jury member of your dreams, dead or alive?
Horáček: My eternal wish would be Jurij Norstein or Peter Lord, with Wes Anderson as a good back-up.
Kučerová: I would love to invite Jonas Poher Rasmussen for a masterclass; I’m a huge fan of his work – FLEE was super impressive.
Interview conducted by Gert Hermans for CEE Animation.
