The festival jury was quite well rounded, including Derek Lamb, who has worked extensively in Canada, the United States and Europe, Erik Roberts of Australia, Dragutin Vanuk of Croatia, Marjut Rimminen of Finland, who is working in London, and Bretislav Pojar of Czechoslovakia, who has worked internationally. I was pleased that the festival added a category for abstract films, which generally cannot compete with narrative films for recognition. Austrian Barbel Neubauer, who lives in Germany, won first prize in the category for her film, Roots (1995), for which she created images directly on film and an original score. Killian Dellers of Switzerland and Clive Walley of Wales shared second prize for their films, Vision (1995) and Divertimento No. 5 -- Slapstick (1994), respectively.

In the regular categories, Best First Film was won by German Tyron Montgomery for Quest (1996), with second place shared by Kevin Richards of the UK for Pariah the Red Man (1994) and Piet Kroon of the Netherlands for Dada (1995). Best film in category A (30 seconds to 5 minutes) was won by Swiss animator Georges Schwitzgebel for L'Année du Daim (1995), with second places given to Swiss animator Jonas Raeber for Gruezi (1995) and Canadian Christopher Hinton for Watching TV (1995). Best film in category B (5 minutes to 30 minutes) was won by Russian animator Oksana Tcherkassova for Nyurkina Banja (1995), with second prizes won by British artists Karen Kelly for Stressed (1994) and Peter Paar for The Wooden Leg (1994). Category C, for films produced on video, was won by Jan Otto Ertesvag of Norway for Processor (1995), with special recognition given to The End (1995) by Chris Landreth of Canada. A number of other prizes were also given out.

As in most recent festivals, animation from the United Kingdom had a strong presence. In recognition of the level of excellence found in many works from the UK, the award for Best Producer was given to the Arts Council of England.

Bretislav Pojar and Gunnar Strøm at Zagreb. Courtesy of Maureen Furniss.

It was somewhat surprising that a film as popular as Nick Park's A Close Shave was not awarded a prize by the jury. Prize winners represented a wide range of approaches in terms of form and content, which indicate a prioritization of experimentation over commercial formula and generally popular approaches. Two films that did not win prizes appealed to my interest in live-action/animation combination films and the surreal: 15th February (1995) by the UK's Tim Webb and Las Partes de mi que te aman son seres vacios (The Parts of Me that Love You are Empty Beings, 1995) by Mercedes Gaspar of Spain. Both films use very dark humor in dealing with the subject of relationships, mixing pixillated human movement with object animation. Anyone who has been involved in an empty, meaningless relationship or who has been disillusioned by love (and I know there are some of you out there!) will find solace in these works.

Finally, I like to note the Zagreb Festival is a unique event that has provided some of my favorite animation-related experiences. With what I would estimate to be between 100 and 200 official guests, the festival is small enough that you can get to know almost everyone in attendance. The city itself offers a relaxing experience with plenty of interesting historical and cultural spots to visit within a few minutes walk or taxi ride. One of my companions felt the festival was a bit dull for his tastes, preferring instead his more energetic partying experience at Cardiff and other festivals. Certainly, Zagreb does not offer the large-scale events of Annecy, Ottawa, or many other sites, but to be truthful I hope it never does.

Unfortunately, I am sure it is only a matter of time before the presence of Disney merchandise emerges from the shop windows to infiltrate the festival itself--along with the forces of other major animation studios--beyond the screenings that occurred in this time. Festival organizers spoke with me about trying to lure more participation by the larger studios, which apparently remain hesitant due to the local political situation and the festival's relatively small commercial potential at this point. I can understand the reasons for the festival wanting the support of such large corporations, which can provide funding that the Croatian government no longer can assure. Still, I am glad to have experienced the Zagreb festival as it is now.

Maureen Furniss is the Editor and Publisher of Animation Journal, a scholarly journal based at Chapman University, in Orange, California, where she is an Assistant Professor in the School of Film and Television. She can be reached by email at furniss@chapman.edu. Animation Journal's home page is http://www.chapman.edu/animation.