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Black Sea Animation Shorts at Annecy: A Cross-Regional Pitch Event Showcasing New Animated Projects from the Black Sea Countries

The Black Sea Animation Shorts project presentation will take place on June 12, 14:15–15:30, in the Berlioz Room at the Imperial Palace. Organized as part of the Partner Pitches at the Annecy International Animation Festival’s Market (MIFA), the event is open to all accredited badgeholders and will showcase five short animation projects from emerging talents across the Black Sea Region.

This session marks the next step in a collaborative process launched in 2024 through the Black Sea Animation Workshop, a professional development program co-organized by partners from Georgia, Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. The initiative builds on a decade-long collaboration between SaqAnima (Georgia) and the Annecy Festival through the “Animation du Monde” program. The 2024 edition was hosted in Tbilisi with mentoring support from Annecy’s expert network and brought together ten filmmakers from across the Black Sea Region. Five of them were selected to present their work at Annecy.

Following the project pitches, a brief introduction to the regional animation landscape will be given by the event’s co-organizers:
Mariam Kandelaki (SaqAnima, Georgia),
Prof. Dr. Nazlı Eda Noyan (Anim.Ist, Türkiye),
Vessela Dantcheva (Sofia Animation Lab, Bulgaria),
Helga Fodorean (Animest Festival, Romania),
Anastasiya Verlinska (Linoleum Animation Festival, Ukraine).

The Black Sea Animation Shorts event is supported by the French Institute, Ministry of Culture of Georgia, Georgian National Film Center, Bulgarian National Film Fund, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Institut Français de Roumanie, who all share the vision of strengthening creative cooperation and visibility for the animation industry in the Black Sea countries.

The event reflects a shared commitment to developing talent and building international networks across the region. Organizers hope this opportunity will lead to stronger creative ties and increased industry interest in the stories and voices emerging from this culturally rich area.

During the festival, you can connect with the national delegations at MIFA: Romania at the Animation Festival Network booth (F.09), Georgia at the Saqanima booth (F.07), and Ukraine at their designated booth (F.21).