You cannot tell the story of British animation without Hungary

The event in London built on the momentum of Hungary’s historic appearance at Annecy 2025, where the country presented more than 80 works across screenings, exhibitions, installations, and professional panels. Retrospectives honoured Hungary’s legacy—from early experimental films to postwar classics from Pannónia Film Studio—while the Hunimation Hits the Street exhibition brought iconic Hungarian characters to life in immersive public spaces.

Annecy audiences were introduced to cutting-edge works such as Dog Ear by Péter Vácz and Ruben Brandt, Collector by Milorad Krstic, as well as the most recent ambitious animated feature for children The Quest (Csongor és Tünde) by Hungarian Cinemon Studio, Budapest. These films showcased a diverse blend of traditional 2D craftsmanship and experimental visual storytelling that defined Hungary’s unique contribution to global animation.

Hungary’s 2025 international success was the result of more than a decade of strategic development. Following the industry’s decline after the fall of communism, a new wave of independent creators, supported by institutions like MOME (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design) and METU (Budapest Metropolitan University), led a quiet resurgence throughout the 2010s and 2020s. In recent years, the National Film Institute Hungary implemented a dedicated Animation Strategy, pairing public funding with education initiatives and festival support.

In recent years, Hungarian animation has enjoyed remarkable success: prestigious festival awards, internationally distributed films, and increasing participation in international co-productions have marked this dynamic sector. The fast-growing Hungarian animation scene has long deserved an English-language platform to feature key industry news, events, and a comprehensive professional database.

Hunimation.com was launched as the first English-language website about Hungarian animation. Created by the team behind Friss Hús (Friss Hús Budapest Short Film Festival) and supported by the National Film Institute, the website aims to introduce the Hungarian animation community to the world and strengthen its international presence in the long term. The site’s visual identity was designed by Mirjana Balogh, who won a Crystal Bear at this year’s Berlinale with her graduation film as a student of MOME Anim (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design).

This strategic alignment led to the rise of internationally recognised works, such as Flóra Anna Buda’s Palme d'Or-winning short 27, Áron Gauder’s Four Souls of Coyote, and cinematic collaborations with global streamers.

The Liszt Institute’s event in London featured a programme of short films curated by Friss Hús Budapest Short Film Festival, including Dog Ear by Péter Vácz, Children of the Bird by Júlia Tudisco, Plum & Baga by Dominika Demeter and one of the episodes of the short film series Fledglings by Ervin B. Nagy.

The evening’s panel, “Frame by Frame: The Growing Influence of Hungarian Animation”, featured key voices from the UK and Hungarian animation communities with Anna Ida Orosz, animation historian at the Hungarian National Film Institute – Film Archive and Annecy 2025 curator, Jez Stewart, animation curator at the BFI, Lydia Reid, animator of Children of the Bird, moderated by Ben Mitchell, editor-in-chief at Skwigly Animation Magazine.

During the panel discussion, Anna Ida Orosz expanded the conversation beyond Hungary’s international rise, highlighting the significant role female directors are now playing on both the national and global animation stages. She underscored how Hungary’s strong tradition of artistic animation, rooted in decades of robust state support of the national Pannonia Film Studio before 1989, has created an environment where experimental, author-driven voices—many of them women—can thrive. Jez Stewart, curator and historian at the BFI, echoed this sentiment, remarking—half in admiration, half in quiet envy—on Hungary’s unique funding system that continues to support both artistic short films and ambitious co-productions. In contrast, he noted that such projects are becoming increasingly difficult to realise in the UK, particularly post-Brexit, where comparable support structures are lacking. Both Stewart and Orosz also reflected on the historical ties between the two countries, noting that any discussion of British animation is incomplete without mentioning the vital contributions of Halas & Batchelor, the Hungarian–British duo whose pioneering work helped lay the foundations of modern British animation and strengthened creative ties that continue to this day. Lydia Reid, while discussing her experience working on Children of the Bird with Julia Tudisco, emphasised the importance of the Hungarian university MOME in encouraging students to submit their works to festivals—a vital experience, she noted, for building confidence and finding one’s voice as a young filmmaker.

Audiences were also treated to a screening of Pelikan Blue, a striking hybrid animated documentary by László Csáki blending subversive anarchism with themes of freedom, set in the post-communist chaotic atmosphere of 1990s Hungary. Pelikan Blue has swept major international animation and documentary festivals, including Pulcinella (June 2024), Animix (August 2024), DOK Leipzig (November 2024), and Stuttgart (May 2025).