- Friday’s schedule brings an intense program focused on stop-motion animation and the big names in European animation, featuring Irene Iborra and her “Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake,” Stuart Messinger, and Alberto Vázquez’s “Decorado.”
- On Saturday, November 15, the program offers new conferences, family sessions, national and international screenings, and the feature films “Maya, Give Me a Title” by Michel Gondry and “Arco” by Ugo Bienvenu.
- The festival heads into its final stretch with a weekend packed with talent, creativity, and the best in animated cinema, before its closure on Sunday, November 16, with “Little Amélie.”
SUMMARY OF FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH
In the morning, two of the most important professional activities of the day took place in parallel. From 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, the Rodes Urban Technology Park hosted the Showroom (also open the day before) and the Animalcoi-PRO business meeting, which brought together different production companies from Spain, Valencia, and Europe, creating synergies that will lead to future animation projects.
In addition, Irene Iborra captivated the audience with her talk about the making of the feature film “Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake,” while Stuart Messinger from the legendary Aardman Academy delighted the packed audience at Fundición Rodes with his lecture “Feats of Clay: Life in Stop Motion,” where he explored the communication of thought and emotion through movement. Furthermore, the workshop “Animating the Unseen: Communication of Thought & Emotion” exceeded all expectations, becoming a milestone that will undoubtedly influence the professional trajectory of all attendees.
Also noteworthy was the second and final Pitch Session of the year. While the previous session was dedicated to video game projects, this one focused on animation projects in development.
The day ended at Cines BIC with two of the festival’s most anticipated films: Irene Iborra’s “Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake” and Alberto Vázquez’s “Decorado.” Without a doubt, these two animated feature films are among the best of the year, and after their screening at Animalcoi, they are set to achieve great success in both national and international cinema.
PROGRAM FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH
Saturday’s program at Animalcoi begins at the Rodes Urban Technology Park, with two must-attend events for animation enthusiasts. At 11:00 AM, the conference “40th Anniversary of Grangel Studio: History and Journey” will be held by Jordi Grangel, where we will look back on four decades of one of Europe’s most influential studios in character design for film, with iconic titles such as Corpse Bride, Kung Fu Panda, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
This is followed by another conference, the last of the festival, at 1:00 PM: “Making a Living from Animation Through Social Media,” by Toni Alarco, a creator who has revolutionized stop-motion through Instagram, where he shares his claymation shorts that have garnered millions of views.
In the afternoon, the festival moves to Cines BIC at Alzamora Shopping Center, where the film program takes center stage on its penultimate day. The schedule starts with the Family Shorts Session at 5:00 PM, featuring a selection of works designed for younger audiences, encouraging families to enjoy the magic of animation together.
Next is one of the highlights of the day: the screening of the feature film Maya, Give Me a Title (France, 2025), directed by Michel Gondry. This sensitive and imaginative story, filled with humor, brings Gondry back to his dreamlike universe with a tale that celebrates children’s creativity and the power of dreams.
At 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM, there will be two official screening sessions—Animalcoi Foundation Mutua Levante 2, with national shorts, and Animalcoi Solitium 2, with international shorts. The day will close at 9:30 PM with the much-anticipated Arco (France, 2025), directed by Ugo Bienvenu. The film takes us to the year 2075 to tell the story of a 10-year-old girl who takes in a mysterious child who has fallen from the sky. It’s a visually stunning tale of friendship, empathy, and the search for home.
PREVIEW OF SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH
The final day of Animalcoi promises an emotional and socially committed closure. At 5:00 PM, the Animalcoi Solitium 5 session will take place at Cines BIC in the Alzamora Shopping Center, featuring the last international shorts in competition. At 6:30 PM, there will be a special screening, “To Gaza with Love: Global Anijam,” an international solidarity initiative supporting animation creators in Gaza.
To bid farewell to the festival in grand style, we have one of the year’s major animated films: Little Amélie (France, 2025), directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han. This delicate work explores the first discoveries of childhood.
SPONSORS AND COLLABORATORS
Animalcoi 2025 is supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, the Institut Valencià de Cultura, the City Council of Alcoy, the Diputación de Alicante, and the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Spain; sponsored by the Solitium Group, AITEX, Fundación Mutua Levante, and Alzamora Shopping Center, with the collaboration of Fundación SGAE and the Audiovisual Analysis and Foresight Chair at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). À Punt is the official media partner of the festival.
