What will be chosen as the best Polish animated film of this year?

This year, 31 titles will compete for the award of Best Polish Film at the 19th International Festival of Animated Films Animator. Out of 171 submissions, the selection committee chose 30 that will compete for the Golden Animusz. In May, one more will join them, selected by the audience. The winner will be decided by an international jury.

Discover the films taking part in the Polish Animated Films Competition:

Amazonka, dir. Aleksandra Piekarska

The film presents the theme of breast cancer as an experience that shapes the psyche, the body, and female identity. It is based on an interview with my mother, who underwent oncological treatment, a mastectomy, and breast reconstruction. The work shows how difficult it is to regain a sense of femininity in the face of losing the “attributes” culturally associated with it. It is an intimate yet universal story about loss, strength, and reclaiming oneself.

Aleksandra Piekarska – I am a graduate of the Faculty of Art in Opole. My work focuses mainly on artistic printmaking and new media art, exploring themes such as identity, interpersonal relationships, and social and feminist contexts.

Anons-Romans / Heart-Ad, dir. Mai Siankowska

An incurable romantic finds the woman of his dreams in an old newspaper. She is perfect… well, on paper.

Mai Siankowska (b. 2005 in Warsaw) – currently a second-year student in the Polish National Film School in Lodz. The short film “Heart-Ad” is her directorial debut, and while she loves to draw, she’d like to focus on puppet animation in the future. Likes cinema, trinkets, and spring.

Bar Krokiet freestyle / Bar Croquette freestyle, dir. Maria Dakszewicz

A thrill-seeking customer of the Bar Croquette begins to question the appeal of the ordinary routine of her everyday life after watching a Bollywood film.

Maria Dakszewicz, born June 3, 2002, in Gdańsk, is a director, writer, and illustrator. In 2022 she began her studies at the National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. Her first student film, “Rosół z kaczki,” had its world premiere at Animafest Zagreb in 2024. Her film “Bar Croquette freestyle” was included, among others, in the selection of the DOK Leipzig festival and on the shortlist of the New Horizons festival.

Biuro Tłumaczeń / Translation Office, dir. Irina Karapetyan

A workaholic Wind translator that reads from leaves and branches, embarks on an adventure to find the lost Wind and start working once again.

Irina (Ira) Karapetyan is a filmmaker, animator and background artist making short animated films (“Why not mushrooms?”, “Underneath the Mountaintop”). Currently a student at Lodz Film School.

Central-Mart, dir. Alicja Błaszczyńska

Six egoists and one supermarket. “Central-Mart” is a black comedy telling the story of a group of customers who, through mutual spite and ruthless determination to get what they want, set off a spiral of absurd events. Through selfishness, cunning, and ignorance, their fates intertwine and create a web of grotesque situations. Whether they are skipping lines, being overly picky, or considering their own needs the most important, every step leads the characters toward an inevitable catastrophe.

Alicja Błaszczyńska – director and screenwriter of animated films, animator. She graduated from the Łódź Film School, from the Cinematography Department with a specialization in Animated Film and Special Effects. In her work, she focuses on combining absurd humor with a distinctive visual style.

Dobre Serce / A Good Heart, dir. Aleksandra Anna Kubisa

A grandma explains to her granddaughter how to get through life.

Aleksandra Kubisa, born in 1998 in Bielsko-Biała, completed a bachelor’s degree in Film Production Organization at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School. She has worked as a production manager on numerous student films at the film schools in Katowice and Łódź. She also gained experience creating set design and costumes at the Polish Theatre in Bielsko-Biała. She worked, among others, on the film “Krokodyl” directed by Dawid Bodzak, “Metamorfozy” directed by Magdalena Kuśmierczyk, “Chatka,” the graduation project of cinematographer Bartosz Toboła, “Martwe Małżeństwo” directed by Michał Toczek, and the stage productions “Wyspa Kaliny” directed by Agata Puszcz and “Leticia i Lubczyk” directed by Paweł Aigner. She is currently studying Animation and Special Effects at the Łódź Film School.

Dżungli nie ma / There is no jungle, dir. Marcjanna Urbańska

In a gray, rainy city lives a monkey, trapped in the hell of procrastination. Every attempt at creative work ends in an escape into its own imagination, into a world full of colors and adventures, and each return to reality becomes increasingly overwhelming and gray. The monkey must confront itself in order to find a space to live between the worlds.

