What a treat the audience had in store! The surprise film turned out to be...
45th ANIMA BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
20 February – 1 March 2026 Brussels, Belgium
This year ANIMA celebrated its 45th edition. There was a special surprise anniversary program kept secret until the lights went down in the theatre, along with all the new films. There were also workshops, Industry Days, exhibitions and parties.
What a treat the audience had in store! The surprise film turned out to be the French classic feature film The King and the Mockingbird. The 1-hour 30-minute film is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep" (Le Roi et l’Oiseau). Pompous King Charles hates his subjects and is equally hated by them in return. His most prized possession is his art collection. His most cherished painting is his portrait of a beautiful young shepherdess with whom he is deeply in love.
What he doesn’t realize is that late at night, when the king is sound asleep, the shepherdess and chimney sweep, who are madly in love, come alive. When the king learns what is going on between the two of them, he tries to steal her away from the chimney sweep. The young pair attempts to escape from the castle with help from a clever mockingbird who thwarts the king’s evil plans at every turn.
When the film was first begun in the 1940’s as a collaboration between animator Paul Grimault and screenwriter Jacques Prévert. A dispute over the project's rising costs with the film’s producer, André Sarrut, halted production. Sarrut then released an incomplete version of the film without Grimault's and Prévert's permission. Grimault launched a battle to regain the film rights. After winning, he spent twenty years raising funds to complete the film. It became France’s first feature-length animated film when the final version was released in 1980.
Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki has credited the film as a major inspiration for himself. He has said that his 2023 film The Boy and The Heron is an homage to The King and The Mockingbird.
The film has been shown at Anima Brussels several times over the years. It is a reminder that pure hand-drawn animation, no matter how hard it is tried, cannot be duplicated by a computer. The score composed by Wojciech Kilar sets the tone of the film perfectly. The tale is told with minimal dialogue but in a highly expressive manner. The King and the Mockingbird was a perfect birthday surprise for the packed audience.
It feels like many short filmmakers seem to be thinking about conformity, isolation, and freedom to live just the way that they want to. The six short film competition programs certainly reflected that. The films tended to lean towards dark, yet funny, social commentary.
Doll House Elephant, by Finnish Director Jenny Jokela, examined the social dichotomy of wanting to live exactly as you choose, but also of allowing others this freedom when you live in an apartment building or shared housing. How do you show compassion and consideration to other members of the community when it conflicts with your own freedom to live as you choose?
The 11-minute film follows a group of neighbors in an apartment building. Some of them make an effort to get to know each other, but their radically different lifestyles have unforeseen effects on their small community. Some people learn to adapt their habits and get along with their neighbors, while others refuse to change and, after a short time, revert to their annoying ways, turning up their television set way too loud or leaving trash in the hall. Anyone who has lived in a shared living space can relate to this film. The film was followed by a reception celebrating Belgian Animation.
In director Alexandre Sousa’s 13-minute Amarelo Banana, after another restless night, a young 20-something discovers a strange community living upstairs in his apartment building. They have gone to great lengths to create an elaborate illusion of another world, featuring masks, banana trees, and a dreamlike indoor jungle complete with apes. The Hungarian/Portuguese co-production reflects the isolation more and more people feel in a real world with boring, repetitive jobs, financial problems, wars... the list goes on and on.
Despite the film's surreal premise, it was inspired by a real event in Sousa’s life. He was at a really strange party where he felt "socially anxious", in his words. Everyone was just standing around. Then someone in a monkey suit jumped up onto the stage. He was so energetic and full of excitement that everyone immediately started dancing. Then out of nowhere, the monkey pulled out a banana, took a bite, and passed it to the person closest to him. That person took a bite and passed the banana on. It went to a couple more people who took bites and passed the banana on. Suddenly, it was in Sousa’s hand, and 300 people were looking at him, waiting for him to be part of this surreal moment. He felt terribly awkward but knew that there was a story in it waiting to be told. Thus, Amarelo Banana was born.
The three This Is Belgium competitions, two for professionals and one for students, are always well attended by enthusiastic audiences who cheer on recently made Belgian films. Very often, the films are on regional or national topics. I particularly enjoyed La Petite Reine blanche (The Little White Queen). The title refers to a small white ball, or Pelota, used in a game played in towns in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. The film is set in the town of Ottignies.
As the animators, Mathieu Georis and Theo Hanosset say, the film is about a game, yes, but it is about so much more. It is about the importance of public spaces, meeting places, and the loss of them in so many towns. The Place du Cenre where the game was originally played by two teams, was turned into a parking lot 30 years ago. In the film, on one summer night, parked cars magically float up into the air. The next morning, the hourglass-shaped playing field magically appeared on the pavement, and two teams of Pelota Ball players were playing a game that brought traffic to a complete halt.
Georis and Hanosset say that “A public space has the capacity to bring together cultural and sports institutions in a natural area accessible to everyone. Therefore, in the same way as festivals, religious processions, or carnivals, sport can be a vector of spontaneous assemblies”.
