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German Computer Game Award 2024 for THE BEAR!

The Bear, Mucks! Games, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

The interactive bedtime story THE BEAR – A STORY FROM THE WORLD OF GRA has won the German Computer Game Award (DCP) in the category “Best Graphic Design”. THE BEAR is the debut work of Clara Deitmar, Julius Dorsel and Luzie Kehle – all former students of the Animationsinstitut at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The team accepted the award yesterday evening in Munich.

THE BEAR is an interactive experience for tablets. Two friends, the bear and the little one, embark on a journey through a dreamy universe where they collect stars and experience stories together. THE BEAR is about rediscovering the intimate and emotional state just before falling asleep.

Winning the DCP feels like a dream for the team: “It was absolutely amazing to be part of the DCP this year! The nominations alone meant so much to us – winning is just phenomenal. We couldn’t have wished for a better start for our newly founded studio.”

The German Computer Game Award is the most important prize for games in Germany and is endowed with around 800,000€. It is awarded by the Federal Government, represented by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, together with game – Association of the German Games Industry and the Digital Games Culture Foundation.

For Jan Pinkava, Director of the Animationsinstitut, the triumph at the DCP is a strong signal for Ludwigsburg as a games location: “To put it simply: The Filmakademie is in Ludwigsburg, and Ludwigsburg is a growing centre for the creative arts. Our Interactive Media teaching is about content – what the artwork does and what it means – with a special emphasis on storytelling. That is why our talented students produce meaningful work, like THE BEAR. At the Animationsinstitut we are proud of our extraordinary students and their contribution to the region.“

THE BEAR is part of the WORLD OF GRA story world, a universe initiated by the creators at the Animationsinstitut. A very special milestone here was that the team created the visuals and trailers for Stuttgart Animated Week 2024 (consisting of: FMX – Film and Media Exchange, Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film and Animation Production Days).

While still studying Interactive Media, Deitmar, Dorsel and Kehle founded the studio Mucks! Games, under whose name they recently published THE BEAR. The game is available for iOS systems.

Find out more about WORLD OF GRA and THE BEAR here.

Source: Press Release, Animationsinstitut / FABW

Congratulations to the team!!!

Learn more about the World of Gra and meet its creators at FMX and ITFS!

Mucks! Games at DCP 2024, Photo by Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images for Marchsreiter Communications

The ITFS 2024 German Animation Screenplay Award Nominees!

Photo: ITFS/Reiner Pfisterer

The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2024 has announced the nominated projects for this year’s German Animation Screenplay Award!

  • Billie Beat (Author: Beke Rienitz)
  • Das NEINhorn (Authors: Marc-Uwe Kling, Marcus Sauermann)
  • The Ogglies – Rexy Alarm! (Author: Toby Genkel)
  • Out of Frame (Authors: Giles New, Keiron Self)

The Award for the best German screenplay for an animated feature film that has not yet been realized comes with a cash prize of € 2,500, sponsored by Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart (AMCRS).
The German screenplay with the biggest international market potential will receive a prize of € 1,500, donated by Pink Parrot.

The awards aim to promote excellent screenplays for German animated feature film projects in German and English language as well as promising authors, and to highlight the importance of professional screenwriting.

The German Animation Screenplay Award will be presented at the ITFS as part of the AniX Awards on Thursday, April 25 at 19.00 CET in the Filmmakers’ Lounge (Festival Center – Haus der Katholischen Kirche Stuttgart), along with the Trickstar Business Award, which honors the best innovative and forward-looking business model in the animation sector, and the ASIFA Prize, which goes to Michaela Pavlátová this year.

If you would like to find out more about the screenplays and the people behind them, join the Workshop-Talk on Thursday, April 25 at 12:30 CET at Cinema: There, Marco Kreuzer, board member of the VeDRA – Verband für Film- und Fernsehdramaturgie, will talk to the nominees of the German Animation Screenplay Award about dramaturgical work and script development based on the nominated scripts.

