Submit Your Animated Films for ITFS 2025: Stuttgart’s Animation Festival Opens Submissions
The 32nd Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) has officially announced its call for entries, inviting filmmakers from around the world to submit their works starting on September 1, 2024. The festival will take place from May 6 to 11, 2025, in Stuttgart, Germany, one of the global centers for animated film. ITFS is known for its commitment to artistic animated films and the promotion of young talent. The festival will award prizes totalling over €45,000 across its five competitions.
The submission deadline for short films is November 15, 2024, while feature-length films have until January 15, 2025, to be submitted. Filmmakers interested in participating can submit their works through the online platform Shortfilmdepot, with registration forms and guidelines available on the official ITFS website. Competitions open for submission include:
- International Competition: For animated short films
- Student Competition: Focused on animated shorts by students
- Tricks for Kids: A competition for children’s animated shorts and series
- Trickstar Nature Award: Highlighting animated shorts on nature and environmental topics
- AniMovie: A feature-length competition for animated films
The process of building the festival's programme begins with the call for entries. Following submission, a pre-selection committee reviews all entries to create the festival’s official selection. In 2024, 2,206 films from 74 countries were submitted, reflecting the festival’s international reach. Final selection for the five competition categories will be completed by March, ahead of the May event. In the previous edition, 129 short films and six feature-length films from 34 countries were selected to compete.
During the festival, jury members will evaluate the films in each category, with the winners receiving the prestigious Golden Trickstar award. The ITFS programme also offers extensive networking opportunities, attracting up to 6,000 professional visitors annually, including filmmakers, producers, and industry experts.
After the festival, selected films go on tour through the ITFS Animation Tour, beginning in October and running until September of the following year. The tour offers the "Best of ITFS," "Best of Tricks for Kids," and "Trickstar Nature Award" programmes, showcasing standout works from the festival. These are made available free of charge to cinemas, cultural events, and non-profit organisations worldwide.
As a renowned event in the international animation industry, ITFS also offers opportunities for family-friendly entertainment. Stuttgart’s city center becomes an open-air cinema, welcoming audiences from all backgrounds to enjoy blockbuster films, indie animations, and everything in between. The festival coincides with the Animation Production Days (APD) and FMX – Film and Media Exchange, further amplifying the city’s role as a hub for the animated film industry.
Filmmakers interested in submitting their work are encouraged to visit the ITFS website for more details about the competitions, submission guidelines, and festival news.