PI School of Animated Film

Founded in 1987

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ЈУ Школа анимираног филма

Основана 1984. године

WORKSHOPS
FESTIVALS

WORKSHOPS

The main goal

of the International Children’s Workshop of the animated film “Golden Snail” is the activation of children and youth people through practical work on the production of animated films and education from other segments that follow film art such as drawing, sculpting, dramaturgy, filming, editing, sound and sound effects. The workshop is intended for children and youth from all over the world who are already involved in animated films, but also for absolute beginners.

The main activities

are working in groups (usually there are three and there can be more) in different animation techniques with lecturers who are well-known and recognized animators from around the world and Serbia. Groups have 10 to 15 participants of different ages (10 to 19 years old). As it is an international workshop, we try to have a participant from each of the participating countries or cities in each group. In this way, the participants get out of their comfort zone, they have to meet and communicate with children and youth from different speaking areas.

Accompanying

program of the international workshop are panels, press conferences, exhibitions, presentations, music programs, excursions and other activities that are adjusted every year to the current interests of our target group. The final, measurable results of the entire project are animated films created at animation workshops, documentaries, newsletters, exhibitions, as well as a really good and creative atmosphere that arises from the collision of different cultures and cultural heritage, speaking areas, geographical, social-economic-sociological differences as and the temperament of the guests and hosts who are present at the festival.

The “Golden Snail” festival is organized by the operational team of the Public Institution School of Animated Film under the auspices of the local government city of Vranje and with the traditional co-financing of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia. Every year, the SAF team finds alternative ways of financing this most important project of the institution. The “Golden Snail” festival has so far been supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Unicef, the office in Belgrade, the US Embassy in Belgrade, the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade, the Italian Cultural Institute from Belgrade, as well as numerous institutions, associations and individuals not only from Vranje. The fact that the festival is progressing and growing year after year is very significant. It has positioned itself on the map of significant cultural events in Vranje and Serbia. The festival changed and adapted to the needs of the target group. At some point, graffiti was very interesting to children and youth, and SAF organized a workshop with top masters for the first time in Vranje. The concept of each festival also changes and adapts to current social trends. We took care to mark, highlight and point out important people (Nikola Tesla), jubilees, Vranje cultural heritage (Vranje songs, Bora Stanković), ecology, healthy lifestyles, etc.

Good cooperation with the media, printed, electronic, national and local, naturally contributed to the growth of the festival in a qualitative and quantitative sense. “Live” coverage on national television and radio increases the visibility of the festival in Serbia. Also, social networks represent another channel where the festival is promoted.

International children's workshop of the animated film

FESTIVALS

The main goal

of the World Children’s Festival for the animated film “Golden Snail” is the activation of children and young people and their inclusion and engagement in social and cultural life through interesting art forms such as animated film, drawing, documentary film, graffiti, music…

The main activities

of “Snail” are films in the competition and informative program, which are prepared for the direct users of the project, but also for children and youth from elementary and high schools from Vranje. All programs are open to the public who are interested in watching animated works from recent productions.

Accompanying

the festival program are master class workshops, forums, press conferences, exhibitions, presentations, music programs, excursions and other activities that are adjusted every year to the current interests of our target group. The ultimate, measurable results of the entire project are animated films created at animation workshops, documentaries, newsletters, catalogs, exhibitions, as well as a really good and creative atmosphere that arises from the collision of different cultures and cultural heritage, speaking areas, geographic, social – economic – sociological the difference as well as the temperament of the guests and hosts who are present at the festival.

The “Golden Snail” festival is organized by the operational team of the Public Institution School of Animated Film under the auspices of the local government city of Vranje and with the traditional co-financing of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia. Every year, the SAF team finds alternative ways of financing this most important project of the institution. The “Golden Snail” festival has so far been supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Unicef, the office in Belgrade, the US Embassy in Belgrade, the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade, the Italian Cultural Institute from Belgrade, as well as numerous institutions, associations and individuals from companies from Vranja and all over Serbia.

