The second edition of Rise & Shine Animation Lab for young talents and their short films hosted 11 amazing projects. The organizing team shared with us that each and every one of them showed tremendous progress during the six months they have spent with the tutors Anna Vašova, Michael Dudok De Wit and Pedro Rivero. It was equally beautiful to witness how all participants formed a cohesive group of supporting peers and friends, sincerely cheering for each other.

The first award is the CEE Animation Forum 2024 direct access award. It goes to the director – producer duo that combines creativity, empathy and high production quality, bringing us a story and characters, that is very easy to fall in love with. The winner of this award is the project COSMONAUTS by Leo Černic and Tina Smrekar from Finta Film, Slovenia.

The other award is the Winner of the Rise&Shine 2023 Award. It is a double-invitation to 2024 Animafest Zagreb and Animateka festivals. This award goes to the talented director – producer duo, that we believe will deliver a great film, which removes the stigma from an important everyday issue. The award goes to Period Drama by Michaela Michalyi and Jakub Ralek from BFilm, CZ.

Novice