Unfortunately, the loss of public space in many towns and cities to parking lots and apartment buildings is not limited to Belgium; it is a global trend, leaving people increasingly isolated from neighbors and their communities. The audience gave the film a long, rousing round of applause. The film received the Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles.
Along with the competition programs, there was a screening of 9 short films in the Girls, Girls, Girls program that celebrated women, their sacrifices, worries, desires, motherhood, relationships, and aging. The Horror Show produced exactly what the title said: horror films with terrifying monsters, monstrous children, and blood, blood, blood. New Talent showcased young, talented European animators whose names we are sure to be seeing in the competition programs in the future.
Real Life Stories screened seven short documentary films that were sometimes sad and painful to watch, and other films that celebrated life. The Watch and Dance screening was dedicated to a selection of music videos with a hip-hop beat. Belgian Rapper ONHO appeared at the screening to give a performance from his new project ONHAPSLAMEMEVIE.
It is impossible to forget about The Animated Night. Beginning at 21:30 and running until 2:30 in the morning, with three short film programs totaling 33 films, this is a tradition at Anima Brussels, and you will see some of the strangest films you have ever set eyes on. Carcassonne Acapulco and episodes of The Wonderful Weird World of Gumball are guaranteed to keep you awake. Add to that the antics of the comic JeanJean live on stage, and the pajama contest, where you can win fabulous prizes. During breaks between programs, people bellyed up to the bar for their favorite libation. It was a fun-filled night.
Queer Stories was more than just a screening of LGBTQIA films. It was a celebration of Queer Pride. The program of 8 films included Aj Dubler and Carmela Murphy’s A Bird Hit My Window and Now I Am A Lesbian. The stop motion film was a student project that explores identity, grief, and identity change with great sensitivity. To add to the celebration, the screening also featured live performances by artists from Cabaret Mademoiselle, with guest stars Alvilda. Mistress of Ceremonies La Venve guided the audience through this glam show.
It was great fun to spend the day and evening watching film and having a drink or two at the outdoor bar on the first warm, almost shirt-sleeve day of the year with Joanna Quinn and Les Mills. Joanna was a member of the International Jury. She also presented the To Gaza With Love project. I have written about the project, which Joanna spearheaded, and I am pleased to see how many festivals are screening it. It features a selection of the 329 short films from 50 countries created by professionals, students, and studios. With what is happening in the Middle East as I write this, it is easy to forget about the horrible state the people of Palestine and The Ukraine are in. Watching To Gaza With Love is a reminder that people in these countries desperately need our help now and must not be forgotten.
Ireland was the Spotlighted Country this year. Wolfwalkers, the 2020 feature film directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, was shown. If Cartoon Saloon were not already well known on the animation map, this film about a girl whose father is a wolf hunter and a young, free-spirited girl who is a member of a tribe believed to be able to turn into wolves at night would have secured Cartoon Saloon as a major animation studio.
As part of the tribute, Maurice Galway, director and co-founder of the Dingle Animation Festival, presented a program of recent short animations that introduced the audience to the country's atmosphere and the diversity of Irish animation.
The final part of the Irish focus was a program of the best Irish films made at Irish Universities over the past 10 years. If there was any doubt, this group of films proves that the Irish film industry has a bright future ahead of it.
I have written before about Antoine Lanciaut’s delightful feature film for children of all ages, The Secret of the Chickadees. The film is proof that you can go a long way with crafting. The Belgian/French co-production about summer friendship, the fun of archaeology, and the importance of family, is made entirely from paper cutouts.
The film was screened four times. The festival also presented an exhibition, a workshop, and a treasure hunt. The exhibition featured some of the 2,000 paper puppets of human and animal characters and the 826 multi-plane sets that were created to bring the story to life. There was also a making-of video that ran continually on a large screen.
Young and old alike could participate in a workshop to create a living forest right inside The Flagey Theatre exhibition space. After cutting out and coloring your chickadee, you could hang it on a tree and have it become part of an original piece of art.
The Secret of the Chickadees also inspired the festival’s first-ever Great Treasure Hunt. In a team or on your own, you could solve the riddles, find the clues, and uncover the secrets of the hidden treasure. The hunt went on during the entire festival.
During the festival, William Henne, a co-founder of Zorobabel Collective in Brussels, conducted a children’s workshop where young people could conceive and create their own mini-film. Working in stop-motion with a collection of pre-made figures and props, 6 to 12-year-olds learned basic principles of animation.
Active for longer than 30 years, Zorobabel Collective is unique. It not only produces award-winning short films by accomplished professional animators, but it also organizes animation workshops for all age groups and abilities. One workshop allows immigrants to tell their stories. Other workshops are geared to scriptwriting and various skills in the production of animated film.