The fact that the festival is progressing and growing year after year is very significant. It has positioned itself on the map of significant cultural events in Vranje and Serbia. The festival changed and adapted to the needs of the target group.

Good cooperation with the media, printed, electronic, national and local, naturally contributed to the growth of the festival in a qualitative and quantitative sense. “Live” coverage on national television and radio increases the visibility of the festival in Serbia. The development of new media, especially platforms intended for festivals, has facilitated the application process itself, as well as the number of submitted films. SAF has its accounts on various platforms that are regularly updated and maintained. Also, social networks represent another channel where the festival is promoted.

World children's festival for animated film

FRIENDS

Ministry of Culture

City of Vranje

RTS

CONTACT

Public institution School of Animated Film Vranje

Address: Heroja sa Kosara br. 1, 17501 Vranje

Phone: +381(0)17 432 022 / 400 024

Email: vranjesaf@gmail.com

1st International children's workshop for the animated film "Golden Snail 1997."

  • Vranje, April 4-10, 1997,
  • Number of participants about 70 from Spain, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia,
  • In 1997, SAF celebrated 10 years of existence and successful work.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Pencho Kunchev, president of Bulgarian ASIFA, worked with a group of children on an animated film using the cout-out technique.
  • Vera Vlajic, an animator from Belgrade, made a drawings,
  • Marija Bliznakovski and Seta Velickovic, members of SAF, worked in clay technique.
Fun facts:The guests from Spain saw and felt the snow for the first time in their lives, which then fell. During the 1st ICWAF, three animated films were made, but the gatherings are what is remembered. The operative team, which still organizes all international events at the SAF, then met for the first time with the organization of a major event. It was a team of young people (barely 20+ years old) who grew up together at SAF, knew each other well, and socialized. Those young people managed to coordinate all activities, to successfully record, edit and sound films and publish two newsletters. These were the beginnings of the rapid development of technique and technology. The computer 486, which was used for graphic design and analog editing of films in local television, remains in the memory. Back then, we lived and worked in a country called Yugoslavia.The guests from Spain saw and felt the snow for the first time in their lives, which then fell. During the 1st ICWAF, three animated films were made, but the gatherings are what is remembered. The operative team, which still organizes all international events at the SAF, then met for the first time with the organization of a major event. It was a team of young people (barely 20+ years old) who grew up together at SAF, knew each other well, and socialized. Those young people managed to coordinate all activities, to successfully record, edit and sound films and publish two newsletters. These were the beginnings of the rapid development of technique and technology. The computer 486, which was used for graphic design and analog editing of films in local television, remains in the memory. Back then, we lived and worked in a country called Yugoslavia.

2nd International children's workshop for the animated film "Golden Snail 2000."

  • Vranje, September 15-23, 2000,
  • Number of participants: 70 from Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria and various cities of Serbia,
  • The sponsor of the event was the UNICEF office in Belgrade.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Robbie Engler, an animator from Switzerland, worked with a group of children in the sand technique,
  • Borivoj Bordo Dovniković, an animator from Croatia, made a drawings,
  • Pencho Kunchev, an animator from Bulgaria, worked with a group of children on an animated film using clay.
Fun facts:The second international workshop was supposed to be held in 1999. Because of the bombing that year, we had to postpone it, regardless of the fact that we had guests and lecturers. It was stressful to organize the same workshop for the second time with almost the same guests who agreed to come to Vranje as a sign of support.

3rd International children's workshop for the animated film "Golden Snail 2002."

  • Vranje, September 13-22, 2002,
  • Number of participants: 65 from Egypt, Japan, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Sayoko Kinoshita, from Japan, director of the Hiroshima Festival, president of AWG, worked with a group of children on an animated film using the pixilation technique,
  • Borivoj Bordo Dovniković, who was in Serbia for the second time with his wife Vesna, general secretary of ASIFA, made a cartoon with a group of children,
  • Pencho Kunchev from Bulgaria led the clay group.
Fun facts: At this workshop, we enriched the program by presenting the national customs, costumes and games of the workshop participants. It was fun to hear and see in the center of Vranje national costumes and music from Egypt, Japan, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.