Marcjanna Urbańska is a director of animated films, a book illustrator, and also a creator of music covers and posters. In her work, the artist explores various emotional states and the mechanisms connected with them, balancing on the border between dream and reality. Her films have been presented at international festivals including DOK Leipzig, the Kyoto Student Film Festival, and the Seville European Film Festival, as well as in Polish cinemas, including at the Animator Festival and Etiuda & Anima. She works as an animator on numerous projects. She is a graduate of the Animation and Special Effects program at the Łódź Film School. She is passionate about comics and fantasy literature, which is reflected in her work.

Echa / Echoes, dir. Joanna Fuczko

A short story about loss and memory, inspired by the forced displacement of the Lemkos from the Carpathians in 1947. The animation, combining various techniques, is an intimate reflection on a lost home and identity. In this film, the sound, based on field recordings from the village of Wola Sękowa, becomes a fragment of history that has survived as an echo of human memories.

Joanna Fuczko (born 1993) – interdisciplinary artist. She works in graphic art, video, illustration, and animated film. She lives and works in Zielona Góra. She currently runs the Graphic Studio – Fundamentals of Graphic Design at the Institute of Visual Arts of the University of Zielona Góra. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Poland (including Warsaw, Toruń, Poznań, and Wrocław) as well as abroad (in Germany and Taiwan). Of Lemko origin, she treats aspects of cultural identity, a return to roots, and tradition as a starting point for working in contemporary media such as animated film, video, and illustration. Since 2018, she has been a co-founder and member of the group PRABABA, which draws on Slavic traditional music in contemporary, folk-inspired arrangements.

Epitafium dla Psiego Detektywa / Epitaph for Detective Dog, reż. Michał Krzyczkowski

A memory through the eyes of a child raised in a small Polish town. Cartoons on VHS tapes, Jesus, and the nearby slaughterhouse all become threatened when a blinding light of the future appears on the horizon.

Michał Krzyczkowski – a filmmaker and an audiovisual artist, born in 1999. Since 2020, he has been studying at the Lodz Film School. He has worked on numerous short films, feature films and TV productions. His practice spans interdisciplinary art combining film and 3D animation. He is inspired by Poland and old internet blogs.

Fanatic, dir. Mateusz Jarmulski

A fair-haired knight, craving another victory, delves into a mysterious maze. The deeper he ventures, the more he discovers the meaninglessness of his quest. In the depths, the hero gets involved in an absurd fight, losing sight of the real danger. To triumph, he must rid himself of everything that has defined him so far.

Mateusz Jarmulski is a director and writer of animated films and an animator. He graduated from the Film School in Łódź with a degree in animation. He is also the author of music videos and concert visuals. His films have been broadcast on television and screened and awarded at festivals including Stuttgart, Seoul and Hiroshima. His previous short films “The Hunt” and “The Visit” were showcased at over 40 festivals around the world. He seeks variety in various 2d forms and is interested in the possibilities of the animation language.

Fantasmagoria, dir. Michał Niemier

A pioneer of animation discovers a mysterious slide in his collection. To examine it more closely, he projects it using a magic lantern. The devil depicted on the slide takes advantage of a moment of inattention and escapes into the real world. An innovative mapping technique is used to combine classical animation with stop-motion. The film pays homage to the origins of animation, using a magic lantern and slides that are authentic historical artifacts.

Poznań-based artist and animator. In his work, he experiments with a variety of techniques, combining traditional forms of expression with modern solutions. For his diploma film, he developed an original method of combining digital mapping with classic puppet animation. His films have been presented at, among others, the One-Minute Film Festival in Gdańsk and the Animator Festival in Poznań. He is a graduate of Animation at the University of the Arts in Poznań.

Głosy kryzysu / The Voices of Crisis, dir. Katarzyna Małyszko

The animated documentary presents testimonies of young people who share their personal stories about the challenges related to mental health. Their interwoven voices create a complete and honest portrait of a generation in crisis and of a healthcare system that is unable to fully support them.

