CEE animation co-development fund set to launch later this year
Latvia’s Flow was awarded Best Animated Feature at the 2025 Oscars
Details have been revealed about an eagerly anticipated new co-development fund for animated projects from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The proposed support mechanism to increase the number of animated films, series and shorts out of CEE has been a regular subject at European animation industry events this year.
The initiative gained momentum in March at the CEE Animation Conference GO! 2025, held in Slovenia, where a recommendation paper was drafted by working groups made up of producers and film fund representatives.
Since then, the fund, which does not yet have an official name, has taken shape. The plan is to introduce the mechanism later in 2025, with the first call to be put out for projects coming soon, according to Matija Šturm, chairman of the Slovenian Animated Film Association.
Šturm, a board member of industry event the CEE Animation Forum, told C21 the fund will stimulate co-operation between animation industries in different CEE countries.
The awards will range from €5,000 (US$5,770) for short film projects to €20,000 for animated series and feature films.
“The annual budget of the prize fund depends on the number of member countries that join the mechanism and is linked to the success of the management in enriching the fund with additional sources of funding,” said Šturm.
Animated film producers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary have already signed up, with more expected to join, including from the Baltics.
It will also be open to producers from non-CEE countries, however a prerequisite to access funding is for at least two of the coproducers to be from two CEE countries.
Šturm said: “At least two partners should come from member countries of the award mechanism, and at least one of the co-development partners should already be receiving national development funding. All copyrights should be cleared and an agreement between the co-development partners should be attached.
“This year, we are building a core structure for the awards with an initial group of film funds and institutes, which we will be able to present in full in August and launch the first calls for projects. In the same period, in the last quarter of 2025, we will start discussions with platforms and broadcasters to find a way to involve them.
“At the moment there is no specific editorial guideline – all genres and formats will be eligible. At the same time, the whole mechanism is in preparation, so we can’t give exact details on every aspect yet.”
It comes as interest in animation from CEE grows, with this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 2025 Oscars going to the Latvian non-dialogue animation Flow.
Further details about the fund can be found in this recently published C21 Fundamentals piece.