4th International children's workshop of the animated film "The Golden Snail 2004."

  • Vranje, September 10-18, 2004,
  • Number of participants: 60 from Mexico, Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Blagoje Buca Lupa, an animator from Belgrade, worked in the technique of scratching and drawing on a movie strip.
  • Nikola Majdak, a professor from Belgrade, worked with a group of children on a feature-animated film painted in watercolor.
  • Pencho Kunchev from Bulgaria led the drawings group.
Fun facts: The program is enriched with daily reports from the children’s TV studio, which were broadcast on local television. Miomir Rajicevic, director of the Media Center from Belgrade, worked with a group of children reporting in the children’s TV studio. Another interesting thing is that we also presented the national cuisines of our guests. Spaghetti carbonara, Swedish meatballs and pies from Vranje were also cooked at the homes of the operational team. All the guests enjoyed trying the specialties of the cold north of Europe, temperamental Mexico, Italy and the south of Serbia in the wonderful ambience of the yard of the old Pribojcic family in Vranje. It was a very ambitious plan, where we didn’t count on a lot of dishes that will inevitably be created after preparing food for 50 guests.

5th International children's workshop for animated film "Golden Snail 2006."

  • Vranje, September 8-16, 2006,
  • Number of participants: 70 from Slovenia, Israel, Montreal, Macedonia, France, Republika Srpska and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Vlada Stanić, from Belgrade, led the drawings group,
  • Miroslav Djeric, from Vranje, led the cut-out group,
  • Nela Simonovic, Gorica Antic and Marija Bliznakovski from Vranje led the clay group.
Fun facts: Darko Markovic from Macedonia, the famous Dar-Mar, pioneer of Macedonian animation, had a retrospective of his animated films at the workshop. At this ICWAF, films were made in three different techniques on the subject of Nikola Tesla’s life. We also had the official photographer of the festival, it was a young photographer from north of Serbia, Beretka Sandor.

6th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2008."

  • Vranje, August 22-28, 2008,
  • Number of participants: 60 from America, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Ed Desroche worked with a group of children in the cut-out technique,
  • Vlada Stanic, from Belgrade, led the drawing animation,
  • Miroslav Djeric from Vranje worked with the group in clay technique.
Fun facts: The American Embassy in Belgrade supported the “Golden Snail” event for the first time and enabled the arrival of animator Ed Desroche from Colorado, USA. The guests of “Snail” were Vesna, general secretary of ASIFA, and Borivoje Bordo Dovniković from Croatia, professor Nikola Majdak, president of Serbian ASIFA and Miodrag Novaković, playwright from Belgrade.

7th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2010."

  • Vranje, August 20-26, 2010,
  • Number of participants: 60 from Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Pencho Kunchev, from Bulgaria, led the group in the cut-out technique,
  • Miroslav Simonovic, from Vranje, led the drawing animation,
  • Miroslav Djeric, from Vranje, worked with the group in clay technique.
Fun facts: Emir Kusturica, Nikola Majdak, Borivoj Bordo Dovnikovic and Penco Kuncev were awarded “Honorary Member of SAF” during the workshop.

8th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2011."

  • Vranje, August 19-25, 2011,
  • Number of participants: 58 from Croatia, Bulgaria, India and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Nitin Donde, from India, led the group in the cut-out technique,
  • Rastko Ciric, profesor from Belgrade, led the clay group,
  • Sasa Lortek and Aleksandra Petkovic, from Belgrade, led the graffiti group.
Fun facts: The 8th International Children’s Workshop of Animated Film was held for the first and last time parallel to the World Children’s Festival. It was the most demanding international event organized by SAF. Evening screenings in the competitive and informative program, group work and a large number of guests… For the first time, a graffiti workshop was held in Vranje because the participants expressed their interest in this form of artistic expression. The process of making graffiti was recorded square by square and a film was made using the pixilation technique. Two documentaries were also created.