The candidates for the Animated Games Award Germany 2024, the € 5,000 prize for the best and most innovative animation-based computer game from Germany, donated by MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg, were also announced. The Animated Games Award Germany 2024 will be presented at the ITFS Grand Award Ceremony on Sunday, April 28, 2024.

–> Find out all nominations here!

We keep our fingers crossed for all nominees!

Source: ITFS News, ITFS LinkedIn

SWR TV documentary about current animation projects involving our Creators

Fritzi & Sophie – A Boundless Friendship

The German TV documentary “Frame by Frame – Wie Trickfilmer ticken” by SWR provides insights into the creation of the animated series “Fritzi & Sophie – A Boundless Friendship” and the animated feature film “The Light of Aisha”.

“Fritzi & Sophie” is a co-production of Balance Film Dresden, Trickstudio Lutterbeck Cologne and our CREATORS from Studio Filmbilder in Stuttgart and the first animation series to be produced entirely in Germany. Director and producer Thomas Meyer-Hermann (Studio Filmbilder), director and producer Ralf Kukula (Balance Film) and others involved in the production process will talk about the new technique in animated film of using motion capture in combination with CGI.

Exciting insights into the series and its creation will also be available in a few weeks at the Stuttgart Animated Week at FMX and ITFS. It will also celebrate its world premiere at ITFS (episodes 1-4, episodes 5-8).

Shadi Adib, director of the feature film “The Light of Aisha” and alumna of Animationsinstitut, talks about the making of the international co-production, whose screenplay by Xavier Romero and Llorenç Español won the German Animation Screenplay Award at ITFS 2019 and which is due to be released in cinemas in the fall. Further insights are provided by Kate Forsdick and Holger Tesch from The M.A.R.K. 13 Group in Stuttgart and Peter Keydel from Mago Production in Barcelona.

Take a look!

Directly to feature in the ARD media library, it is available until April 1, 2025.

Recommended reading: “From the drawing board to the cinema: what’s moving the animation industry” on SWR Kultur

Night of Shame on April 26, 2024!

Night of Shame

Night of Shame is the curated film show that celebrates filmmakers’ worst! From charmingly incompetent to all out shameful – established directors excavate their questionable films and submit them to the fascinated gaze of a live audience. An introduction, a screening and an on-stage interview with our host Michael Bohnenstingl. Slightly uncomfortable or outrageously funny! Finally our filmmaker is rewarded by the redemptive applause of a loving crowd. Night of Shame makes you feel humbled, elated, and a bit closer to each other. Because ultimately: “We’re all the same in our shame.”

Be there on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 20.00 CET – during Stuttgart Animated Week (aka ITFS (April 23-28, 2024), FMX (April 23-26, 2024) and APD (April 23-25, 2024)) – when it gets really embarrassing again, but also incredibly funny!

Location: Contain’t, Container City Kunstverein Wagenhalle, Nordbahnhofstraße 1, 70191 Stuttgart

Get your tickets as soon as possible, as experience shows that the show is booked up pretty quickly!

Further information on the Night of Shame website and Instagram

The Night of Shame has already taken place at Animationsinstitut, at the Kaboom Festival in Amsterdam and twice during the Stuttgart Animated Week. It is an event organized by Studio Seufz, hosted by ITFS and Animationsinstitut der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and supported by AMCRS, Film Commission Region Stuttgart, Kulturförderung der Stadt Stuttgart, Sono2, contain’t e.V. and Soybloq.

Pre Fixe with Animation Lounge: Die auditive Ebene im Animationsfilm

Together with the Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH (organizer of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film) and the AMCRS, MFG organizes the Pre Fixe with Animation Lounge as a prelude to the monthly network meeting of the film industry (Jour Fixe), at which speakers from the animation film scene report on current projects using practical examples and provide insights into their work.

On Monday, March 11, 2024 at 18:00 CET, Foley artist and sound designer Luis Schöffend will talk about “Die auditive Ebene im Animationsfilm” (The auditory level in animated film).

