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Rise & Shine 2025 Reveals Selection
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Ambitious Animation Lab Targets Young Talents
-Organisers are thrilled to announce the projects & participants for the upcoming 2025 program.
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Curated Selection of Shorts from Pool of 60
– A total of eleven animated short films were chosen after thorough evaluation.
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Collaboration Between Animafest Zagreb & Skwigly Animation Magazine
– The schedule for 2025 consists of a three-part program aligned by the two respected entities in animation.
Hot Take
They say it’s lonely at the top, but ‘Rise & Shine’ will be bringing the sun and moon together in 2025 with their ambitious project aimed at young talents and short films. In an interesting take on ‘Survivor’, they’ve narrowed down a massive pool of 60 hopefuls to just 11. These selected projects from budding animation architects will be showcased in a three-part program. It’s like a Pixar-edition of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, but with less singing dogs and more claymation. And it’s all thanks to a collab between Animafest Zagreb, your friendly neighbourhood European animation festival, and Skwigly Animation Magazine, who I’m pretty sure is just a twirly moustache away from being an old-timey local newspaper. Keep an eye on this, folks; it’s set to be more exciting than a hammerless game of whack-a-mole!
Taking Flight: Rise & Shine unveils the animation projects and participants for its 2025 session! We’re thrilled to introduce eleven invigorating animated short films in development, handpicked from over 60 applications, ready to take part in our three-part programme. This collaboration involves three major animation collections including Animafest Zagreb, Animateka IAFF, and CEE Animation. The selected candidates will enhance their skills under the expert supervision of industry professionals, connect with fellow animators, and stand a chance to showcase their project to a wider professional circle beyond both festivals. The opening session of Rise & Shine is set for the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb in June. Following that, the second leg will be held online in October 2025. We’ll conclude with the final round at Animateka International Animated Film Festival in Ljubljana, in December 2025, with a pitching presentation before an international congregation and a prestigious panel of animation professionals. The participants’ journey will be spearheaded by seasoned scriptwriter and pitching mentor Anna Vášová. A special emphasis will be placed on the project’s story, guided by mentor, screenwriter, director and producer Pedro Rivero. They will also gain insights into production specifics from creative producer, Jelena Popović from National Film Board of Canada. “We’re truly elated to usher in the fourth batch of talented individuals and inspiring projects for this year’s Rise & Shine. The selection process proved challenging given the record-breaking number of applications – over 60! For this, we are extremely grateful to our tutors, team, and past participants for not only embarking on this creative journey each year but also championing the programme, helping us attract quality projects with each round.” say project managers, Matea Milić and Saša Bach. Participating projects will vie for several prestigious awards: Rise & Shine Audience Award, CEE Animation Forum Award – securing direct entry to CEE Animation Forum 2026, Rise & Shine Film Centre of Montenegro Award and Short Film Market Clermont-Ferrand Attendance. The highlighted projects are: Refer to the CEE Animation website for more details about these selected projects.
Original article: https://www.skwigly.co.uk/rise-shine-2025-selection-announced/