The Heart of Animafest Presented to Margit Buba Antauer

Although the annual festival awards are already known, another special award, The Heart of Animafest, was presented last night to Margit Buba Antauer

After the official opening on Sunday, Animafest’s film programmes began on Monday, 6 June at 8 pm in front of the gathered foreign and local guests, more than three hundred of them, with a presentation of jury members and a Q&A with the authors of films from Grand Competition - Short Film 1. Although the annual festival awards are already known, another special award, The Heart of Animafest, was presented last night to Margit Buba Antauer for her half a century of commitment to the World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb.

I am seldom speechless, seldom confused, seldom shaken to the core, but that is what happened to me today. I once received one award from ASIFA in Annecy, but this one is ours today, among us, and for a festival that is really a part of my life because I gave it so much love and effort. I always hoped to live to see this 50th birthday and what I see today. As long as we have a team like this and as long as there are audiences and authors who love Zagreb and come to it, as long as they are there – we will have a festival. I hope it will last at least another 50 years – said Buba.

The first part of Monday was marked by gathering at the Rise & Shine pitching lab, where Oscar nominees Joanna Quinn and Les Mills were among the celebrity mentors. This was followed by a lecture by Pedro Rivero, known not only for the scripts of award-winning animated films, but also for the Netflix hit film Platform.