ANIMASYROS 2025 - September 22 - 28 2025

ANIMASYROS returns more cosmic than ever, featuring legendary indie animation icon Bill Plympton, international guests from around the globe, nationwide premieres of award-winning films, “Animated Cosmos” as the festival’s main theme, The Great Greek Masters, and a special focus on the vibrant Croatian animation scene!

ANIMASYROS 2025 International Animation Festival

The ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival returns for its 18th edition in the capital of the Cyclades, from September 22 to 28, 2025, with a rich programme that includes 7 competitive sections, special tributes, the Agora - a key reference point for the animation industry in the Eastern Mediterranean - educational workshops, VR lounge, parallel events, and new collaborations.

In its coming-of-age year, ANIMASYROS proudly welcomes the leading figure of independent American animation, the legendary director Bill Plympton. Renowned for his unmistakably personal style, Plympton is a two-time Academy Award nominee (Your Face, Guard Dog) and a Cannes award winner, with collaborations ranging from Madonna and Kanye West to The Simpsons and iconic publications, such as The New Yorker. As the first artist to hand-draw entire animated feature films solo, he stands as a living legend of the medium. This September, he comes to Syros to immerse us in his magical, surreal universe through ten of his films - including Cheatin’ and Your Face - and to lead an inspiring creative masterclass as part of the Agora.

The main theme of this year’s ANIMASYROS edition, titled “Animated Cosmos”, is dedicated to space and runs through all pillars of the Festival. It aims to highlight how the art of animation approaches, explores, and portrays this vast and mysterious realm of human curiosity. As part of the tribute, 25 feature and short films will be screened - from Disney blockbusters like WALL-E and Lightyear, to acclaimed independent European shorts such as Cosmonaut by Kaspar Jancis (Estonia) and Solar Walk by Reka Busci (Hungary).

In addition, both Festival visitors and island residents will have the opportunity to experience the Astrowalker Constellation, a striking night-time, environmental land art installation by visual artist Katerina Kotsala, situated on the islet of Didymi, just across from Ermoupoli.

Among the highlights of ANIMASYROS 2025 screenings are three feature films premiering nationwide.

Hola Frida invites audiences on a journey into the childhood of the iconic Frida Kahlo, portraying her as a lively, curious little girl whose boundless imagination helps her escape a painful and mundane reality. A beautiful, moving, and luminous adventure of a child destined to change the world, this screening is presented in collaboration with and supported by Rosebud.21.

Olivia & The Clouds (Olivia & Las Nubes), by the gifted storyteller Tomás Pichardo Espaillat, is a co-production between the Dominican Republic and Spain that had its world premiere at the 77th Locarno Festival. The film explores the complexities of love through the Rashomon effect, following Olivia as she exchanges flowers with the ghost of a lost love in return for comforting rain clouds.

Lastly, Memory Hotel by Heinrich Sabl - a German-French co-production - is set in 1945, as the Red Army advances into Germany. A child, a Soviet soldier, a Nazi officer, and a Hitler Youth member become trapped in a hotel, bound together over the years in strange and unpredictable ways.

ANIMASYROS 2025 also presents an extensive tribute to the vibrant and ever-evolving Croatian animation scene, curated by Daniel Šuljić, director and artistic director of ANIMAFEST ZAGREB. This curated programme traces the evolution of Croatian animation from the Zagreb School of the 1950s, when Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia and animation production was centered around the legendary Zagreb Film studio, to the present day. The tribute features 28 landmark films from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, alongside contemporary works that continue to inspire cinephiles. Highlights include Surogat (The Substitute), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1962; the Oscar-nominated Tup Tup (1972); and the space-themed short We Used to Call It: Moon (2011).

