On Friday, May 22, the seventeenth edition of the VAFI & RAFI – International Children and Youth Animated Film Festival officially concluded in Varaždin. The festival is organized by the Creative Film Studio VANIMA association. More than one thousand animated films from 96 countries were submitted for this year’s edition, and the selection committees chose 155 films for the official competitions, which, in addition to Varaždin, also took place in Ludbreg, Novi Marof and Ivanec. More than 2000 viewers attended the screenings throughout the week.
Following the RAFI part of the festival, screenings in the VAFI section were held in Varaždin, where 95 animated films by young authors competed. The professional VAFI jury watched all six official screenings, and awards for the best animated films were presented at the festival’s closing ceremony.
This year’s professional jury consisted of Jelena Oroz, animator and Assistant Professor of Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Eunyoung Choi, representative of the partner country, the Republic of Korea, and Finnish animator Oona Tiirakari. The award ceremony took place at the Youth and Independent Culture Center P4.
The jury decided that the first prizes would go to the films “A Place for Questions” by young authors from the Portuguese group Anilupa in the MINI category, “Pink Christmas” by a group of authors from Belgium in the MIDI category, and “Seven Minutes” by author Keti Tropša from the School of Animated Film Čakovec in the MAXI category.
The members of the Blue VAFI jury — Marina Knežević Barišić from the UNICEF Croatia Office, Melita Forjan Horvatek, long-time media educator and founder and leader of the ZAG film group, and Ana Kirin, editor-in-chief of the portal medijskapismenost.hr — watched the films in the official VAFI competition and decided to award the first prize to the Belgian film “Pink Christmas.”
According to the jury, this film by young authors addresses a timeless and important topic — the richness that diversity and self-acceptance bring to an entire community. Through an engaging and unexpected story combined with humor, the young filmmakers speak about this important issue in a way meaningful to every child. The film once again demonstrates the importance of enabling creative expression for every child, as well as the fact that children have important and powerful messages that can change the communities in which they grow up for the better.
After the closing ceremony, festival ambassador, animator, and Oscar winner Josh Staub thanked everyone for participating, alongside festival coordinator Tena Bošnjaković and festival director Hrvoje Selec on behalf of the organizers. They also announced that the partner country of next year’s festival will be the Republic of India.
This year’s edition of the VAFI & RAFI Festival was once again held under the patronage of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the City of Varaždin, and Varaždin County. The realization of the festival was supported by co-organizers including the Youth and Independent Culture Center P4, Varaždin Concert Office, Public Open University Varaždin and Cinema GAJ, the “Dragutin Novak” Center for Culture and Information Ludbreg, Public Open University Novi Marof, Public Open University “Đuro Arnold” Ivanec, ASIFA Croatia, and the Croatian Film Association.
The organizers would like to thank all patrons, co-organizers, numerous partners, and media representatives who contributed to the successful realization of this important event.
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