Our HEROES at kaleidoscube are hiring! They are a young indie game studio from Stuttgart working on projects with a strong focus on narration and atmosphere. They are known for their award-winning game “A Juggler’s Tale” and “RECUR,” which is currently in the final stages of development.
They are currently looking for a Gameplay Polish & Technical Designer/Artist (f/m/d) who helps them turn RECUR’s blocked-out scenes into polished, shippable scenes in Unreal Engine.
Our HEROES from Pixelcloud are nominated for the XRC 2026 – the nextReality.Contest with their VR co-op game “Carbon Dream$ Land” in the “Zeitgeist” category! This category recognises applications that address socially relevant issues.
Screenshot Carbon Dream$ Land, Pixelcloud
About the game: Carbon Dream$ Land is a satirical co-op VR game for up to four players: a serious game about climate change, set in the most absurd amusement park of the future, complete with oil slides, coal carousels and greenwashing as the main event. As customizable robots, the team fights its way through the fossil-fuel madness, topples gigantic oil towers and recycles their wreckage into wind turbines, all leading up to a showdown with Donnie Dino, a fire-breathing tyrant with a golden tie and his own propaganda TV studio. Instead of dry lecturing, the game relies on irony, environmental storytelling and distinctive Quill art. With this project, Pixelcloud beat hundreds of international submissions and was the only German studio selected for the EU’s EMIL XR funding. Developed over 15 months by around 20 creatives, with support from the Skopos Institute, Aalto University in Helsinki and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Available for free on the Meta Quest Store and SteamVR.
The nextReality.Contest was founded in 2017 by nextReality.Hamburg e.V. and has since become one of the leading XR awards in the German-speaking region. For ten years, the competition has recognized outstanding Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality projects distinguished by innovation, creative excellence, and technological quality. The award ceremony will take place on November 18, 2026, as part of the nextReality.festival in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt. Nominated projects will be presented in a curated exhibition on November 18 and 19, 2026.
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (FABW) is turning 35 and will be staging a Festival of Freedom, the “Fest der Freiheit”, on October 1 and 2, 2026 together with the Academy of Performing Arts (ADK). “We will celebrate the democratic freedoms that enable us to work our magic, and make their impact tangible for a wide public audience”. Both institutions will open their doors on the shared campus (Akademiehof 1, 71638 Ludwigsburg) to showcase projects, studios, films and hands-on activities – free admission!
Screenshot https://festderfreiheit.de/
October 1, 2026, starting at 20:00 CET: To mark the opening of the “Fest der Freiheit”, students from FABW and the ADK are jointly staging a transmedia show on the theme of ‘Freedom’. Under the open sky, they will bring the Akademiehof and the ADK Tower to life with performances, music, and video projections.
On October 2, from 11:00 to 19:00 CET, there will be exhibitions of student work, films, readings and much more to discover on the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg campus. From 14:00 to 17:00 CET, guided tours of the entire Filmakademie campus will take place every hour. Registration required!
Of course, the Animationsinstitut will also be part of it: with a showcase of current projects – including graduation films, interactive installations and VR experiences – as well as a film programme, along with the Carl Laemmle Institut.
International Emmy Awards 2026 – Nomination for Lena’s Farm!
Image: Studio Filmbilder
The animated series “Lena’s Farm” has been nominated for an International Emmy Award 2026 in the “Kids: Animation” category! The series – produced by Studio FILM BILDER and Thomas Meyer-Hermann (in co-production with ZDF and Minya Film from Zagreb, broadcast on KiKA) – was directed by Elena Walf and funded by MFG Baden-Württemberg.
The animated series is aimed at preschool children and their families and tells the story of colourful life on a farm. At the centre are the different animal characters and their small, everyday stories. Director Elena Walf tells these stories with great empathy and humour, in poetic images and in a classic hand-drawn animation style. The series comprises 26 episodes of just under six minutes each, which also work as short films in their own right.