A very important part of the festival is FuturAnima, the festival’s Industry Days, designed for the Professional Belgian Animation Community. What began as a one or two-day event years ago has now grown into running concurrently throughout most of the festival with numerous workshops and presentations. At Building Your Career In Animation, 2-D animator Pierre Watteyne, who has worked on such films as Titina, Sirocco, and the Kingdom of Air Currents, and The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol, gave a presentation aimed at young animators who are just beginning to work professionally. Watteyne took the audience on a step-by-step journey from the end of his studies to the building of his professional life. He shared advice about applying to studios and recounted how he launched his career. His presentation contained invaluable tips for anyone just beginning their journey on the animation trail as a freelancer.
Initiated last year, the Pitching Sessions are rapidly becoming a popular part of Belgian Industry Days. This year, a dozen pre-selected directors, many with their producers, who were looking for co-producers, pitched their projects. During the two-and-a-half-hour Speed Dating event, Belgian studios that are recruiting for their upcoming projects had an opportunity to have short meet-ups with animators from various arms of the animation industry. The studio representatives reviewed portfolios, and animators got to learn about various studios, what they were specifically looking for, and what the working conditions are like, to see if they could be a good fit.
When is an International Animation Festival NOT Truly International?
Anima Brussels has always been predominantly geared toward a French-speaking audience, although Belgium has three official languages: French, Flemish, and a small part of our country is German-speaking. I have not had any language problems with the festival because I have been attending it for over twenty years, and I know what to expect and how to navigate it.
Most of the films have English subtitles. The program guide, however, is in French and Flemish only, which can pose a problem for a non-French speaker. Until recently, all guests received a thick catalogue which listed a short description of the films, along with a still of all films, all special events, workshops, and installations, as well as Industry Days events. Along with photos and bios of the jury, there was a section in the back of the catalogue with photos of all special guests, along with short bios also in French, Flemish, and English. In the 2017 catalogue, there were 6 pages listing the 24 foreign guests. Sadly, the catalogue was discontinued a few years ago. Now there is only a day-by-day listing of the films, with the screening times, a short description of the film, and ticket information. There are also a few photos from the previous day. The opening and closing ceremonies are now predominantly in French.
That most French of French festivals, Annecy International Animation Festival, has become primarily English-speaking and offers simultaneous translation at the opening and closing ceremonies. Anima Zagreb and Cinanima in Portugal, the second and third oldest festivals in the world, conduct everything, including their schedules in English.
What has prompted me to write this is that this year I heard from two different guests, both of whom are seasoned European festival attendees, neither of whom speaks French, and one of whom is not a native English speaker, but is fluent in it, that they both had a difficult time navigating the festival.
Yes, there was an English schedule online if you scrolled down on the phone, but contrary to popular belief by anyone under 40, not everyone is comfortable or able to do everything online.
Also, non-Belgian festival guests were not listed anywhere, with the exception of the jury, who were shown online. Aside from the 4 or 5 people from other countries that I already knew, I have no idea if there were any other special foreign guests. Although almost all of the festival staff speak English, this was not reflected in the program or on the stage.
Both people who talked to me about the difficulties and confusion that they felt said that they would not recommend Anima Brussels to anyone.
Anima Brussels is a local gem with enviable community engagement. However, its strong emphasis on French-language programming suggests a regional focus rather than a truly international one. It’s a wonderful local celebration, though the 'international' label feels at odds with the current experience.
I want to thank Kevin Giraud in the festival press office for assisting me whenever I needed help.
The next edition of the festival will be from 19 to 28 February 2027
LIST OF WINNING FILMS:
- Jury Award for Best Animated Feature: Allah Is Not Obliged – Zaven Najjar
- Audience Award for Best Animated Feature: Allah Is Not Obliged – Zaven Najjar
- Jury Award for Best Feature for Children: Tales of the Magic Garden – Multi-director
- Audience Award for Best Feature for Children: The Treasure of Barracuda – Adria Garcia
- Mouv Cinéteens Award: Allah Is Not Obliged – Zaven Najjar
- Feature Film Special Mention: Nobody – Shui Yu
- Grand Prix Anima 2026 Award: Une fugue – Agnès Patron
- Audience Award: The Undying Pain of Existence – Oscar Jacobson
- Creative Revelation Award: A Thousand Faces – Elena Rossi
- Best Student Short: Q – Masataka Kihara
- Best Short Film for Children: J’ai trouvé une boîte – Éric Montchaud
- Audience Award for Best Short Film for Children: Full Nest – Elena Walf
- Best Belgian Short Film: Autokar – Sylwia Szkiladz
- Grand Prix for Best Short Film of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles: La Petite Reine blanche – Théo Hanosset, Mathieu Georis
- SABAM Award: La Grand Rêvasion – Rémi Durin
- Author’s Award (SACD): Hugs – Nicolas Fong
- Best Belgian Student Film: Le Casting – Sarah Claes
- Belgian Short Audience Award: Cowboys – Robinson Van Hoof
- BeTV Award for Best Animated Feature: The Square – Kim Bo-sol
- Press Award for Best Short Film: La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles – Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
- Cinergie Award: Charli & the Wolf – Gwenaëlle de Ville
- Young Critics Award: The Undying Pain of Existence – Oscar Jacobson
- BeTV Award Short Film: Like a Beast – Bruno Tondeur
