‘Is AI intelligent?’ is the question posed by internationally renowned AI researcher Bernhard Schölkopf in his keynote at the first edition of the Innovationslabor Zukunft (Innovation Lab Future). From May 28 to June 1, 2025, Schauspiel Stuttgart will transform the Kammertheater into a theatrical AI laboratory with 30 events.
Can an AI direct a play? Can AI help us overcome death? How does a human move in the metaverse? Human and machine – who is programming whom? Is AI emotional? With the help of experts such as Ranga Yogeshwar, Oscar winner Jan Pinkava (head of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg’s Animationsinstitut), theatrical performance projects (by Wilke Weermann, Florian Etti, Alessa Bollack, and Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart), workshops by La Fura dels Baus, and performances by Rimini Protokoll, the festival explores complex questions about the future of artificial intelligence and society.
With the Innovationslabor Zukunft, Schauspiel Stuttgart creates a space for exciting encounters, diverse presentations, discussion formats, and keynotes featuring experts from science, business, the arts, and philosophy. Encounters with a humanoid robot, Kenza Ait Si Abbou, Ars Electronica Director Veronica Liebl, ZKM Director Alistair Hudson, film producer Nico Hofmann, Prof. Dr. Judith Simon (member of the Deutscher Ethikrat), Minister Petra Olschowski, producer and pianist Roberto Di Gioia, and many more. SWR Kultur will produce four live broadcasts/podcasts – including from the Kammertheater.
AI becomes tangible and experiential: AI live on stage, AI-driven live music production, AI in film, and actors performing live in the Metaverse.
In cooperation with SWR Kultur, Hochschule der Medien, Media Solution Center Baden-Württemberg, HLRS, ZKM Karlsruhe, EIT Culture and Creativity, ICE Innovation by Creative Economy, Akademie für Darstellende Kunst Baden-Württemberg
The final day of the STUTTGART ANIMATED WEEK 2025 is here – after a week full of events and inspiration, amazing encounters with old and new friends, tons of input on the latest developments in art, technology, and research, hopefully lots of new project ideas and collaborations – and, of course, a celebration of films, games, and all kinds of media projects and experiences! We hope you made it this far and had an incredible time!
Here’s where you can find out how our CREATORS are involved with ITFS on Sunday, May 11, 2025.
Schlossplatz, photo: ITFS, Reiner Pfisterer
11:00-17:00 ITFS, Staatsgalerie, Konrad-Adenauer-Str. 30-32, GameZone Hochschule der Medien, Animationsinstitut / FABW, Merz Akademie https://itfs.de/en/show/gamezone-2/
18:00 ITFS, White Noise, Eberhardtstr. 35 Exhibition: It’s Just a Whole Exhibition aby Animationsinstitut / FABW graduate Bianca Scali / Winner ITFS 2024 “Student Competition“ https://itfs.de/en/show/exhibition-its-just-a-whole-12/
Lenas Hof – Das mutterlose Ei
May 9, 2025
Our Creators @ ITFS on Saturday, May 10, 2025!
Hands up, it’s the weekend – and Day 5 of the STUTTGART ANIMATED WEEK 2025! Enjoy your time at ITFS and check out which of our CREATORS – and which of their projects – you can catch on Saturday, May 10. In the evening, the big ITFS Awards Ceremony will take place – fingers crossed for all the nominees!