9th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2012."

  • Vranje, August 20-26, 2012,
  • Number of participants: 58 from the USA, Italy, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Vincenzo Gioanola, from Italy, led the group in the technique of scratching and drawing on a film strip,
  • Pencho Kunchev, from Bulgaria, led the drawing animation,
  • Sasa Lortek, from Belgrade, led the graffiti group.
Fun facts: At this workshop, for the second time, we scratched and drew on a film strip. Vicenzo Gianola, a wonderful artist from Italy, demonstrated this technique. We also celebrated 25 years since the founding of the school. Rastko Ćirić, a professor from Belgrade, worked on the logo and design of the poster and photo monograph on the occasion of the important jubilee of schools.

10th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2014."

  • Vranje, August 22-28, 2014,
  • Number of participants: 70 from the USA, Italy, Bulgaria, Israel, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Max Epstein and Vasil Sribniy, from Israel, led the group in the cut-out technique,
  • Pencho Kunchev, from Bulgaria, led the clay animation,
  • Garu Schwartz, from the USA, led the pixilation group.
Fun facts: All animated films created at the 10th anniversary International Children’s Animated Film Workshop had the number “10” as inspiration.

11th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2016."

  • Vranje, August 22-26, 2016,
  • Number of participants: 60 from Bulgaria, Russia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Milos Zivkov, from Belgrade, led the group in combination of techniques,
  • Radostina Nejkova, from Bulgaria, led the pixilation group,
  • Miroslav Djeric, from Vranje, led the group in combination of techniques.
Fun facts: The participants of the workshop made three animated films on the topic of “Music of Vranje”. That year, we emphasized the specific cultural heritage of the city of Vranje, Bora Stanković and the Vranje songs as an intangible cultural heritage.

12th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2018."

  • Vranje, August 9-15, 2018,
  • Number of participants: 40 from Israel, Bulgaria, Georgia, Italy, Ukraine, Macedonia and Serbia.
The leaders of the groups were:
  • Rafaela Traniello, from Italy, led the group in combination of techniques,
  • Max Epstein and Karina Hananeya, from Israel, led the group in combination of techniques,
  • Anastasia Sia Titova, from Ukraine, led the group in combination of techniques.
Fun facts: For the first time, animation techniques such as cartoons, clay or cut-out were absent. Children and youth have less and less patience, focus and dedication that are necessary for traditional animation techniques. Since then, we have been actively engaged in creative workshops where we try to keep children away from new media and encourage them to use different materials in order to improve motor skills.

13th International children's workshop of the animated film "Golden Snail 2020."

  • Vranje, October 16, 2020.
Fun facts: For a period of 23 years (1997-2020), we had various incidents and accidents, wars, bombings, changes, elections… There were good years and not so good years. And whenever it was difficult to organize a workshop due to external factors and when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, we didn’t even know that we were very mistaken. Again, there is an external factor involved, but now a small one, in the form of a virus. We organized the 13th International Children’s Animated Film Workshop – “Golden Snail 2020” in the face of the “Covid 19” pandemic. SAF adapted over the years to new forms of art and new media and to the new needs of the target group of children and youth, because we realized that only novelty and constant changes can affect continuous quality. Our flexibility and susceptibility to change somewhat eases the situation we are facing, which is the pandemic. On October 16, we had a live screening of the films created at the previous 12 international workshops on our YouTube channel. We also made 12 posters for every international workshop held in Vranje since 1997. Old, faded photos of low resolution show the chronology of a time and an entire generation of artists who visited Vranje as lecturers or guests.

1st World children's festival for animated film "Golden Snail 2009."

