ANIMA 2025: Festival Highlights

Apparently, most people go to Brussels for strong beers and cones of chips. Apparently, animated films aren’t anywhere near their awareness. But to spend even a few hours at Anima, you’d think all of Brussels was there just for the chance to see a cartoon.

A lot of that is because of Flagey, the art-deco behemoth that used to house the Belgian Radio Institute, but is now a cultural hub and host for Anima Fest. It’s one of those buildings that even after you find it, it takes a few minutes to walk around and find the door. It has a bar, at least 4 quite frankly massive venues, all of which seemed to be pretty full, even at 11am on a Monday.

Sorry for talking so much about the building, here are my highlights;

-FEATURES-

PAPRIKA

What can I say about Paprika that hasn’t been said already? A stone-cold classic for a reason and an excellent start to my fest!

BOYS GO TO JUPITER

I’ve been a fan of Julian Glander for a good while now. He’s put out excellent short after excellent short, and so I went into his debut feature a little uneasily – what if he couldn’t deliver? Luckily my fears were unfounded, and Julian’s tale of grind culture, subterranean creatures, and mutant fruit didn’t disappoint. The soundtrack here is a real highlight as well! Julian if you ever read this please put it online somewhere.

LIVING LARGE

Living Large was… an experience. I watched it in French with no subtitles, and found it a charming if clunky (and pretty dated) film about an overweight boy finding his place in the world. I’ve read some reviews of french speakers, and people who saw the dubbed version, and woof! Sounds like sometimes no subs is preferable!

–SHORTS–

TABAC FROID – Arthur Jamain

Films about men expressing their emotions (or not, as the case may be) always get to me. So in Arthur Jamain’s 9 minute Stale Smoke I was moved to tears. I’m not going to say much else for fear of ruining it!

WOULD EAT IF I COULD – Bence Hlavay

When you leave home and come back, it’s never quite the same. Very few films get this as much as Bence Hlavay’s 3D masterpiece that fills me with a feeling I don’t think I have a name for.

LUNA ROSSA – Olga and Priit Pärn

When you go to a programme called “Masters of Animation”, the bar is set pretty high. Unfortunately I’m not sure all the films in that prog measured up, but Olga and Priit Pärn’s spy comedy-thriller really highlights a pair of masters at work.

LUZ DIABLA – Ojo Raro

One real highlight of the festival was the Queer Night – a sensational programme of queer shorts from around the world, interspersed with some honestly fantastic drag performances. Of these shorts Ojo Raro’s LUZ DIABLA really stood out as something special.

YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME – Peter Millard

Often in a short film programme, the super short ones can get lost, eclipsed by the lengthier offerings. This is decidedly not the case with YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME, Peter Millard’s one-of-a-kind take on Toy Story.

WORMWOOD – Matthieu Dupille et al

I’m not always the biggest fan of a post-apocalyptic film (short or otherwise). They tend to get bogged down in the, well, apocalypse of it all. So seeing a short as full of hope (and greenery!) as WORMWOOD is a nice surprise, and a real gem.