11:00-17:00 ITFS, Staatsgalerie, Konrad-Adenauer-Str. 30-32, GameZone Hochschule der Medien, Animationsinstitut / FABW, Merz Akademie https://itfs.de/en/show/gamezone-8/
10:00 FMX, Turm Aalen How to start and succeed as a Creator in the Creative Industries Panel “Fresh Visions” curated by Christian Müller, Animationsinstitut / FABW https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1829
10:30 ITFS, Festival Centre, Veronika-Saal Making of: The Light of Aisha Shadi Adib (Animationsinstitut / FABW graduate), Holger Weiss, Dominique Schuchmann (The M.A.R.K.13™ – Group) https://itfs.de/en/show/making-of-the-light-of-aisha-2/
14:30 FMX, Raum Reutlingen WHY SO SERIOUS? Fun, Action and Humor in Educational Gaming. Jonas Kirchner, Christoph Rasulis, Pixelcloud (Panel “LÄND-made” curated by Christian Müller, Animationsinstitut / FABW) https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/detail/event/32901
15:45 FMX, Raum Reutlingen DARK SCIENCE – realtime renderings instead of reenactment Manuel Hummer, Alina Fromm, Alex Schuster, Recom Film (Panel “LÄND-made” curated by Christian Müller, Animationsinstitut / FABW) https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/detail/event/32902
17:00 FMX, Bertha-Benz-Saal Filming in the Metaverse: Real Time Distributed Virtual Production Panel “Tech Talks” curated by Volker Helzle, Animationsinstitut / FABW https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1818
18:15 FMX, Bertha-Benz-Saal & VOD Building a State-of-the-Art Multifunctional VFX Studio for Advanced Educational and Training Purposes “Tech Talks” curated by Volker Helzle, Animationsinstitut / FABW https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1818
18:00 ITFS, White Noise, Eberhardtstr. 35 Exhibition: It’s Just a Whole Exhibition by Animationsinstitut / FABW graduate Bianca Scali / Winner ITFS 2024 “Student Competition“ https://itfs.de/en/show/exhibition-its-just-a-whole-8/
20:00 FMX/ITFS, Gloria 2 ITFS/FMX Joint Screening of FLOW To attend the screening, pick up your ticket at the ticket counter on Haus der Wirtschaft / Level 0 starting on Wednesday, May 7 at 15:00! https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/detail/event/32894
20:30 Kulturwerk, Ostendstr. 106 A Night of Shame Studio Seufz, Animationsinstitut / FABW https://www.nightofshame.com/
Our Creators @ FMX, ITFS and APD on Thursday, May 8, 2025!
Our CREATORS are involved in numerous talks, presentations, screenings, meetings and events at FMX, ITFS and APD on Thursday, May 8 – Day 3 of the STUTTGART ANIMATED WEEK2025. Find out where and when!
ITFS, Photo: Reiner Pfisterer
9:00-12:15 APD, Landesmuseum Württemberg – Altes Schloss, Schillerplatz 6 Co-Production and Financing Market (pre-arranged one-to-one meetings) 3 CAPTAINS (Studio FILM BILDER), 48ers (The M.A.R.K.13™ – Group), A Trip with a Drip (gretels gold) https://animationproductiondays.de/projects-2025/
19:00 ITFS, Haus der Katholischen Kirche, Königstr. 7 German Animation Screenplay Award at AniX Awards Stefanie Larson, AMCRS (Sponsor of German Animation Screenplay Award), FFL Film und Fernsehlabor Ludwigsburg https://itfs.de/en/show/anix-awards-2/
18:00 ITFS, White Noise, Eberhardtstr. 35 Exhibition: It’s Just a Whole Exhibition by Animationsinstitut / FABW graduate Bianca Scali / Winner ITFS 2024 “Student Competition“ https://itfs.de/en/show/exhibition-its-just-a-whole-6/
19:00 FMX, In front of Haus der Wirtschaft Get-Together sponsored by One of Us
19:00 RISE, Schloßstr. 70 Party RISE | Visual Effects Studios
May 6, 2025
Our Creators @ FMX, ITFS and APD on Wednesday, May 7, 2025!
Day 2 of the STUTTGART ANIMATED WEEK 2025! Discover when and where our CREATORS are participating at FMX, ITFS, and APD on Wednesday, May 7!
