The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) offers new highlights for audiences and the industry: The award ceremony will be moved forward by one day and the feature film competition AniMovie will now focus more on family and adult films. The Animation Production Days (APD) record a new peak in submissions with 103 projects. Both events are linked by the country focus on Switzerland. Further innovations and programme highlights were presented at a press conference in Stuttgart. 

From 6 to 11 May, the city will once again be transformed into an important centre for animation and, in these challenging times, the ITFS offers a place for encounters, exchange, and understanding that underlines the transformative power of art and culture. The film festival sees itself as a platform for dialogue and inspiration. Last year, proven elements of the festival were strengthened and new ideas implemented.

This year the most striking change is the rescheduled Award Ceremony, now taking place on Saturday evening. “This gives us the opportunity to present a Best-of Festival with the award-winning films on Sunday,” emphasised Heike Mozer, Managing Director of Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH. International guests also benefit from this change, as it allows them to enjoy a shared experience on Sunday. The day will be transformed into a family-friendly public day with numerous activities and two premieres with regional connections.

The interactive GameZone will move to the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, where three regional universities will be exhibiting alongside the nominees for the Animated Games Award Germany. And more rooms are available in the Festival Centre (Haus der Katholischen Kirche). The APD Conference 2025 will be held there for the first time, bringing APD closer to the ITFS. 

The new ITFS website, which combines contemporary design and user-friendliness, offers better orientation. A separate section for professionals and a calendar with many filter options provide selected information for all target groups. Festival Passes as well as day and single tickets are already available in the ticket shop. All ticket options can be found on the website. 

A constant trend in the animation industry are products for young adults and adults, which are also becoming increasingly important in the ITFS programme, as Annegret Richter, Artistic Director of the ITFS, emphasises. “That's why we decided to focus our feature film competition AniMovie more on family and adult films in 2025 and offer these films a screen, because it is harder for them to be distributed, and they need a platform.” The cooperation with Warner is not only interesting for young adults: there will be a preview special with episodes of the eighth season of RICK & MORTY. The Animation Nightmare Night Special with the film STOPMOTION by Robert Morgan is just the thing for the more hard-boiled.

MEMORY HOTEL, a German puppet animation film, is represented in the AniMovie competition – a very special film that combines several of the ITFS 2025's main themes: Heinrich Sabl worked on it for almost 25 years, explains Richter.  “The film begins on 8 May 1945 and tells German history up to the 1990s as an intimate play. I can only recommend it to everyone, you've probably never seen anything like it.” Richter highlights the thematic focus on stop-motion, including two curated programmes and several feature-length films, the exhibition on SAUVAGES and a master class with Claude Barras. Another very important focus topic is ‘Border(less)’ on 80 years of peace and democracy in Europe, with which the ITFS commemorates the end of the war on 8 May 1945. 

Different perspectives on borders and the topics of freedom, European cooperation and social diversity will be presented. This diversity is also reflected in the programme – both in the competition programmes and in the industry events. With a total of 2,500 submissions, the festival 2025 received almost 250 more submissions than the previous year, 700 of which were for the International Competition alone, 30 of which were selected.

Daniel Häne, Deputy Consul General of the Swiss Confederation in Stuttgart, emphasised the importance of the ITFS for the Swiss film industry, which is featured in the country focus of ITFS and APD. “For us, this is an opportunity to showcase the still relatively unknown potential of Swiss animation on a big stage,” said Häne. 

Switzerland produced 25 animated short films last year – a remarkable figure in relation to its population. “Unfortunately, these films rarely reach a wide audience.” Now, the goal is to seize this opportunity and establish collaborations beyond the festival. The focus is supported by SWISS FILMS, Presence Switzerland, GSFA Swiss Animation and the Swiss Consulate General in Stuttgart as well as the Valais Film Commission, Zurich Film Foundation, Cinéforom Fondation romande pour le cinéma and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). 

The APD co-production market will take place from 6 to 8 May at the Landesmuseum Württemberg (State Museum) and offers a comprehensive programme for trade visitors. Annegret Richter emphasised that APD had received a record number of submissions: 103 projects were submitted, including 26 in the Talent Programme. A total of 50 projects from 17 countries were selected, including productions from Germany, Spain, Denmark, Armenia, Ireland and many other countries. In 70 per cent of the projects, a woman is involved as director and/or producer. 

Four projects at the APD come from the focus country Switzerland, which will also be the subject of the panel ‘Animation Coproductions with Switzerland’ (7 May, Festival Centre): What does Switzerland have to offer European countries when it comes to co-productions? The panellists include Swiss producer Sereina Gabathuler, who is also represented at APD with her project ARMADA LIBERTAD.

On 6 May, young talents will present their projects at the APD Talent Programme Speedpitch. A roundtable in cooperation with Young Horizons Industry and the conference with two panels in the festival centre will enable further exchange between creatives, producers and investors. As part of Stuttgart Animated Week, APD, the ITFS and the FMX – Film and Media Exchange conference form the centrepiece of the industry events. The Stuttgart Animated Week kicks off with a festive State Reception on Monday evening, 5 May, in the White Hall of the New Palace at Schlossplatz. 

Attached you will find an excerpt from the ITFS programme on the main topics mentioned as well as facts and figures about the Animation Production Days. We have compiled images of the festival and film stills of the competition films in thematic Flickr albums for you to download:

• International Competition 
• Student Competition
• Tricks for Kids
• AniMovie
• Trickstar Nature Award
• Festival Impressions 

Download: Click on the desired photo, then click on the symbol in the bottom right-hand corner with the downward-pointing arrow and select the option ‘Show all sizes’. You can then download the photo in the size that suits you. The images are free of charge if the photographer is credited.