The 21st edition of the FANTOCHE International Animation Film Festival will take place from 5 to 10 September. Visitors to the festival can see eight programmes in competition for a total of 14 awards in the “Best Film” category. In the Kids Film Competition section, our Whatman will compete for the favour of the jury and the audience – against 20 other films. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the next Czech representative, The Goose directed by Jan Mika.

| Movie page – Whatman

The selection 2023
A Little Beetle Returns Elene Sebiskveradze, GE 2023 • A ras del agua Tamara Kupfer Muñoz, UY 2023 • De l’amour dans l’air Nadia Freymond, CH 2022 • Entre deux sœurs Anne-Sophie Gousset, Clément Céard, FR 2022 • ETC. Pablo Millan, ES 2022 • Franklin, Maddy Stevens, US 2023 • Hooba! Sem Assink, NL 2022 • Ice Merchants João Gonzalez, PT 2022 • Katze Julia Ocker, DE 2022 • L’oie du plus fort, Jan Mika, CZ 2022 • Okay Adél Páll, HU 2022 • Prinzessin Aubergine Dina Velikovskaya, DE 2022 • Què lipassa al cel?, Irene Iborra, FR 2022 • The Gift Gemma Rigg, GB 2023 • The Peasent and the Cucumbers Bálint Bartis, HU 2023 • The Pirate and the Cello Andreï Sokolov, RU 2023 • Tournesol Natalia Chernysheva, FR 2023 • Tümpel Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust, CH 2023 • What’s in That Crate? Bram Algoed, BE 2023 • Whatman Nika Zinoveva, CZ 2023

The short film Fears tells the story of a little girl Pepi who learns to fight her inner feelings. “The artistically original and interesting project by director and artist Bára Valecká, with mixed media and documentary educational commentary, once again impressed the Council with its well-thought-out visual design. Compared to the previous submission, the Council noted a positive shift in the dramatic storyline of Jana Šrámková’s script and appreciated the expected positive benefits for both parents and the child viewer,” the Fund’s Council said.

The second supported project is the minority film I Died in Irpin by writer, director and designer Anastasia Falileva. “The Fund Council considers the project for the production of this film to be, in a good sense, moderately punk and art brut, combining the everyday in a shockingly abbreviated way with great history; the film is autobiographical and yet generally comprehensible. Artistically, it combines real footage with collage evoking fragments of memory and charcoal drawing. Regardless of its topicality, it is an extremely autonomous and impressive work,” explains the Fund’s Council.

| Movie page – Fears

BAFTA has today announced the 15 finalists for the Yugo BAFTA 2023 Student Awards, with a record 754 entries from 103 schools in 30 countries, covering feature film, animation, documentary, 360 video, VR, VR games and PC games.

The two-day event will take place on 26 July at The London West Hollywood, where the finalists’ films will be screened, and the final ceremony will take place on 27 July at Rooftop Cinema Club Arts District, hosted by actor Elliot Knight.

Finalists for Animation:

Electra
Daria Kashcheeva
MAUR film, FAMU, Papy3D, Artichoke
Movie page – Electra

Thaba Ye
Daria Batueva, Preetam Dhar, Merel Hamers, Hannah Judd, Mogau Kekana, Leroy Le Roux
Gobelins, France

The Tornado Outside
Maria Tomazou
National Film and Television School, United Kingdom