According to the Feature Film Competition jury consisting of Frank Gladstone, Dine Goder and Dalibor Barić, Animafest Grand Prix went to the Hungarian film Ruben Brandt, Collector. The jury gave the award to a film “that plays with the notion of fine arts. This entertaining, out-of-the-ordinary view is satirical while at the same time respects the classical art at the centre of the story. For a well scripted detective yarn, cleverly thought out, wonderfully written with imaginative direction, eclectic music score and a design sense that takes chances and is not beholding to anything that has come before” – said the statement.

An Entertaining Journey Through Arts, Action, Humour and Genres

In the feature debut from Milorad Krstic, Ruben Brandt, Collector, a psychotherapist suffers from violent nightmares inspired by legendary works of art. As he teams up with four of his patients to steal the works, he becomes the most wanted criminal in the world known as “The Collector."

Festival and audience favourite Ruben Brandt, Collector was acquired by SPC and released in US cinemas earlier this year, now it is available on DVD & Digital at http://www.sonyclassics.com/rubenbrandtcollector.

There is another Hungarian winner at Animafest. Best Croatian minority co-production award went to The Fall of Rome by Balázs Turai, a collaboration between the Hungarian Boddah studio and Adriatic Animation from Croatia. The film tells a story of a post-nuclear family living their everyday life within the protection of the Dome. Dad hunts, Mom cooks, the children play – everything is going fine until the kids make an excursion outside the Dome, to the territory of the terrifying mutant frog-people. "An immersive story about a coming of age family stuck in a surreal and apocalyptic world" – said the jury about the short animation. 

The 29th World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb was held between 3-8 June in the Serbian capital, the festival screened over 400 films and hosted many side events in six festival days. There were two other Hungarian short animations in the international competition: the Berlinale's Teddy-award winner Entropia by Flóra Anna Buda, made as a graduation short at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, and I Have Problems, the graduation film of Zsuzsanna Debreczeni at Budapest Metropolitan University.