Katarzyna Małyszko – an animated film director and illustrator from Wrocław. She graduated in Animation and Special Effects from the Łódź Film School. Her student films have been screened at festivals in Poland and abroad. Together with Szymon Ruczyński, she received the main award for the short film “Puszcza: Dyptyk” at the 19th Neisse Film Festival and the Festival du Cinéma Nature & Environnement. Alongside activism, art has become for her a platform to express her fears, views, and values; therefore, she has taken part in animated protests concerning women’s rights, a free Belarus, the humanitarian crisis on the Polish–Belarusian border, and support for Ukraine.

Jesień 2026 / Autumn 2026, dir. Wojciech Sobczyk

“Autumn 2026” is a visually and musically rich metaphorical film essay on human nature, transience, emotions, and the place of man in the world. Set against the backdrop of a vast autumnal landscape, the film traces successive stages of human existence, becoming a visual meditation on life, nature, and loss. It is a poetic study of inner emotional states and a continuation of the auteur cycle begun with the films “Spring 1999” and “Summer 2014”.

Wojciech Sobczyk – animated film director, screenwriter, graphic designer and illustrator. He graduated from the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He is currently a teaching fellow at the Animated Film Studio of the same academy. He makes animated films, graphics, art projects. Author of solo exhibitions, participant in museum shows, curator of exhibitions.

Jus d’orange, dir. Alexandre Athané

Toni grows oranges. He loves them, they are his treasure. Until one day, strange cargo ships dock in the valley. Cargos loaded with… GREEN oranges!

Alexandre Athané is a self-taught illustrator and filmmaker based in Paris. He works in animation and creates title sequences for cinema. His animated short “Jus d’orange” (2024), a French-Polish co-production, has received awards at international festivals including the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Beverly Hills Film Festival. He is currently developing his next film.

Już Mnie Nie Ma / I Am Not Here Anymore, dir. Nawojka Wierzbowska

Grandpa dies and tries to leavehis home. Unfortunately, his family refuses to believe that he is gone for good. Every time he tries to escape, they bring him back to them.

Nawojka Wierzbowska is a graduate of the PWSFTViT in Katowice. She studied for a semester at the Transforming Art Institute in Madrid. Her graduation film “Bad Night Story” was presented at major Polish film festivals, including the Future Films Festival in Gdynia, the Film Debuts Festival in Koszalin (where it won the award for Best Sound), and the New Horizons International Film Festival. “Bad Night Story” was also broadcast on television channels such as Canal+. She recently completed a course in animated series development at the La Poudrière school in France and participated in the 29th International Animation Film Workshops in Lanckorona. She is a big fan of cartoons and dark humor.

Kolekcjonerka / The Collector, dir. Justyna Bielawa

A man finally decides to go and get a haircut. He has no idea that he is about to experience the most peculiar visit to a hairdresser of his life.

Justyna Bielawa is a student of Animation and Special Effects at the Łódź Film School and a graduate of the State Secondary School of Fine Arts in Katowice. She works in animated film and illustration.

Kły i pazury / Fangs and claws, dir. Julia Marlena Wojtanowska

In a surreal zoo, monkeys sing wild songs, putting visitors into an almost hypnotic trance. Meanwhile, other animals slip out of control, and the tension rises as a lion prepares to attack an ostrich. However, not everything is as it seems. This animation is a visual journey full of absurdity and magic, inspired by a fragment of Juan Emar’s novel “Yesterday,” where dream and reality intertwine.

Julia Wojtanowska (born 2002, Tarnów) is an intermedia artist whose work brings together installation, film, photography, painting, and performance. Her projects explore the relationship between the artwork and the viewer, aiming to create a space of interaction in which the intensity of emotions draws the viewer into a world filled with motifs of everyday life. The main themes in her work revolve around figures - both human and animal - which she subjects to transformations, experimenting with perspective and role reversal, thereby creating a space for new narratives. She currently studies Intermedia at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków.

Maluję swój autoportret, a wychodzi mi moja siostra / I'm painting a self-portrait, but all I see is my sister's face, dir. Helena Stańczyk

A short animated documentary about Alicja and Bożena Wahl - twin sisters and visual artists active in the second half of the 20th century. The film is based on fragments of Alicja’s diaries and the works of both artists. It is a story about sisterhood, shared artistic creation, and a relationship that became the center of their private and artistic lives. Alicja’s diaries, which form an intimate and ongoing dialogue with Bożena, open a window into the sisters’ world - one filled with both closeness and with tension.