  • Vranje, August, 27-31. 2009.
  • 67 films from Serbia, Croatia, Ukraine, Belgium,
  • Members of the international jury: Anastasia Dimitra (Greece), Penco Kuncev (Bulgaria) and Miodrag Novakovic (Serbia).
  • The jury awarded three prizes in two categories as well as the Grand Prix of the festival,
  • The first World Children’s Festival for Animated Film was opened by Milica Kuzmanovic – Jankovic, head of the Ministry of Culture Republic of Serbia and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade. Borivoje Bordo Dovniković, animation pioneer from Croatia closed the 1st festival.
  • The first festival held in Vranje was very successful because the experienced operational team, which usually organizes international workshops, easily adapted to all the challenges of organizing the festival. The great support of the local self-government as well as the Ministry of Culture and Information empowered us to continue with even greater enthusiasm in the organization of the next editions of the festival.

2nd World children's festival for animated film "Golden Snail 2011."

  • Vranje, August 19 – 25. 2011.
  • number of guests: 69 participants from Serbia and abroad,
  • 50 films from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and India were shown,
  • Members of the international jury: Milan Buncic (Croatia), Penco Kuncev (Bulgaria) and the president of the jury and Stevica Zivkov (Serbia).
  • Children and youth from Croatia, Bulgaria, India and Serbia (Vranje, Dimitrovgrad, Kruševac, Omoljica, Čačak, Belgrade, Obrenovac, Jagodina, Ćuprija, Lozovik) participated in the festival,
  • The Golden Snail event took place in an extremely good atmosphere. A meeting of ASIFA Serbia was held, with chairman Bozidar Zecevic, president of ASIFA Serbia. The meeting was attended by members from Vranje as well as from Serbia who were guests at the event. The assessment of all participants and guests is that “Golden Snail 2011” managed to bring together excellent cartoonists, animators and creative people from Serbia and the world in Vranje for the umpteenth time, which is important for the decentralization of the Serbian cultural scene.
  • This festival will be remembered for the fact that it was held in parallel with the 8th International Children’s Workshop of Animated Film. It was an organizationally very demanding and tiring job for the operational team, which is why we decided to keep the events biennial in future.

3rd World children's festival for animated film "The Golden Snail 2013."

  • Vranje, August, 22 – 26. 2013.
  • number of guests: around 50 children, young people, their mentors and guests from Croatia, Italy, Bulgaria and Serbia (Krusevac, Dimitrovgrad, Belgrade),
  • 59 films from seven countries were shown: Ukraine, Russia, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia,
  • International jury members Andrea Martignoni (Italy), Pencho Kunchev (Bulgaria) and Stevica Zivkov (Serbia). The jury awarded three prizes in two categories as well as the Grand Prix of the festival. In memory of Nikola Majdak, a professor from Belgrade, a longtime friend and associate of SAF, who left us that year, an award was introduced that will be awarded at the “Golden Snail” festival – the Nikola Majdak award.
  • Three master class workshops and panels were held with jury members as eminent experts in the field of animated film. The first workshop was led by Andrea Martignoni from Bologna (Italy). The arrival of Andrea Martignoni was helped by the Italian Institute for Culture from Belgrade. The second workshop was led by Penco Kuncev, from Bulgaria, and the third by Stevica Zivkov, an animator from Belgrade.

4th World children's festival for animated film "Golden Snail 2015."

