Winners

Through the metaphor of a space odyssey, the filmmaker takes us on a journey through the emotional turmoil the main character faces, after being diagnosed with a terminal disease, and shows us the struggles she has to deal with. The film is drawing a poetic parallel with Laika, the dog, who was sent into space never to return, facing the unknown and certain death.

The simple, colorful style, illustrates the love for life of this young girl, and juxtaposes it with the dark prospect she is facing. We enjoyed the mix of abstract design and exaggerated visuals with subtle acting choices and a layered narrative.

It moved us deeply to see the loneliness of death, contrasted with the love of her family in a very imaginative way.

Special Mentions:

1. Even though the film is open for multiple interpretations, it clearly addresses current issues in our civilization. In a quiet, controlled manner, it created a disturbing atmosphere, that captured us.
2. We were touched by the very heartfelt tale, told with warmth and humor. We loved the subtlety of the acting and the attention to detail that went into the puppets.

For its striking animation and emotional depth, OUR WALLS offers a profoundly moving portrayal of the mother, daughter relationship, using visual metaphor with remarkable sensitivity and intelligence. Through powerful imagery, Živa Divjak transforms personal experience into a universal reflection on love, distance, inheritance, and the evolving bonds between generations. With visual precision and emotional honesty, the film becomes a poignant meditation on the circle of life and the invisible walls that both separate and connect us.

Special Mention:

GENTLY earns a Special Mention for its masterful creation of atmospheric tension, using a striking interplay of sound and image to sustain a constant sense of unease. Through restrained yet emotionally powerful animation, the film immerses the viewer in a child’s fragile perception of fear, where ordinary domestic spaces become charged with threat. Its precise audiovisual language, psychological intensity, and deeply affecting perspective create an experience that is both intimate and haunting.

For its delicate and evocative animation, ANTONIO stands out as a work of remarkable sensitivity and artistic maturity. Through a refined visual language, it transforms a culturally rooted tradition into a universally resonant reflection on childhood, curiosity, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

Special Mention:

A technically accomplished film in which shapes and colours drift, attract, and dissolve into one another, creating a sensual visual language that beautifully evokes intimacy and physical connection. With remarkable precision in animation and composition, the film transforms forms into a tactile emotional experience, capturing tenderness, desire, and closeness in a way that feels both playful and deeply human. Through its bold aesthetic choices and poetic visual storytelling, it offers a unique and memorable exploration of sensuality.

This film is a striking work of visual poetry, blending symbolic 2D animation, poetic drawings, and documentary-like realism into a unique and deeply personal cinematic language. Through its harmonic fusion of styles, it tells a raw and moving story about survival, identity, friendship, and growing up in an unforgiving world.

The jury was especially impressed by the film’s powerful symbolic imagery and poetic storytelling, exploring how loss, destruction, and change become essential forces in human growth and emotional maturity, resulting in a bold and unforgettable viewing experience.

Special Mentions:

1. The jury would like to give a Special Mention to this remarkable film for its masterful craft, striking visuals, and deeply emotional storytelling. Through a rich symphony of color and the perspective of a growing child, the film captures the fragile transition from innocence to experience, exploring love, loss, and the temptation to stop feeling in order to avoid pain. The jury was especially moved by the film’s harmonious blending of cultures, memories, and emotions into a visually extraordinary and universally human cinematic experience that beautifully demonstrates the magic of animation.
2. The jury would like to give a Special Mention to this powerful and important film for illuminating a disturbing reality that remains widely known yet rarely understood, through a deeply human and culturally authentic perspective. Combining 2D and 3D animation into a seamless and cinematic visual language, the film transforms the ugliness of war into a work of striking artistic beauty.Both entertaining and tragic, it tells a moving story about growing up too soon, the weight of untaken paths, and the emotional scars they leave behind. With its bold artistry, unique musicality, and emotional honesty, the film uses the expressive power of animation to raise awareness and leave a lasting impact.

This film is a joyful celebration of the food we all like so much and of its origins. At the same time it’s a dire warning for the loss of biodiversity, caused by specialised industrial production. In spite of the serious subject matter, we could clearly feel the joy that went into creating it, and we loved the way the narration built up so beautifully.

Wir haben diesen Film als Gewinner ausgewählt, weil er sehr stylisch aussieht! Die Farben sind aufeinander abgestimmt und die Materialien – Stoff und Holz – fanden wir besonders. Es war mit Sicherheit sehr aufwendig, diesen Stop-Trick zu animieren. Die Hintergrundmusik und die Geräusche passen wunderbar zur Atmosphäre und zur Strandkulisse. Man hört heraus, dass es verschiedene Instrumente sind. Die Stimme des Kapitäns war z.B. eine tiefe Tuba. Es hat uns auch gut gefallen, dass Menschen und Tiere eine Rolle gespielt haben. Der Pinguin hat für viel Spaß gesorgt. Es war extrem witzig für Jung und Alt. Während der Vorstellung haben viele Menschen im Publikum laut gelacht.

Special Mention:

We chose this film because it explains cancer, a serious topic, in a clear and accessible way. Even though the theme is serious, the short film has a positive tone. We especially liked the animation, which combines 2D and 3D animation. Overall, the production looks very complex. The story is very emotional and touched us. It gives other children with cancer hope that things can get better again.

The jury honours a screenplay whose powerful storytelling demonstrates just how vibrant, witty, and at the same time moving contemporary animated films for the whole family can be. “Emmi & Unipig – Anyone can be a Unicorn!” creates a world brimming with imagination without relying on mere cuteness.

