Winners of Rise & Shine 2025 Announced!

The 4th edition of Rise & Shine – Animation Development and Pitching Lab for young talents and their short films – has successfully wrapped up, following its third and final round at the Animateka International Animated Film Festival in December.

Organized by Animafest Zagreb and Animateka, in collaboration with CEE Animation, this year’s edition of the Rise & Shine hosted 11 amazing projects.

Rise & Shine is a three-part storytelling, development and pitching lab for first- and second-time professional filmmakers and their short films (up to 20 minutes). The mentors of the fourth edition were director and scriptwriter Pedro Rivero (ES), producer Jelena Popović (NFB, CA), and producer Anna Vášová (13ka, CZ).

The 2025 edition kicked off in June at Animafest Zagreb, with a series of lectures and workshops focusing on story development. In October, the teams worked on the art of presenting their projects to a live audience, as well as the production of animated short films. The final part of their Rise & Shine 2025 journey, the pitching presentation in front of the professional audience, took place at AnimatekaPRO.

Rise & Shine 2025 Awards:

Cinefila Festival Distribution
Stormsurge, d. Anna Tőkés, p. Balint Gelley, CUB Animation, HU

Film Centre of Montenegro Award
Runaway Heart, d. Mery Gobec, p. Nataša Vugrinec, Studio Virc, SI / HR

CEE Animation Forum 2026 Award
Family Recipe, d. Lou-Anne Gérard, p. Titouan Tillier, Frigo Films, FR

Selection to International Short Film Market Clermont-Ferrand 2026
The Chestnut Fair, d. Valeria Weerasinghe, p. Eleonora Muzzi, Sayonara Films, IT
Lovers in a Dangerous Time, d. Daniel Sterlin-Altman, p. Alexandre de Paillerets, Une boite de plus (UBDP), FR / GER
Redefining Island, d. Julie Černá, p. Michaela Režová, Pure Shore, CZ
Daylight, d. Ayala Shoshana Guy, p. Fabian Driehorst, Fabian&Fred, GER / DK
Stormsurge, d. Anna Tőkés, p. Balint Gelley, CUB Animation, HU

Rise & Shine Audience Award 2026
Redefining Island, d. Julie Černá, p. Michaela Režová, Pure Shore, CZ

Rise and Shine is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, Ministry of Public Administration Slovenia, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, City of Zagreb, Zagreb Tourist Board, Croatian Film Directors´ Guild, Czech Audiovisual Fund, Czech Producers’ Association – APA, Ministry of culture of Czech Republic.