Animated Battle: Masters and Jesters

Thursday, 25. 9. 2025 at 22.00 / Vetrinj mansion, courtyard

A high-stakes, no-rules cinematic duel where two fearless curators clash in an electrifying exchange of short films, video art, and experimental works. Like a DJ battle for cinephiles, this showdown throws convention out the window – each volley of provocative, bizarre, and defiant films sparks a countermove, diving deeper into the strange and subversive.

The result? A rapid-fire spectacle of dark fantasies, carnivalesque absurdity, and boundary-pushing visuals, unfolding with razor-sharp wit and unflinching audacity. Fast, funny and unpredictable, this battle serves up films too wild for traditional screens so expect the outrageous, the unsettling, and the downright unforgettable.

Curators-Contenders:

Sébastien Sperer worked at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival for 25 years, from 1999 to 2024. A child overflowing with infinite dreams, he ad-libs his way from one role to another: programmer, selector, moderator, curator, jury member, speaker, and beyond. Wherever he goes, his mission is to make animation - a medium where anything is possible - accessible to all, creating a kind of village hangout where human experience exists unfiltered and unrestrained. Fascinated by the mobilizing power of cinema’s magic, his leitmotif is: “Promoting intercultural understanding through animated film, dialogue, and transmission.” He has also taught animation history at Gobelins Annecy since 2022.

Petrit Gora was born in 1990 in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, and raised in Peja. He studied Graphic Design at the University of Pristina’s Academy of Fine Arts. His animation journey began in 2010 as a volunteer at Anibar Animation Festival, assisting with logistics at Cinema Jusuf Gervalla. By 2014, he became a film selector and programmer for Anibar, and in 2016, he took on the role of Art Director, leading the festival’s artistic vision for seven years (and counting). In May 2022, he was appointed Artistic Director of REX Animation Stockholm, Sweden’s first film festival dedicated solely to animation. Beyond programming, Petrit has led stop-motion workshops, lectures, and presentations, including pioneering classes at the Anibar Animation Academy, now training its fifth generation of Kosovo animators. A former muralist and political graffiti artist, he currently lives in Uppsala, Sweden.