AFN EDU: MOJ LIK IN JAZ
28–30. 11. 2026
Slovenska kinoteka
Miklošičeva 28, Ljubljana
MENTOR
Luca Tóth
AFN Edu: My Character and Me
The Animation Festival Network educational programme, AFN Edu, proudly presents its fifth animation workshop for young professionals and students. It will take place during the 23rd Animateka International Animated Film Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
This 3-day workshop introduces participants to the art of character development in animation, through playful exploration exercises. The participants will be drawing and working with a live model and explore different ways of seeing and drawing the human figure. Through playful drawing exercises using pen, charcoal, and other analogue materials, they will investigate gesture, movement, attitude, mood, and the bodily experience of being in a pose. The aim is to discover a playful and increasingly empathic way of observing and understanding a character.
The focus of the workshop will then shift from observation to character and storytelling. Through film excerpts, discussion and analysis, participants look at how characters are constructed within a narrative: what makes a character recognisable, what communicates personality, how gesture and appearance can suggest a story, and how a character changes depending on the world around them. Participants begin developing their own characters and gather visual and narrative research around it.
The final day is about bringing the material together. Participants bring their research based on the discussions and select one character developed from their workshop exercises to finalize.
About the tutor
Luca Tóth is a Hungarian animation director and illustrator, born in 1989. She studied animation at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. After receiving her BA diploma, she went on to pursue a master’s degree at Royal College of Art in London. Her graduation film The Age of Curious won the Jury Distinction Prize at Annecy International Animated Film Festival. After studying and working in the UK, Luca moved back to Budapest where she made her first independent short animation Superbia, which premiered at Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2016, and got selected into more that 80 international festivals. Her independent short film Mr. Mare debuted at Berlinale in 2019.
What is AFN Edu?
AFN Edu is aimed at reaching and developing young filmmakers by introducing them to the world of animation industry, experts and future collaborators through a series of lectures and workshops as well as networking opportunities at each festival.
Allongside AFN, connecting five leading animation festivals from Central and Eastern Europe, partners of the programme also include renowned animation schools, such as Ostravska Univerzita (CZ), VŠMU Bratislava (SK), School of Arts Nova Gorica (SI), National University of Theater and Film – UNATC “I.L.Caragiale” in Bucharest (RO), and Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb (HR).
What is AFN?
The Animation Festival Network is a network connecting five leading animation festivals from Central and Eastern Europe (the CEE region), all dedicated exclusively to auteur animated films for both young and adult audiences. With the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb (Croatia) as the network coordinator, the network also includes Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films (Czech Republic), Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Slovakia), Animest International Animation Film Festival (Romania), and Animateka International Animated Film Festival (Slovenia). One of our long-term plans is to gradually expand the network by slowly including more animation festivals.
Animation Festival Network is supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA.