The second edition of Rise & Shine – an Animation development & pitching Lab for young talents and their short films is underway. Organized as a collaboration between Animafest Zagreb, Animateka IAFF and CEE Animation, the two-part workshop is aimed at short films in development. Participants will train their skills through guidance from experienced industry professionals, network with fellow animators, as well as have the opportunity to introduce their project to a wider international professional audience connected to both festivals.

Workshops will take place as part of Animafest Zagreb from 7 – 10 June 2023, where participants will receive a programme of lectures, individual and group sessions with experienced film professionals in the field of animation. A special focus will be on the story of the project, which they will work on with mentors.The second part will take place at Animateka on 26 – 29 November 2023, where selected teams will receive lessons focused on pitching preparations and improving their presentation skills. On-site in Ljubljana, the selected teams will also participate in the pitching presentation. The winning project(s) of this pitching competition will be invited to the CEE Animation Forum 2024.

Selected projects:

1. Coddiwomple, Petko Modev, Vessela Dancheva-Bogdanova, Bulgaria
2. Reiss Dich Mal Zusammen, Marion Taschler, Saskia von Virág, Switzerland
3. Period Drama, Michaela Mihalyi, Jakub Rálek, Slovakia, Czech Republic
4. Demon of the Marshes, Martin Pertlíček, Martin Novotny, Kamila Dohnalová, Czech Republic
5. Georgeta, Sybil Marzin-Thélémaque, Clara Marquardt, Francuska
6. Now, Katrin Novaković, Miljenka Čogelja, Croatia
7. Creaturas, Carolina Bonzinho, Laura Gonçalves, Portugal
8. Plastic Aches, Andrea Guizar, Roza Misztela, Mexico, Poland
9. Cosmonauts, Leo Černic, Tina Smrekar, Slovenia, Italy
10. Shio, Ana Markozashvili, Natia Nikolashvili, Georgia
11. A Horse in SwanSea, Maria Brudașcă, Constantine Benea, Romania (qualified as the winner of Pitch, please! 2022, Animest Bucharest IAFF)

Mentors:

Michael Dudok de Wit was born (1953) and educated in the Netherlands. After school he studied etching in Geneva, and animation at Farnham, England, where he made his first film The Interview. After animating for a year in Barcelona he settled in London in 1980. Working free-lance with different studios, in particular with the production company Richard Purdum Productions, he directed and animated many award winning commercials and films for television and cinema. In 1992 he created his short Tom Sweep, followed by The Monk and the Fish which was made at the studio Folimage, France. This film was nominated for an Oscar and it won a César. His best known short film Father and Daughter won the Grand Prix at Animafest and in Annecy, an Oscar and a BAFTA award. In 2004 he completed his short film The Aroma of Tea and he has recently written and directed the feature film The Red Turtle in France with Prima Linea Productions. The Red Turtle was a Wild Bunch - Studio Ghibli coproduction. It was nominated for an Oscar (2017) and it has won the Special Prize at Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2016, as well as numerous other international awards including Grand Prix at Animafest Zagreb. Michael also illustrates books and gives masterclasses on animation, creativity and related subjects at art colleges and universities in the UK and abroad.

Pedro Rivero (Bilbao, 1969) is a screenwriter, director and producer of animated films. He has won two Goya Awards for the short film Birdboy (2012) and the feature film Psiconautas los niños olvidados (2017), and is the author of the first Spanish Flash animation film released in commercial theatres, La crisis carnívora (2008). He was also the co-screenwriter of the live action feature film The Platform (2019), directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, which was awarded at the Sitges and Toronto festivals and is one of the most watched films in the history of the Netflix platform. He is the artistic director of the Bilbao International Animation Community Festival - Animakom Fest, and has participated as a jury member and lecturer at numerous animation film festivals. He was president of the Professional Association of Scriptwriters of the Basque Country between 2002 and 2008 and a member of the Board of Directors since its foundation in 1997. Rivero is author of comics and theatrical texts, he has taught scriptwriting for film at several centres and academies for more than twenty years.

Anna Vasova started her career as a script executive for the Czech TV. She also lectured at the Academy of Performing Arts and wrote scripts for the theatre/TV/radio. Later she headed the production arm of Barrandov Studios and became the Director of Programmes at Czech TV. From there, she moved for 15 years to Eurovision in Geneva, where she coordinated over 50 co-productions across 86 TVs in 56 countries. After her return to Prague in 2015, Anna became a member of the Czech TV Director’s Advisory board, led two sectors at the Visegrad Animation Forum and served as member of the FAMU Artistic Board. She also returned to independent scriptwriting, script-advising and tutoring. In 2018 Anna set up an animation production company 13ka (13ka.eu) together with a fresh producer Karolina Davidova. Since then, Anna works there as a producer, scriptwriter and script editor. Her latest published work is The Websters Movie (2022, dir Katarina Kerekesova), where Anna acted as a writer and producer. She occasionally lectures at FAMU, works as an expert for MEDIA programme, and participates at festivals and workshops as a tutor or a jury member.