Animation Production Days 2024, Photo: Reiner Pfisterer
9:00-12:15 APD, Landesmuseum Württemberg – Altes Schloss, Schillerplatz 6 Co-Production and Financing Market (pre-arranged one-to-one meetings) 3 CAPTAINS (Studio FILM BILDER), 48ers (The M.A.R.K.13™ – Group), A Trip with a Drip (gretels gold) https://animationproductiondays.de/projects-2025/
14:30 FMX, Bertha-Benz-Saal & VOD The Rise of African Animation, VFX and Content Development – How Cultural Differences are fueling Industry Growth Panel “Managing Change” curated by Imke Fehrmann, RISE | Visual Effects Studios https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1810
18:15 FMX, Bertha-Benz-Saal & VOD Story Telling for War Children: Extremist and counter-Extremist Narratives Panel “Managing Change” curated by Imke Fehrmann, RISE | Visual Effects Studios https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1810
18:15 FMX, Turm Aalen & VOD School Presentations: Flamin‘ Hot / Beyond Boundaries / The Goo / Lonely / Cyclus / FATIMA Mariana Mendes dos Santos, Alex Ferstl, Merz Akademie (Panel “School Presentations” presented by Alexandra Joshi, Animationsinstitut / FABW, Mark Szilagyi, FABW) https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/detail/event/31835
18:00 ITFS, White Noise, Eberhardtstr. 35 Exhibition: It’s Just a Whole Exhibition by Animationsinstitut / FABW graduate Bianca Scali / Winner ITFS 2024 “Student Competition“ https://itfs.de/en/show/exhibition-its-just-a-whole-4
21:30 Die Note, Berliner Platz 1 Animation Lounge by AMCRS
May 5, 2025
Our Creators @ FMX, ITFS and APD on Tuesday, May 6, 2025!
Let’s dive into STUTTGART ANIMATED WEEK 2025! Animation, VFX and games fans, professionals, and students from around the world are coming together in Stuttgart to explore the latest trends, cutting-edge technologies, stunning projects, and the most exciting stories. With FMX – Film & Media Exchange (May 6-9, 2025), the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (May 6-11, 2025) and the Animation Production Days (May 6-8, 2025), there’s a lot to look forward to!
And of course, our CREATORS are part of it, too! Let’s take a look at how they’re contributing during these inspiring days: the talks, presentations, and workshops they’re leading, where you can meet and chat with them in person, what they’ve curated — and which of their projects you can see on site or even try out for yourself. We’re kicking things off on Tuesday, May 6, 2025!
FMX
9:00-12:15 APD, Landesmuseum Württemberg – Altes Schloss, Schillerplatz 6 Co-Production and Financing Market (pre-arranged one-to-one meetings) 3 CAPTAINS (Studio FILM BILDER), 48ers (The M.A.R.K.13™ – Group), A Trip with a Drip (gretels gold) https://animationproductiondays.de/projects-2025/
10:00 FMX, Turm Aalen Founding and funding an indie game studio Iris Harr, MFG, Dominik Schön, Kaleidoscube (Panel “LÄND-made” curated by Christian Müller, Animationsinstitut / FABW) https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/detail/event/33034
10:00 FMX, Turm Aalen Creativity and Artificial Intelligence – How to Use Cutting Edge Technology in Creative Projects Panel “LÄND-made” curated by Christian Müller, Animationsinstitut / FABW https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1891
14:00 APD, Festival Centre, Haus der Katholischen Kirche, Eugen-Bolz-Saal Conference Part 1 / Panel Discussion “Crisis, Change, Resilience: Filmmaking in Times of Transformation” Curator and Host: Lilian Klages https://animationproductiondays.de/programme/conference-2025/
17:00 FMX Turm Aalen & VOD An Examination of Grey Characters: How to Write Them and What to Learn from Them Panel “Fresh Visions” curated by Christian Müller, Animationsinstitut / FABW https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2025/list?t=1829
The German Animation Screenplay Award recognises outstanding screenplays for feature-length animated films. The Award for the Best Screenplay for a Feature-Length Animated Film comes with €2,500, sponsored by the Animation Media Creators Region Stuttgart (AMCRS). The Award for the Screenplay with the Greatest International Market Potential is endowed with €2,500, sponsored by our CREATORS from SOLA MEDIA.
