Four out of nine titles in the Balkan competition programme hail from Croatia, including Marko Meštrović’s The Raft, Bruno Razum’s Can You See Them?, Marko Tadić’s Events Meant to Be Forgotten and 45” by Lucija Oroz.       

The screenings at Anibar will be international premieres for films by Marko Meštrović, Bruno Razum and Lucija Oroz.

Marko Meštrović’s The Raft has so far screened at home, at festivals such as Animafest Zagreb, the Mediterranean Film Festival Split, and is scheduled to appear at Supertoon shortly. The film is a Creative Syndicate production, with Igor Grubić as producer. Marko Meštrović directed the film, co-wrote the script with Božidar Trkulj and co-created the animations alongside David Lovrić.

Bruno Razum’s Can You See Them? recently screened at the Short Film Corner of the Marché du Film in Cannes, while it celebrated its world premiere at Animafest Zagreb, winning the award for Best Film in the Croatian competition. Can You See Them? is a Zagreb Film production, with Vinko Brešan credited as producer. 

Events Meant to Be Forgotten, Marko Tadić’s experimental animated short, first screened in competition at the 25 FPS in Zagreb last year, while this summer it is scheduled to appear at the prestigious Ottawa International Animation Festival. The Creative Syndicate production (with Igor Grubić as producer), co-produced by Zagreb Film (Vinko Brešan) also received a Jury Special Mention at last year’s edition of Animateka in Slovenia.

The student film created by Lucija Oroz, 45”, first appeared before a domestic audience at Animafest Zagreb, and apart from Anibar in Kosovo, these days also screens online, at The paus Premieres Festival, through which viewers donate money directly to filmmakers whose films they are viewing. The paus Premieres Festival features titles available for viewing on the paus platform, while the entire event is taking place virtually in July. 

Apart from the titles in the Balkan competition, the Kids&Teens programme will also screen Morana Dolenc’s Tonka Will Do It Tomorrow, which will mark the film’s international premiere. After Kosovo, Tonka travels to Italy, to screen at the Animaphix International Animated Film Festival in Palermo, Sicily, followed by an appearance at the Imaginaria International Animated Film Festival in the Italian town of Conversano.

Tonka Will Do It Tomorrow is a story about Tonka, a girl who likes to put things off for tomorrow. Be it doing her homework, walking her dog, putting away her toys, it does not matter, because whatever the task, Tonka will find a way to postpone it till tomorrow, and then the next day. And so she gets a case of Tomorrowings, which affect the children who procrastinate.  

Besides directing the film, Morana Dolenc co-wrote the screenplay together with Jelena Pervan, while Mirta Brkulj created the animation. The character design is based on Vanda Čižmek’s illustrations from Jelena Pervan’s book. Compositing was done by Maša Udovičić, who also produced the film (Luma Film). Anita Valo and Meri Jaman composed the music, while Dubravko Robić created the sound design. Katja Panić, Petar Atanasoski, Vesna Ravenšćak Lozić and Morana Dolenc lend voices to the characters. 

This year’s Anibar will feature over 300 films organized into nine programme sections, six of which are competitive. The winning films will be chosen by three separate juries, while the Animated Music Video & Human Rights Jury includes Croatian industry professional and Animafest Zagreb producer Paola Orlić.

The visitors will be able to enjoy the films at cinemas and open-air venues, as well as the festival online platform, 23rd July – 1st August. Besides the film programme, the festival also offers workshops, panel discussions and round tables, meetings with industry members, presentations and pitching sessions. The 12th edition of the Anibar Animation Festival is dedicated to isolation.

Find out more about the festival at their official website and Facebook page.