Helena Stańczyk – animation director and comic book author. A graduate of the State Secondary School of Fine Arts (PLSP) in Warsaw and a final-year student of Animation and Special Effects at the Łódź Film School. Her short animated documentary “49 385” has been screened and awarded both in Poland and abroad. Her debut comic “Ni pies, ni wydra” was included among the 150 best children’s books at the Bologna Book Fair in 2025. She is the great-granddaughter of Alicja Wahl.

Mowa Pięści / Fist Talk, dir. Wiktoria Konopczyk

Two boxers stand face to face in the ring and begin to talk, using the language of fists. Through juicy punches, rhymes, and retorts, they discover shared interests.

Wiktoria Konopczyk – born May 30, 2000, in Rzeszów. A second-year student of Film and Television Production and Photography, specializing in animated film production and special effects, at the Cinematography and Television Production Department of the National Film School in Łódź. A graduate of Design at the Łódź University of Technology. Organizer of stop-motion animation workshops. A member of the Stowarzyszenie Mozaika in Łódź, which connects and supports young artists. Participant in exchanges within the Erasmus+ program.

Mów do mnie / Talk to Me, dir. Yuliia Tabenska

“Talk to Me” was created based on an original picturebook that addresses the topic of depression in a family from a child’s perspective. The main characters of the film are a child and a mother suffering from depression. The child observes the changes in the mother’s behavior, tries to understand them, searches for a way to help, and sometimes takes responsibility upon themself. The story presents the problem with subtelty, without accusations or stigmatization. In this way, it encourages conversation about mental health, closeness, and love. The film ends with an open and hopeful finale.

Yuliia Tabenska is a Ukrainian artist, book illustrator, picturebook author, and animation creator. She is the author of the story as well as the director, set designer, and animator of the film “Talk to Me.” For 10 years she has been creating her own artistic books and illustrating projects by acclaimed authors. Since 2019 she has lived and worked in Poland, supporting local initiatives and collaborating with cultural institutions. Since 2024 she has been experimenting with stop-motion and collage animation, combining her passion for collage and assemblage with moving narrative.

Na krzywe łby / The Crooked Heads, dir. Jakub Krzyszpin

A forgotten Polish neighborhood drowns in the haze of coal mine smoke. A young man shaves his head, dons a tracksuit, and faces his brother's shadow and the weight of his past.

Jakub Krzyszpin, born August 1, 2001, in Bytom, Poland. A director and student of the Animated Films and Special Effects Department at the Polish National Film School in Lodz. He creates short film forms in which the visual layer is based on a trembling, expressive line. His creations, brought to life through expressive drawings, have been screened at international festivals including Annecy, Krakow Film Festival, Tirana IFF, Animafest Zagreb and Drama ISFF.

Nie Wszystkie Gołębie Idą Do Nieba / Not All Pigeons Go to Heaven, dir. Anna Woltańska

An eccentric, philosophical tale in which the boundary between absurdity and existential reflections blurs in an unexpected way. The narrator, contemplating her sister’s unusually small hands, considers alternative versions of her existence – for example, as a pigeon.

Anna Woltańska is a student of the Animated Film and Special Effects at The Polish National Film School in Łódź. Animator, screenwriter, and director. She likes bats – both the real ones and those shot in 1985.

Oto mózg / There it is – the brain, dir. Natalia Modrzewska

Ladies and Gentlemen! There it is – the brain! With a touch of humor, the film shows what really happens inside a human brain when incomprehensible or intrusive thoughts appear – a phenomenon well known to everyone. Even though these thoughts sometimes border on the absurd, they are moments many people can relate to.

Natalia Modrzewska, a student of the Animated Film and Special Effects at the Polish National Film School in Łódź. She is an animated film director, visual artist and a devoted voice actress at heart. She creates visual effects as well as short films.

Pies, Koń i Blondynka / The Horse, the Dog & the Blonde, dir. Rozalia Kaleta

An aspiring dog-headed influencer enters a cutest pet contest, but goes one step too far in her quest for fame. Through this short film, I ask: how does the human obsession with beauty translate into our attitudes toward animals? What are we capable of when we uncritically accept rapidly changing trends?

Rozalia Kaleta – a student at Film School in Lodz. A director and an animator of short films.