A large part of the creative team (you can find all contributors here) studied or worked at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and its Animationsinstitut.
The International Emmy nomination adds to an impressive series of international successes. Since its premiere at the International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (ITFS), “Lena’s Farm” has already received several awards at international animation film festivals. Previous successes include awards at Cartoons on the Bay and Periferie Animate in Italy, as well as at the Zlín Film Festival in the Czech Republic. The series also won an award at the renowned Annecy International Animation Film Festival. In Germany, the Grimme Award is among the awards received by “Lena’s Farm”.
Congratulations to the entire team, and best of luck at the International Emmy Awards ceremony on November 23, 2026, in New York!
THE PANIC INSIDE wins Student Academy Award in Silver
TORONTO, ONTARIO – SEPTEMBER 14: (L-R) Matthias Strasser and Gemma Chan appear onstage during the 2026 Student Academy Awards on September 14, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Kennedy Pollard/The Academy/Getty Images for The Academy)
Student Academy Award for THE PANIC INSIDE: Screenwriter and director Matthias Strasser and his team were awarded Silver in the ‚Animation‘ category at the 53rd Student Academy Awards on Monday evening. For the first time, the awards ceremony took place as part of the Toronto International Film Festival.
With THE PANIC INSIDE, a remarkable series continues: For the second year in a row, a graduation film from the Animationsinstitutof FABW has received a Student Academy Award. This marks the ninth Student Academy Award for Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, making the Ludwigsburg film school the leading institution in Europe in this competition. For Matthias Strasser and his team, the award marks the culmination of several years of collaborative work.
The nearly ten-minute film tells the story of chronic people-pleaser Jacob, who collapses under the pressure of constantly meeting expectations and finds himself in a surreal limbo. There, he is forced to confront his own needs. Combining 2D and 3D animation with live-action elements, the film team creates a visually distinctive work about self-care, setting boundaries and personal freedom.
Matthias Strasser, director and screenwriter, on the personal starting point for THE PANIC INSIDE: ‚People pleasing is a topic I have a very personal connection to. At the same time, it is particularly prevalent in the film and animation industry: When you are just starting out, you can quickly get the feeling that you always have to say yes in order to move forward. With THE PANIC INSIDE, I wanted to explore this pressure and the question of what happens when you lose sight of your own needs in the process.‘ Sabina Stöckler, producer, says: ‚We are proud that this deeply personal story, which we were able to bring to life with such a wonderful and talented team, is reaching such a wide audience through the awards and seems to be resonating with so many people.‘
Dr. Jan Pinkava, Director of the Animationsinstitut: ‚On behalf of everyone at Filmakademie’s Animationsinstitut, huge congratulations to Matthias, Sabina, and their team! We are proud of your achievement. The Student Academy Award is the pinnacle of prizes in student film, and has been won by Filmakademie students for two years running. This recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reflects great credit on the hard work and imagination of our talented students, and on the dedicated staff and teachers who support them on their journey to becoming powerful storytellers. At Animationsinstitut students can find their voice, learn their craft and achieve the highest level. The films can be pretty good too!‘
Matthias Strasser is a Swiss director and animator. After gaining initial experience in film and video production and studying film, he turned his focus to animation. Since 2020, he has been studying directing at the Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. THE PANIC INSIDE is his graduation film, in which he explores personal themes through a distinctive visual language.
Our HEROES at octomotionare looking for new team members! They are a highly specialized 3D motion design studio for B2B companies. As a strategic creative partner, they translate complex products, technologies, and processes into powerful visual experiences.
They are currently hiring for the following positions:
Consultant (m/f/d) 3D Motion Design and Animation – Job offer
Project Manager (m/f/d) 3D Motion Design and Animation – Job offer
The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) is kicking off its 34th edition: filmmakers from Germany and around the world are now invited to submit their animated films. The festival will take place from April 27 to May 2, 2027 and will award prizes to films in five competition categories.
