The festival was originally scheduled to take place 8-13 June 2020, but was forced to postpone due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Zagreb.

“This year’s Animafest is something we find particularly precious, not only because it is the 30th, but also because it takes place in very unusual and complicated circumstances. The festival is stronger than the pandemic, stronger than the constant earthquaking. The list of filmmakers and films was indeed impressive, with over 300 titles” said Milana Vuković Runjić, head of the City of Zagreb Department of Culture.

Despite travel restrictions, organisers of the Animafest brought several guests of honour to Zagreb. At the opening ceremony, Georges Schwizgebel received the Animafest 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award, while the award for the best animation school was received by Joanna Agata Jasińska-Koronkiewicz on behalf of the Polish School of Film and Television in Łódź.

The full list of awards follows:

Grand Prix:
Just a Guy (Germany)
Directed by Shoko Hara
Produced by Studio Seufz

Golden Zagreb Award for creativity and innovative artistic achievement:
Freeze Frame (Belgium, Germany)
Directed by Soetkin Verstegen
Produced by Akademie Schloss Solitude

Zlatko Grgić Award for best first film made outside of an education institution:
Symbiosis (France, Hungary)
Directed by Nadja Andrasev
Produced by Miyu Productions, SALTO Films

Best film in the Croatian Film Competition:
Arka (Croatia)
Directed by Natko Stipaničev
Produced by Kreativni sindikat
*also winning a € 1000 cash prize sponsored by the Croatian Directors’ Association.

Special mention in the Croatian Film Competition:
All Those Sensations in my Belly (Croatia, Portugal)
Directed by Marko Dješka
Produced by Adriatic Animation and BAP Animation Studio

Dušan Vukotić Award for best student film:
Naked (Russia)
Directed by Kirill Khachaturov
Produced by Moscow School of New Cinema