The Czech Republic presented itself at the international animation film festival in Recife

The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Brasília, in cooperation with the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Recife (Pernambuco state), ensured the presentation of the Czech Republic within non-competitive parts of the ANIMAGE festival, which is dedicated to “masters of animated creation”. This year the festival commemorated the work of the Czech animator Hermína Týrlová (1900–1993) through a retrospective of her legendary short films. A total of seven films were presented: Train Kolejaček (1959), What are they missing? (1947), Ferda the ant (1944), Two balls (1962), Nocturnal romance (1949), Toy Rebellion (1946), Ball (1963). At the same time, on the penultimate day of the festival, a full-length opus was shown at the “honorable” screening time Ancient Bohemian Legends (1952) by Jiří Trnka (1912–1969). The importance of Czech (Slovak) work and its influence on the Brazilian context was also recalled by the illustrator during the evening Marcelo Marão, according to which it is a mandatory study material of technical and artistic innovative procedures for every animator. The screening of Trnk’s film was at the same time a symbolic and spontaneous opportunity for an informal meeting of members of the local expatriate community initiated by the honorary consul Jiřím By Jodas.

Within competition shows a total of 1,700 films from 99 countries of the world applied for the festival. The expert committee (Ianah Maia, Marcelo Marão and Ulisses Brandão) finally evaluated 68 films from 32 countries and awarded awards in nine categories. The Czech-Slovak short film won the best screenplay category My name is Edgar and I have a cow (2023) by animator Filip Diviak (1993), who studied at the Animation Studio at the Tomáš Bata University in Zlín. The Czech Republic was thus ranked alongside France, Great Britain, Hungary and Brazil, whose films were also awarded in 2023.

ANIMAGE festival it has a non-profit character and takes place mainly thanks to the program to support the culture of the city of Recife and other institutions (to a non-negligible extent also representative missions with regard to its international reach). In 2023, most of the film screenings were filled and the total number of viewers during the six festival days is estimated at five thousand. It can be stated that after the funding problems faced by the festival Anima Mundi held in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, ANIMAGE has now become the main festival and platform for the exchange of experiences in animated filmmaking in Brazil.