Instead, the story uses its wealth of magical creatures to explore very real emotions: shame, exclusion, the longing for belonging—and the courage to accept oneself, even when that doesn’t fit with the shiny expectations of others.

The jury was particularly impressed by Anna Böhm’s narrative decision to portray the heroine not as a flawless role model, but as a child who makes mistakes, who stumbles, who is blinded by external promises.

These very imperfections make Emmi’s development believable and emotionally resonant. The screenplay takes its young audience seriously by showing that remorse, reflection, and responsibility are part of growing up—and that loyalty sometimes speaks louder than any kind of magic.

In her children’s books, Anna Böhm has already created the character Unipig, who immediately wins hearts: funny, fearless, a culinary genius, and full of unconditional affection. He is a sidekick who becomes the moral centre of the story—reliable, kind, and irreplaceable. The initially rocky relationship between Emmi and her Unipig forms the emotional backbone of the film and conveys its message with a lightness that never feels preachy.

The script also impresses formally with its clear structure, sharp dialogues and a world that lends itself perfectly to animation—both visually and narratively: colourful, dynamic, and full of original ideas. The balance of adventure, comedy, and emotional depth is achieved in a remarkable way, making the material a strong contender for a wide audience.

For its imaginative power, its humorous warmth, and its timeless message about self-acceptance and friendship, the jury awards Anna Böhm the prize for Best German Screenplay for an Animated Feature Film.

Animation can bring us to places we would normally never get to. Sometimes we wander through magical worlds, sometimes we experience what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes. Great stories can do both. So does PETRONELLA APPLEWITCH.

The film manages not only to shrink us to the size of a bug, but also to give us a deep, inside look at the wonderful life within a forest. Through the (very shrunken) eyes of the twins Luis and Lea, we enter a world where witches take care of nature. We learn how hard it is for a witch like Petronella to develop friendships and build trust with the monstrous and ignorant humans. But we also find out that, if we manage to set aside our differences, we have the chance to save the world (or at least a forest) together.

PETRONELLA APPLEWITCH is excellently written, truly funny, and full of surprises. We loved the multi-layered characters – the good, the bad, and everyone in between.

And we are sure that all viewers, young and old alike, will never look at their back gardens the same way again. Which is a good thing! Thank you, Seraina Nyikos and Claudio Winter.

What do a tough, almost-police dog, a singing circus bear, and a drake with headphones have in common? At first glance, nothing. But on closer inspection, they’re unbeatable—a team of Dream(ers) is born.

But let’s go back to the beginning: Lenny the dog, who lost his hind legs in an accident, but whose super-fast dog wheelchair don’t hinder him as much as his lack of teamwork, dreams of qualifying for the elite canine unit. He certainly has the nose for it. But his dream is shattered, and now he wants to prove to everyone that he can single-handedly track down a panther that has escaped from the circus.

But Bearnice, the singing circus bear with Down syndrome, and Fred, the autistic drake who proves to be a beatboxing genius with excellent driving skills and encyclopedic knowledge, have their own agenda. They want to help the panther, who turns out to be a young and timid puma cub, return to the Everglades. After all sorts of adventures across New York and a temporary arrest by Lenny’s vicious pack leader, Bronco, Bearnice, with her big heart, manages to create a wonderful and unique team.

DREAMERS is a wonderfully humorous, action-packed, and heartwarming screenplay featuring charmingly anthropomorphized animals who embrace their disabilities and use them as special, valuable abilities.

This is done in an effortless, exciting, and highly entertaining way for all ages. Important messages such as tolerance, friendship, and inclusion are conveyed playfully. Because in the end, we are all Dreamers—a little bit normal, a little bit quirky, and each one special. The jury of this year’s screenplay award sees all the ingredients and potential for a successful international release in this emotional story.

Sometimes a good story begins very simply:

with a little pig, with a couch, with two people who love him. And with the moment when it suddenly becomes clear that this life no longer fits together quite so easily.

TRÜFFEL tells the story of Bob, who believes Susan and Mark are his parents, and then tumbles headfirst into another world: into the forest, to the Hard Hides, to the Wild Brushes, to Holly, and to a secret truffle field. Out of this grows an adventure story that lightly and beautifully speaks about belonging, longing, and home: Where do I belong? And is it possible to carry more than one home — and more than one family — in your heart?

This is a story that is funny, adventurous, warm, and deeply touching. It has rival wild boar gangs, clever little piglets, action, suspense, and a lot of heart. And at the center of it all is a main character you understand right away and root for from the very beginning. It is exactly this blend of humor, emotion, and a lovingly built world that gives TRÜFFEL its special market potential.

With their hyper realistic 3D anatomy model, Atomedge demonstrates convincingly how animation, games, medical education and research can be integrated into a viable business model. For example: it enables users to explore the complex structures of the human body in virtual reality from multiple perspectives—covering the skeleton, vascular system, nerves and lymphatics. This level of precision makes the model not only scientifically valuable, but also a powerful foundation for photorealistic digital content.

Atomedge’s current B2B focus, built on a modular system, lets customers design and execute their own projects using the exact 3D elements they need. Their stated long term aim to enter the consumer market with apps and companion media reflects a well considered market strategy.

A thorough market analysis-including competitor mapping, customer segmentation by business size, and a three factor pricing approach—yields a detailed revenue forecast with multiple scenarios.

In short: concept, execution and business model are all exemplary. The jury therefore nominated Atomedge for this year’s Trickstar Business Award.