Greek animation holds a special place at the festival every year. In 2025, a dedicated tribute and exhibition titled The Great Greek Masters will honor the pioneering figures of Greek animation. Curated by director and animator Kleopatra Korai and filmmaker Dimitris Bellos, the programme invites audiences to discover historic films that shaped the genre in Greece. The tribute will also welcome four legendary Greek animators - Iordanis Ananiadis, Yiannis Koutsouris, Yiorgos Sifianos, and Anta Ganosi - as honored guests of the Festival.

During the call for submissions to the Festival’s Competition Sections, which opened in February 2025 and closed on June 1st, over 3,000 entries were received from 115 countries. This year, the International Competition Programme of ANIMASYROS 2025 features films that have garnered acclaim at prestigious international festivals, alongside timeless works by globally renowned professionals. The International Student Programme showcases the best student films from internationally recognized schools, while the International Panorama highlights original and groundbreaking works, both technically and artistically, from around the world. As every year, the finest Greek films compete in the Greek Competition Programme, with an award sponsored by the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Centre - Creative Greece. Additionally, the rich competition lineup includes K.ID.S films, presenting animation works for children and families, as well as the Animapride section, featuring films with LGBTQI+ themes.

The selections for the Competition Sections will be announced in early September on the Festival’s official website: animasyros.gr

ANIMASYROS 2025 Agora

As part of the Agora, ANIMASYROS is continuing - now for a second year - its strategic partnership with the International Animation Film Market (MIFA) of the Annecy Festival, the largest animation festival in the world, with the support of the Institut français (Paris), The Hive Studio Greece, and SKY express, Official Partner and Air Transport Sponsor of the Festival. Specifically, the Agora Pitching Forum of ANIMASYROS will once again be part of the International MIFA Campus, an international programme aimed at supporting young creators and artists from Mediterranean countries, namely Greece, Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Tunisia, in 2025, by providing them with skills and experience. A total of six (6) professionals from these countries will participate in the programme.

From September 23 to 26, the 4-day Pitching Coaching Workshop will be held as part of the International MIFA Campus in Syros. The Pitching Workshop Tutors will be acclaimed audiovisual professionals selected by the Annecy International Animation Film Market (MIFA) team. During the workshop, the six participants will develop their projects to meet the challenges of the international market and will be effectively prepared to participate in the Pitch Partenaire to be held in June 2026 in Annecy. The Greek-language project selected to participate in the International MIFA Campus will be awarded a prize of €1,500 from ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation), while MUSOU Music Group will grant an award consisting of services for original music composition, music supervision, securing intellectual property rights, and sound design.

At the same time, as every year, the presentations, roundtables, seminars, masterclasses, and networking events organized within the framework of the ANIMASYROS Agora offer the international audience - whether animation professionals or enthusiasts - the opportunity to expand their network, promote their work, connect with industry experts, and engage with the global animation community.

Some prominent figures from the international animation community who will be present at the ANIMASYROS 2025 Agora include:

Legendary director Bill Plympton, two-time Oscar nominee, and widely regarded as the king of independent American animation, will be in Syros to deliver a dynamic and inspiring creative masterclass. Extra bonus: Masterclass participants will also receive an original hand-drawn sketch by Bill Plympton!
Bill Kinder, Director of Editorial and Postproduction at the Pixar Animation Studios, has contributed to the company’s success for over 18 years, editing films such as Finding Nemo (2003), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and Brave (2012). Earlier in his career, he worked as a producer on Emmy-nominated documentaries and also led the post-production department at American Zoetrope.
Rising Armenian animation director Tigran Arakelyan, known for his work on films such as Aurora’s Sunrise (2022), presents his work-in-progress feature film ZAKO, a co-production with the French company Sacre Bleu, known for the Oscar-winning Flow. The film tells the true story of Armenian painter Sargis Mangasaryan, who survived a Nazi labor camp by drawing portraits of his tormentors.