ITFS Award Gala 2026, photo: Reiner Pfisterer
The ITFS invites international animation studios, filmmakers, artists and producers, as well as up-and-coming talents from film, art and media schools, to submit short and feature-length films to the festival. In its film competitions, Germany’s largest animation film festival every year presents a selection of the latest animation films and awards prize money totalling 60,000 euros. The ITFS is an Oscar-qualifying festival: whoever wins the Grand Prix, the top prize in the ITFS International Competition, is automatically placed on the longlist for the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
Short Film Competitions: Submission Deadline November 15, 2026
ITFS International Competition (animated short films from around the world)
ITFS Student Competition (animated short films by students from international film and art schools)
ITFS Tricks for Kids Competition (animated short films and series for children)
ITFS Trickstar Nature Award (animated short films about nature and the environment)
Feature-length Film Competition (ITFS AniMovie Competition (from 60 minutes in length)): Submission Deadline: January 15, 2027
Films must be submitted via the Shortfilmdepot online platform. The necessary information and regulations can be found on the ITFS website. Submissions for the ITFS project competitions will also open from November 2026.
Whether independent game studios or major publishers, recent graduates or recruiters looking for artists and graphic designers: at Open Stage Games BW, a wide range of players from the games industry have the opportunity to exchange ideas and, following an industry talk, bring their topics to the stage. Open Stage Games BW takes place four times a year, alternating between Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and online.
The next event is coming to Stuttgart on September 23, 2026. It will feature an industry talk: “Ressourceneffizientes Game Development – Benefits & How To” by Oliver Stock (Walk The Frog). Oliver is co-founder of Ludwigsburg-based indie studio Walk The Frog. The studio is currently working on its eponymous cozy puzzle game Walk The Frog. His interest in environmental activism and resource-efficient game development motivated him to develop the Energy Saving Plugin for Unity for SGA.
Against the backdrop of increasing budget pressures and rising resource consumption worldwide, taking a strategic approach to resources is becoming increasingly important in game development, too. A better understanding of how a studio and its games use energy and other resources can help increase operational efficiency while reducing costs and emissions. This talk provides insights into opportunities for resource optimization for developers and industry-wide knowledge sharing. It explores how studios can optimize their resource consumption, make data-driven decisions and develop more efficient processes – with positive impacts on both the player experience and the business.
Following the talk, the stage will once again be open to everyone. Do you have a topic you’d like to share, or would you like to introduce yourself, your team or your project? Just make up your mind during the event and sign up on the spot. Want to have your game tested on site? Bring your laptop and get direct feedback from industry professionals at the testing station. Afterwards, you can connect and exchange ideas over drinks and snacks during the networking session.
Ahead of Open Stage, from 15:30 to 18:30 CET, there will be a tutorial on federal game funding. Find more information and register here: https://mfg.de/va/tutorial-2309
Date: September 23, 2026, 19:00 to 22:00 CET, Venue: Impact Hub Stuttgart, Quellenstraße 7a, 70376 Stuttgart
The event is free of charge. Registration is required by September 22, 2026.Registration
Open Stage Games BW is jointly organized by MFG Baden-Württemberg, Games Baden-Württemberg e.V., CyberForum, K³ Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaftsbüro der Stadt Karlsruhe and Film Commission Region Stuttgart, and funded by the Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg.
Our HEROES at jangled nerves are hiring! They are an agency, specialized in live communication combining the physical and the digital world. The interdisciplinary team unites the expertise and services for strategic consulting, conception, and design with planning for museums and exhibition design and production for films, media, and interaction.
Our HEROES at RECOM FILM are hiring! With headquarters in Stuttgart, they produce award-winning moving image formats for the entire spectrum of media. As a full-service production company, they take care of both real film and photo productions as well as high-end full CG productions.
They are currently looking for:
Senior Compositing Artist (m/f/d) – permanent position
Senior 3D Realtime Artist (Unreal Engine) (m/f/d) – permanent position
