ANIMAFEST PRO | RISE & SHINE 2025

RISE & SHINE 2025

05/06 THU 15:00-20:00 STUDIO GALERIJA KLET
06-07/06 FRI-SAT 09:00-18:00 STUDIO GALERIJA KLET
IN ENGLISH, FOR PARTICIPANTS ONLY.

Rise & Shine is a project development and pitching lab for first and second-time professional filmmakers and their short films (up to 20 minutes) divided into three parts and organized by Animafest Zagreb and Animateka IAFF in collaboration with CEE Animation in three modules: focus on script, project follow-up, focus on pitch.

Mentors
Jelena Popović is a seasoned producer working at National Film Board of Canada. Jelena has extensive experience in animation, she edited several animated films including Patrick Doyon's Academy Award-nominated short Sunday (2011) and she has been a producer at the NFB Animation Studio since January 2014, where she has since released over 20 multi-awarded films, such as The Boat People (2023), Manivald (2017) or Hedgehog’s Home (2017), as well as VR animated film The Orchid and the Bee (2020).

Pedro Rivero (Bilbao, 1969) is a screenwriter, director and producer of animated films. He has won two Goya Awards for the short film Birdboy (2012) and the feature film Psiconautas los niños olvidados (Birdboy, the Forgotten Children, 2017), and is author of the first Spanish Flash animation film released in commercial theatres, La crisis carnívora (Animal Crisis, 2008). He was co-screenwriter of the live action feature film The Platform (2019), directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, which was awarded at the Sitges and Toronto festivals and is one of the most watched films in the history of the Netflix platform. He is artistic director of the Bilbao International Animation Community Festival - Animakom Fest, and has participated as a jury member and lecturer at numerous animation film festivals. He was president of the Professional Association of Scriptwriters of the Basque Country between 2002 and 2008 and a member of the Board of Directors since its foundation in 1997. Rivero is author of comics and theatrical texts, he has taught scriptwriting for film at several centres and academies for more than twenty years.

Anna Vášová started as a script executive for the Czech TV. She also lectured at the Academy of Performing Arts and wrote scripts for the theatre/TV/radio. Later she headed the production arm of Barrandov Studios and became the Director of Programmes at Czech TV. From there, she moved for 15 years to Eurovision in Geneva, where she coordinated over 50 co-productions across 86 TVs in 56 countries. After her return to Prague in 2015, Anna became a member of the Czech TV Director’s Advisory board, led two sectors at the Visegrad Animation Forum and served as member of the FAMU Artistic Board. She also returned to independent scriptwriting, script-advising and tutoring. In 2018 Anna set up an animation production company 13ka (13ka.eu) together with a fresh producer Karolina Davidova. Since then, Anna works there as a producer, scriptwriter and script editor. Her latest published work is The Websters Movie (2022, dir. Katarina Kerekesova), where Anna acted as a writer and producer. She occasionally lectures at FAMU, works as an expert for MEDIA programme, and participates at festivals and workshops as a tutor or a jury member.

Projects
1. Daylight, Ayala Shoshana Guy, Fabian Driehorst, Fabian&Fred GmbH, DE
2. Family Recipe, Lou-Anne Gérard, Titouan Tillier, Frigo Films, FR
3. I Was Born Under This Tree, Mihaela Mîndru, FR / MD
4. The Place of Home, Henri Veermäe, Erik Heinsalu, GRAFIK OÜ, EE
5. Lovers in a Dangerous Time, Daniel Sterlin-Altman, Alexandre de Paillerets, Une boîte de plus, FR
6. Redefining Island, Julie Černá, Michaela Režová, Pure Shore, CZ
7. Runaway Heart, Mery Gobec, Nataša Vugrinec, Studio Virc, SI
8. Seal the Deal, Lea Vučko, Damir Grbanović, Octopics, SI
9. Sighthounds, Marko Por, SI
10. The Chestnut Fair, Valeria Weerasinghe, Eleonora Muzzi, Sayonara Film, IT
11. Waltz on the Shore, Anna Tőkés, Bálint Gelley, CUB Animation, HU