Animafest

Long-running Animafest likes to promote itself as ‘Croatia’s only A-list film festival’; in the world of animation it is second only to Annecy in terms of international prestige, and does indeed attract the global cream. This year’s event will kick off with the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to Michel Ocelot (born 1943), the legendary French animator whose luminous, magical, endlessly inventive films will form a special season within the festival. Watch out for his African-folklore-themed breakthrough feature Kirikou & the Sorceress (1998) and his 2007 video for Björk’s song Earth Intruders. The rest of the programme features the best recent work from around the globe and there are eagerly-contested prizes at the end of the week.