The nominees are:
Die Schule der Schurken / The School of Villains (Author: John Chambers)
Fräulein Dezember und die Mondscheinbande (Author: Lisa Fechner, Producer: Peter Keydel, Production: Mistral Filmstudio GmbH)
Treasure Island (Authors: Florens Huhn, Sophia Bierend, Producer: Frank Geiger, Production: Little Dream Entertainment GmbH)
The awards will be presented as part of the Anix Awards on Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 19:00 CET. The Trickstar Business Award will also be presented during the ceremony. Earlier that day, at 13:00 CET, Jørn Precht (Stuttgart Media University) will speak with the nominees for the German Animation Screenplay Award about storytelling and the development of their nominated scripts (To the event).
The Animated Games Award Germany is endowed with €5,000 and is sponsored by MFG Baden-Württemberg. It targets developers of high-quality video games who have their primary or secondary residence in Germany.
The nominees are:
Harold Halibut (Slow Bros.)
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (Happy Broccoli Games)
MINI MINI GOLF GOLF (Three More Years Studio)
Songs of Silence (Chimera Entertainment)
PRIM (Application Systems Heidelberg)
More about the nominated games. The Animated Games Award will be presented during the Award Ceremony on Saturday evening, May 10, 2025. Festival visitors can try out the five nominated games in the GameZone, located at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
Now online – TechTalks Presentations from October 22!
The TechTalks Stuttgart event series presents technical topics from the fields of visual effects (VFX) and animation for scientists, creative professionals, students and the interested public. After the keynote speeches, people can spontaneously take to the microphone on their own behalf. At the recent TechTalks on October 22, 2024, the Research & Development department of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg’s Animationsinstitut presented two of their current projects: EMIL-XR and MAX-R in Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg’s Albrecht Ade Studio.
You can now watch the two presentations of that evening online!
EMIL-XR: Volker Helzle and Andreas Dahn introduced the European Media & Immersion Lab, featuring the R&D’s Lighthouse project FATE OF THE MINOTAUR – an immersive VR-journey designed for up to four players. EMIL – European Media and Immersion Lab (emil-xr.eu)
MAX-R Project: Simon Spielmann and Jonas Trottnow shared advancements in the Mixed Augmented and Extended Reality Media Pipeline (MAX-R), including AI-assisted tools that push high-quality XR content creation to new levels. MAX-R (UPF)
Photos: FABW
At the hands-on demos, the attendees could test the latest versions of the R&D’s Digital Locations and AnimHost. They also had a chance to step into virtual reality for an unforgettable encounter – coming face-to-face with the Minotaur.
The TechTalks Stuttgart event series presents technical topics from the fields of visual effects (VFX) and animation for scientists, creative professionals, students and the interested public. After the keynote speeches, people can spontaneously take to the microphone on their own behalf. The next event will take place on October 22, 2024, at 18:30 CET at Albrecht-Ade Studio (Animationsinstitut / Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg), Akademiehof 10, 71638 Ludwigsburg.
Admission is free! Please register in advance at contact@amcrs.de. Please note: The event will be recorded, but is not hybrid.
Program Schedule:
„EMIL“ | Research & Development, Animationsinstitut, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg The EU-funded project EMIL (European Media and Immersion Lab) aims to promote innovations and developments in cutting-edge XR technologies, as well as strengthen relationships between the creative industries and potential innovation partners across Europe. The staff of the Research & Development department at the Animationsinstitut will provide insights into the international network, the status of the diverse, funded projects after the first two years, and present their lighthouse project “FATE OF THE MINOTAUR”, a VR adventure for up to four players, which can be tested on-site afterward. EMIL – European Media and Immersion Lab (emil-xr.eu)
„MAX-R“ | Research & Development, Animationsinstitut, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg The MAX-R project (Mixed Augmented and Extended Reality Media Pipeline) is a 30-month HORIZON EUROPE initiative. Eleven project partners from across Europe are developing tools for the creation and processing of high-quality XR content, based on real-time workflows. The Animationsinstitut contributes to the project with innovations such as “DIGITAL LOCATIONS,” a demonstrator of virtual replicas of real filming locations for virtual productions, and “ANIMHOST,” an AI-driven system for real-time animations. In this presentation, the Research & Development team will provide insights into the technologies and key project outcomes. MAX-R (UPF)