  • Vranje, August ,16-19. 2015.
  • number of guests: about 50 children, young people, their mentors and guests from the USA, Russia, Italy, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia,
  • 224 films from twenty countries were registered at the festival, 43 were shown in the official program.
  • The jury consisting of Snezana Trstenjak (Serbia), Jovan Markovic (Serbia) and Monika Masuci (Italy) awarded the Grand Prix of the festival as well as the Golden, Silver and Bronze snails in both categories. In addition to the main prizes, the jury also awarded eight diplomas, one of which is the “Nikola Majdak Diploma”.
  • The Italian Institute for Culture from Belgrade supported the “Golden Snail” festival by financing the arrival of the jury member from Italy, Monica Masuci, and helping to organize the presentation of student films from the Italian School “Center for Experimental Cinematography”.
  • The master class workshop was led by Rey Kosarin from New York (USA). The arrival of the guest lecturer from the USA was helped by the American Embassy in Belgrade. The children participating in the workshop had the opportunity to get to know Rey Kosarin’s work and to make an animated film at the workshop.
  • Alexey Kostyuchenko, director of the “Golden Knight” festival from Moscow (Russia) was a guest in Vranje. A presentation of films from the Festival of Slavic and Orthodox countries “Golden Knight” was held, as well as talks and discussions with members of the jury as eminent experts in the field of animated film.

5th World children's festival for animated film "Golden Snail 2017."

  • Vranje, September, 11-15. 2017.,
  • number of guests: about 50 children and young people, their mentors and guests from the USA, Spain, Ukraine, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia,
  • 862 films from 80 countries were registered at the festival. About 1100 children and young people from our city watched the films of their peers from all over the world.
  • The jury consisting of Snezana Trstenjak (Serbia), Janko Baljak (Serbia) and Deana Morse (USA) awarded the Grand Prix of the festival as well as the Golden, Silver and Bronze snails in both categories. In addition to the main prizes, the jury also awarded eight diplomas, one of which is the “Nikola Majdak Diploma”. The arrival of the guest, member of the jury from the USA, Deane Morse, was helped by the American Embassy in Belgrade.
  • In addition to the official and informative screenings, festival visitors had the opportunity to watch the presentation of the animated film festival VAFI from Croatia and ANIMAX from Macedonia.
  • We also celebrated 30 years of existence and successful work of SAF. The significant jubilee was marked by an exhibition of posters, drawings, caricatures and dedications by famous animators and artists, as well as the presentation of a photo monograph. The event was opened by Stevica Zivkov, an animator from Belgrade.

6th World children's festival for animated film "Golden Snail 2019."

  • Vranje, September, 9-13. 2019.
  • number of guests: about 50 children and youth, their mentors and guests from Israel, Russia, Ukraine and Serbia,
  • 1083 films from more than 80 countries were registered at the festival. About 1000 children and young people from our city watched the films from all over the world.
  • The jury consisting of Max Epstein (Israel), Marija Lendova (Russia) and Narcisa Darijevic Markovic (Serbia) awarded the Grand Prix of the festival as well as the Golden, Silver and Bronze snails in both categories. The Embassy of Israel in Belgrade helped organize the arrival of a member of the jury from their country.
  • In the accompanying program of the “Golden Snail 2019” festival, we presented the Multi bridge project, which began as a bridge of friendship between the animation studios from Russia and Serbia, and grew into an international project of intercultural exchange that other countries joined.
  • In addition to the official and informative screenings, festival visitors had the opportunity to attend a master class animation workshop held by Tatiana Fohmentsova from Moscow.

7th World children's festival for animated film "Golden Snail 2021."

  • Vranje, September, 13-17. 2021.
  • number of guests: about 30 children and youth, their mentors and guests from Macedonia and Serbia (Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Jagodina and Vranje),
  • 1723 films from 101 countries were registered at the festival,
  • The jury consisted of Kuzman Kuzmanovski (Macedonia), Nikola Majdak (Serbia) and Nitin Donde (India). Preparations for the organization of “Golden Snail 2021” were marked by the corona virus pandemic. The operational team of the festival has been working preparing for all options hoping that the festival will be held in all its glory. Unfortunately, the pandemic has taken its toll. That’s why the third member of the jury, animator from India, Nitin Donde, got involved online, and that’s how they decided on the winners.
  • Also, in a special section, the guests had the opportunity to watch part of the program of the International Short Film Festival “Madrasa” from Iran, as well as films made on the theme of “The Kitchen of my Country” organized by the International Animation Film Association and their section for children and youth (ASIFA, AWG).