Other topics to be presented include new technologies and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in animation production, as well as animation film financing in Ireland, Lithuania, Croatia, and Greece, with representatives from Animation Ireland, the Lithuanian film production community, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), Zagreb Film, and EKΚOMED - Creative Greece participating. At the same time, as part of the Creative Europe MEDIA Talks, Anna Kassimatis and Susana Costa Pereira, from the Creative Europe Desks of Greece and Portugal, respectively, will discuss available funding schemes – including Creative Europe MEDIA – national supports, as well as the challenges and opportunities within the fragmented financing landscape for animated content in Europe. Furthermore, as part of the tribute to the ever-evolving and highly active Croatian animation scene, creators and producers from the region (Sunčana Brkulj, Veljko Popović, and Jure Bušić) will be present in Syros. This year's Agora will also embrace the Festival’s central theme, "Animated Cosmos", dedicated to space.

Two longtime friends and beloved figures of ANIMASYROS, animation journalist and historian Nancy Denney-Phelps and legendary British animator Joanna Quinn, recently honored at Annecy with an Honorary Cristal for her lifetime contribution to the art form, come together to present each other’s books. Denney-Phelps, in her book On the Animation Trail: 20 Years of Animation Festival History, shares her experiences in a personal and engaging tone, traveling to major animation festivals around the world - including ANIMASYROS. Meanwhile, Quinn, through Beryl - co-written with her longtime collaborator and screenwriter Les Mills - reveals the behind-the-scenes process of creating the eponymous animated short, showcasing early sketches, storyboards, and final artworks, and offering a comprehensive look into the production journey.

Additionally, in collaboration with Deree – The American College of Greece, Festival’s Academic Partner, Associate Professor Dr. Georgia-Zozetta Miliopoulou presents the masterclass Creativity and Art: Teaching or Learning? 10 Principles That Keep Us Going. Centered on the idea that while some things cannot be directly taught, everything can be learned, the lecture will emphasize the importance of adaptability, the balance between creative freedom and discipline, and lifelong learning within the fields of art and the creative industries.

Another highlight of this year’s Agora is the Artist’s Corner featuring Gary Thomas, co-founder and director of Animate Projects - the leading UK agency specializing in experimental animation. Presented in collaboration with the British Council, Thomas will discuss Animate Projects’ “residency-commission” philosophy and introduce Planting, a support programme for emerging creators based in the city of Derby.

Finally, as part of ANIMASYROS’ ongoing initiatives to strengthen Greek animation, an intensive three-day workshop will be held for the first time this year, led by Ivan Zuber, producer and co-founder of Laïdak Films. The workshop is specifically dedicated to Greek animation producers and will focus on project development and international co-production opportunities. This initiative is supported by the Institut Français (Paris) and the Hellenic Centre for Audiovisual Media and Communication – Creative Greece.

Once again this year, the ANIMASYROS Agora stage will host the highly successful Greek Animation Talks, where Greek creators discuss their work, explore the challenges of the creative process, and share best practices. This year, the Greek Animation Talks are presented by the acclaimed filmmaker and professor Eva Stefani.

The speed dating sessions will also return for the third consecutive year, supported by Enterprise Greece. Greek creators selected by ANIMASYROS will participate in short 20-minute meetings with internationally acclaimed producers and artists from Europe and around the world, pitch their ideas and share their artistic and professional aspirations, aiming to find co-productions or even professional opportunities in the international animation scene.

Educational Workshops

Educational workshops, a key pillar of ANIMASYROS, draw inspiration this year from the Festival’s central theme, "Animated Cosmos". Together with acclaimed international artists and professionals, such as Renen Adar, Coke Riobóo Cortes, and Antonija Veljačić - as well as beloved ANIMASYROS educators Margarita Simopoulou, Elena Pavlaki, Agisilaos Rombolas, Anna Oikonomou, Thomas Künstler, and Manos Mastorakis - children, teenagers, adults, people with disabilities, and seniors aged 65+ will experiment with diverse animation techniques. They will bring the planets of our solar system to life, cook up cosmic soups with stars, moons, and comets, create surreal alien scenes, and embark on unforgettable intergalactic adventures.