Replace, dir. Ewelina Duffy

In a world moving toward complete automation, the protagonist must confront the question: if machines can do all the work, what place is left for her?

Ewelina Duffy is a Polish-Irish animated film director and visual artist. She completed her Master’s degree at the Faculty of Animation and Intermedia at the University of the Arts in Poznań, Poland. She is currently continuing her artistic education at the Faculty of Image and Interdisciplinary Activities at the same university. Combining animation and data visualization with painting, she explores themes of the body, organicity and corporeality in relation to new technologies in art.

Scherzo, dir. Wojciech Wojtkowski

Two hundred years after his death, Chopin appears in Warsaw. At the Philharmonic, he listens to a concert of his own compositions. The music brings back memories of lost love, artistic successes, and death in exile…

Wojciech Wojtkowski – born in 1956. He graduated from the State Secondary School of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1976. Since 1982 he has worked in animated film production as an animator, director, set designer, screenwriter, and creator of layouts and storyboards. He has co-created many films, commercials, opening sequences, and television ads. He is also involved in press illustration.

ślepe wrota / False Door, dir. Oktawia Derybowska

The wanderer traverses a vast icy desert. He strives for a place that seems to be merely an illusion, like a ghost seeking a return to the world of the living. A lynx follows him, awaiting a moment when the vagabond loses all his strength.

Oktawia Derybowska is a young animator who works using traditional animation techniques. She comes from the village of Góraszka near Warsaw. In the capital, she attended the Wojciech Gerson High School of Fine Arts. In 2025, she graduated with a master's degree in Animation from the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of Arts in Poznań, where she currently resides. During her studies, she developed her professional career as an illustrator, but the future she sees within the field of animation.

WHAT MADE ME BELIEVE IN UTOPIA TODAY?, dir. Nina Sikorska

The viewer assumes the role of the film's protagonist – they drift through fairytale landscapes, absorbing their kitsch allure. Yet the viewer’s gaze remains vigilant, carefully scouring the nooks of this dreamlike world, following an ethereal orange light. Sweets, ubiquitous glitter, adorable porcelain figurines, large-panel living buildings, VHS cassettes, or a beloved childhood pillowcase – the longed-for utopia might be hidden anywhere.

Nina Sikorska – born in 2001 in Bielsko-Biała, writer, director, and animator, currently in her fifth year studying Animation at the University of the Arts in Poznań. In her work she explores themes of camp, Polishness, and theatricality. As an animator, she is part of Mundi - an experimental theatre group from Warsaw. Her texts have been published, among others, in the “Zakład” and “Składka” magazines, and her illustrations in the “Girls and Queers to the Front” and “Po Godzinach” zines. Her film Moja Watko was part of the selection at the Young and Film Festival and the Freedom Film Festival.

Wywiad / The interview, dir. Miłosz Aleksander Nawrotek

Charlie, a young man with a comically long nose, is invited to a television interview hosted by a mysterious reporter. Innocent questions quickly become increasingly intrusive, forcing him to confront fears and painful experiences connected with his lack of self-acceptance. As the conversation continues, the boundary between reality and fiction begins to blur dangerously, and the atmosphere in the studio grows thicker with every passing minute. When Charlie receives an offer that promises a radical solution to his problems, he must decide whether to run away from himself or finally face the truth.

Miłosz Nawrotek (born March 4, 2003, in Szczecin) – director and animator, a graduate of Film Studies at the Academy of Art in Szczecin. Director and screenwriter of ˮThe Interview.ˮ He creates clay and drawn animations and is also involved in sculpture and puppetry, including the design and production of theatrical puppets. In his work, he combines film with visual arts and an original visual style, creating experimental animation techniques and exploring visual narratives and surreal worlds.

Żuczki / Beetles, reż. Piotr Chmielewski

The people who created this animation want to open a space for discussion with children about what privilege is. Are we aware of our privileges? What should we do when we struggle with something that comes easily to others? What should we do when we see that someone is facing a challenge that is not a problem for us? The story of the little beetles inspires the search for answers to these questions.

Piotr Chmielwski is a self-taught stop-motion animator who uses his knowledge and skills to address social issues through visual media. He creates campaign animations for various non-governmental organizations and is taking his first steps as a director of artistic films. “Krab” was his debut animation and, hopefully, the first part of a series of films that will present important historical events from the perspective of animals.