WORKSHOT 2.0: SATIRE, BLASPHEMY, CARNIVAL

18. - 28.  9. 2025, Zoom, Vetrinj mansion, Maribor Puppet Theatre

 

Subversion through satire, teasing sacred taboos, discovering socio-political absurdity and the liberating chaos of carnivalesque laughter!

Welcome to the three-phase workshop where conceptual rigor meets anarchic creativity. Participants will develop a blasphemous stop motion short from script to screen, dissecting how animation, a medium of between-the-frame metamorphosis, can weaponize dark humor to challenge power, dogma, and societal norms. Through critical analysis, provocative storytelling, and tactile animation, we’ll explore why laughter in the face of the abyss remains one of art’s most potent acts of resistance.  

Participants will have a chance to learn stop motion animation from IZABELA PLUCIŃSKA (Poland/Germany), a virtuoso of clay’s uncanny poetry (assisted by LENE LEKŠE and MIHA ŠAJINA); scriptwriting from PEDRO RIVERO (Spain/Basque Country), a Goya-award-winning maestro of dystopian satire;  while the skills of critical literacy will be introduced by the social activists URŠKA BREZNIK and KAJA FIEDLER (Slovenia).

WHY THIS, WHY NOW?

15th StopTrik IFF confronts the paradox of humor in an era of collapsing ideologies. When authoritarianism, war, and climate catastrophe demand either despair or defiance, animation’s malleability becomes a tool to mock, dismantle, and re-enchant. Stop motion, with its tangible, labor-intensive magic, is uniquely suited to expose the seams of reality – much like satire exposes the seams of power. From clay figures defying gods to puppets mocking politicians, we’ll craft stories where the absurd becomes sublime, and the taboo becomes a playground.  

Dark humor thrives where logic fails.

WORKSHOP STRUCTURE: TIME & CONTENT


Phase 1: Critical Literacy workshop with Urška Breznik and Kaja Fiedler

18. 9. 2025 / Zoom

During this phase the participants will learn about:

•        Power relations in society and the ways to analyze them;

•        How accessing knowledge and information is related to power;

•        How to apply critical discourse analysis to written, visual and audiovisual texts.


Phase 2: From Do It Yourself to F*** Them Yourself: script writing workshop with Pedro Rivera

21. - 23. 9. 2025, Vetrinj mansion

During this phase the participants will learn about:

  • Mining personal/political pain for punchlines (trauma + time = comedy);

  • Structuring chaos in scripts (blasphemy as craft);

  • Balancing provocation with purpose (ethics of the offense).


Phase 3: Stop motion workshop with Izabela Plucińska

24. - 28. 9. 2025, Maribor Puppet Theatre

During this phase the participants will learn:

  • Mastering animation as a hybrid medium by combining techniques from painting, drawing, and sculpture into tactile motion;

  • Experimenting with diverse approaches – from spontaneous clay morphing to surreal object compositions and character-driven storytelling;

  • Developing creative freedom through hands-on material play, pushing boundaries between madness and poetic expression.

O MENTORICAH_JIH IN ASISTENTKAH_IH:

Urška Breznik is a Sinologist and art historian, director of Pekarna Magdalenske mreže since 2013. She coordinates projects in the field of youth and cultural and develops and leads critical literacy workshops and seminars for young people, youth and pedagogical workers and general public. Executive producer of StopTrik IFF.

Kaja Fiedler is a Sociologist employed at Pekarna Magdalenske mreže since 2016. Developing and leading critical literacy workshops and seminars for young people, youth and pedagogical workers and general public. Coordinating educational projects in the field of housing cooperatives, climate crisis and workers’ rights. Producer of music events at StopTrik IFF and editor of StopTrik IFF website and social networks.

Pedro Rivero (Bilbao, 1969) is a Goya-winning screenwriter and director known for his dark, satirical animations (Birdboy, The Forgotten Children) and Netflix hits (The Platform trilogy). President of the Basque Screenwriters’ Guild (2002–2008) and Artistic Director of ANIMAKOM FEST, he mentors filmmakers worldwide and has taught scriptwriting for 25+ years.

Izabela Plucińska is a Polish animation director based in Berlin, renowned for her distinctive claymation technique. A graduate of Łódź Film School with a PhD and habilitation in fine arts, she has created 18 award-winning films including Jam Session (Silver Bear, Berlin 2005) and Joko (2024). She co-founded Wait a Second Films production company and teaches at Szczecin Art Academy, while her work continues to push plasticine's expressive limits through surreal storytelling.

Lene Lekše (b. 1995) is a Slovenian multidisciplinary artist blending sculpture, animation and pedagogy. A graduate of Ljubljana's Academy of Fine Arts, she collaborates with SLON collective and coordinates workshops for Animateka Festival. Her work explores material transformations through stop-motion, while her educational programs bridge contemporary art and animation for young creators.

Miha Šajina is a Slovenian composer, producer and electronic musician known for his modular synth experiments. A former member of the bands EWOK and Moveknowledgement, he now scores animated films and leads sound workshops, merging DIY electronics with visual media. His work explores the intersection of abstract soundscapes and narrative animation.

WORKSHOT 2.0: SATIRE, BLASPHEMY, CARNIVAL is a project organized by Pekarna magdalenske mreže through cooperation with a network of universities collaborating in the frames of BIP ERASMUS NETWORK, coordinated by the University of Nova Gorica School of Arts (Slovenia), and involving the following partners: University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (Wels, Austria); NBU New Bulgarian University in Sofia (Bulgaria); Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (Croatia); EKA Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn (Estonia); Universidade Lusófona de Lisboa (Portugal); Academy of Performing Arts VŠMU (Bratislava, Slovakia), and University School of the Arts - ERAM (Girona, Spain).

 
Kaja Fiedler