Zolt\u00e1n Varga<\/strong> will officially open an exhibition dedicated to Hungary\u2019s oldest animation film festival, held in the chamber hall of H\u00edr\u00f6s Ag\u00f3ra. Following the opening, audiences will be treated to a curated 90-minute retrospective featuring some of the most memorable award-winning short films from KAFF\u2019s illustrious history.<\/p>\nThis year would mark the 80th birthday of Csaba Varga<\/strong>, one of the most versatile figures in Hungarian animation. His film The Wind (A sz\u00e9l), which is also featured at KAFF, was recognized in Krakow in 1998 as one of the greatest animation works ever made. Varga founded the Ixilon Studio in P\u00e9cs, which joined Pannonia Film Studio in 1979. A decade later, he became the first to establish an independent animation studio in Hungary. Co-founded with Andr\u00e1s Erkel, Varga Studio became one of the most influential animation workshops of the 1990s, renowned not only for its high-profile international commissions but also for its dedication to supporting auteur animation.<\/p>\nLast year would have marked the 90th birthday of J\u00f3szef Nepp<\/strong>, the creator of works such as The M\u00e9zga Family and Dr. Bub\u00f3, who was honored with both the Bal\u00e1zs B\u00e9la and Kossuth Awards. Nepp was virtually an institution in Hungarian animation history. Within Pannonia Film Studio, he was referred to as the \u201call-rounder\u201d or \u201cjolly joker,\u201d who, in addition to directing his own films, contributed as a screenwriter, animator, background designer, and even composer, assisting his colleagues with their projects. His body of work is primarily defined by grotesque and dark humor, through which he frequently held up a distorted mirror to human weaknesses and compromises. His sharp wit is evident in his full-length animated feature, the 1984 cult classic Snow White (H\u00f3feh\u00e9r), which will be screened on a giant projector in the main square of Kecskem\u00e9t.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jozsef-Nepps-Snow-White-Hofeher-1984-800x233.jpg\")
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J\u00f3zsef Nepp\u2019s Snow White (H\u00f3feh\u00e9r 1984)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
According to a legend, in the early 1970s, there was a saying in Cannes that \u201cthere are two extreme lunatics in Hungarian cinema\u201d: Mikl\u00f3s Jancs\u00f3 in live-action films and S\u00e1ndor Reisenb\u00fcchler, the Bal\u00e1zs B\u00e9la and Kossuth Award-winning animator, in animated short films. Reisenb\u00fcchler, who would have turned 90 this year, is an unmistakably unique figure in Hungarian cinema, known for his consistently developed, cohesive body of work. He carried the spirit of the 1960s, particularly the values of pop art, into the realm of animated filmmaking. In his sweeping, visionary, and sometimes grotesque works, he appears as a passionate prophet concerned about the future of humanity, a conscious creator, and a dedicated environmentalist.<\/p>\n
This year would mark the 90th birthday of Bal\u00e1zs B\u00e9la Award-winning Artist of Merit B\u00e9la Vajda<\/strong>, one of the representatives of animated documentary in Hungary, who also made a lasting contribution to caricature animation. His most significant work is Moto perpetuo, which won the Palme d\u2019Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980 and will be screened at KAFF.<\/p>\nFinally, to celebrate the 111th anniversary of Hungarian animation, the festival will showcase the best of Hungarian animation in three 90-minute blocks, spanning from the 1960s to the present. The selection includes award-winning short films that have been honored at major international festivals, from Cannes to Berlin, from Annecy to the Academy Awards.<\/p>\n
KAFF\u2019S Programme is Announced<\/h4>\n
From 409 films from 23 countries, the pre-selection committees have now selected the competition programme of the Kecskem\u00e9t Animation Film Festival. Eight films have been shortlisted for the animated feature film competition, including works that have won awards at the world\u2019s most prestigious film festivals. This year, 6 European TV specials, 11 European and 6 Hungarian TV series, 15 Hungarian short films, 30 Hungarian applied animations and 18 Hungarian student films will compete at Hungary\u2019s biggest animated film competition.<\/p>\n
Academy Award-winner Michel Hazanavicius\u2019 hand-drawn animation (in collaboration with Kecskem\u00e9tfilm),\u00a0The Most Precious of Cargoes<\/em>, which debuted in Cannes last year, is a Holocaust story wrapped in a fairytale.<\/p>\nThe Academy Award-nominee Claude Barras\u2019\u00a0Savages<\/em>, a Cannes-debutant as well, received the Kids Award la Mobiliare at the Locarno Film Festival. An environmental tale for children and adults alike, the film is set in the rainforests of Borneo, where a small girl discovers the values of nature and her own people.<\/p>\nThe work of S\u00e9bastien Laudenbach,\u00a0Chicken for Linda!<\/em>\u00a0is a real family film about the power of forgiveness with lots of humour. It is an absurd adventure of a simple request, and a mother-daughter relationship, from the kitchen to the police station. The film won the category of Best Animated Feature Film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2023, and the category of Best Animated Film at the C\u00e9sar Awards in 2024.<\/p>\nThe work of Filip Po\u0161iva\u010d,\u00a0Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light<\/em>\u00a0is a tale of a shining boy and an eccentric girl who overcome darkness through their friendship. The Czech-Slovak-Hungarian co-production stop-motion film won the Contrechamp Award of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2023.<\/p>\nBeno\u00eet Chieux\u2019s spectacular, dynamic fantasy adventure,\u00a0Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams<\/em>, combines imagination and reality. Winner of Audience Award in Annecy in 2023, also in Zagreb in 2024, the film follows the adventures of two sisters as they discover the world of Sirocco, Lord of the Winds, through the pages of a book.<\/p>\nGints Zilbalodis\u2019\u00a0Flow<\/em>\u00a0is a hypnotic visual experience. It is the survival tale of a cat, and tells the story of friendship, trust, adaptation and cooperation. The film won the categories of the Jury and Audience Awards as well as the Best Original Music Award for a Feature Film at the Annecy Festival last year and has triumphed at this year\u2019s Academy Awards, at the Golden Globes, and at the European Film Awards, where it won the category of Best Animated Feature.<\/p>\nAnd finally, Isabel Herguera\u2019s\u00a0Sultana\u2019s Dream<\/em>, which won the Grand Prix both at the Annecy Festival and at Animafest Zagreb, is a visually rich essay film for adults, spanning three time periods. It is a tale of a feminist utopia, cultural heritage and self-discovery.<\/p>\nIn the Hungarian Competition for Best Feature Film, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Cs\u00e1ki\u2019s multiple award-winning\u00a0K\u00e9k Pelikan<\/em>\u00a0(Pelikan Blue) is in competition with Csaba M\u00e1li and Zsolt P\u00e1lfi\u2019s\u00a0Csongor \u00e9s T\u00fcnde<\/em>\u00a0(The Quest). In the other categories, 6 European TV specials, 11 European and 6 Hungarian TV series, 15 Hungarian short films (including Mirj\u00e1na Balogh\u2019s\u00a0Wish You Were Ear<\/em>, Vikt\u00f3ria Traub\u2019s\u00a0Cip\u0151k \u00e9s Pat\u00e1k\u00a0<\/em>(Shoes and Hooves), P\u00e9ter V\u00e1cz\u2019s\u00a0Kutyaf\u00fcl<\/em>\u00a0(Dog Ear) and Tomek Ducki\u2019s\u00a0Disc+Dog<\/em>), 30 Hungarian applied animations and 18 student films have been selected for Hungary\u2019s biggest animated film festival.<\/p>\nView the full programme of competition films here.<\/a><\/p>\n
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