In animated films, sound design plays a crucial role as there’s no traditional original sound like in game or documentary films. Foley artist and sound designer Luis Schöffend provides insight into organizational, creative, and technical aspects relevant to sound design in animated films. The presentation is aimed at all professionals in the animation film industry, as well as interested listeners from other fields. Through various film examples, it becomes apparent how handcrafted sounds and creative sound designs breathe life into animated images. And just as diverse as each film is, so too is the consideration for sound design.

Sound creation
Luis Schöffend

Luis Schöffend works as a sound effects artist on animated, dramatic, and documentary films, games, radio plays, theater, and performances. As a sound designer, his work is predominantly heard in animated films and series, as well as in experimental formats. The films and their sound design in which Luis has been involved have been recognized multiple times, including winning the German Film Award (“Lola, Best Sound Design”) and at the Filmfest Dresden (“Goldener Reiter, Filmton”).

The event will take place at the Kulturzentrum Merlin, Augustenstraße 72, 70178 Stuttgart. Admission is free.

More information

Talent Meet-Up BW 2024

Are you at the beginning of your own start-up, currently immersed in developing a new game, or still studying – perhaps “something with media”? Do you come more from an (academic) background but wish to connect with others from the animation, film, and games industries because you value cross-industry exchange? Do you welcome inspiration from a wide range of media sectors, enjoy meeting new people, and aren’t afraid of technological innovation?

Then the TALENT Meet-up BW 2024 is the right thing for you! Apply now for one of the 20 spots in this free, exclusive program with a unique networking opportunity.

Immerse yourself in the Stuttgart Animated Week together with other young professionals and visit the FMX – Film & Media Exchange (April 23-26, 2024), the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (April 23-28, 2024) and the APD Conference (April 23, 2024) of the Animation Production Days with a free Combi Ticket. You will be supported in networking, you will receive individual program tips and the framework for the best possible exchange – with each other and in the international industry. Last but not least, you will get to know regional support services and contacts so that nothing stands in the way of your professional future in THE LÄND.

Application Deadline: March 15, 2024

This way to more information and the application form!

Initiated and organized by: MFG Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation, Film Commission Region Stuttgart, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Animationsinstitut, AMCRS

Get your tickets for FMX and ITFS!

In a few weeks, Stuttgart will once again become a hotspot for the animation and VFX industry and for animation fans worldwide when the FMX – Film & Media Exchange conference, the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film and the Animation Production Days open the doors to their visitors.

FMX (Photo: Dominique Brewing)
ITFS Gala (Photo: Reiner Pfisterer)
APDs (Photo: Reiner Pfisterer)

The FMX will take place from April 23 to 26, 2024 on site at Haus der Wirtschaft. Numerous presentations will subsequently be available online on demand from April 27 to May 31. The ITFS will take place in Stuttgart from April 23 to 28, 2024 at various locations and on Stuttgart’s Schlossplatz. The co-production market Animation Production Days will be organized as a cooperation between FMX and ITFS from April 23 to 25, 2024.

From now on, FMX Conference, Day and Online Passes as well as ITFS Festival and Professional Passesare are available in their ticket shops. Worthwhile for visiting both events is a Combi Pass which is available in both the FMX and ITFS ticket shops (until March 15 at the Early Bird rate).

Ticket shop FMX | Website FMX

Ticket shop ITFS | Website ITFS

Registration APD | Website APD

Diploma Project WORLD OF GRA Creates Visuals for FMX, ITFS and APD

Source: Press Release Animationsinstitut, Ludwigsburg, January 23, 2024

Stills World of Gra, Credits: World of Gra von Mucks! Games, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

The development of story worlds at the Animationsinstitut has yet another success story: the 2023 diploma project WORLD OF GRA is the face of three leading animated media events in Europe. The conference FMX – Film & Media Exchange (April 23-26, 2024), the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) (April 23-28, 2024) and the Animation Production Days (APD) (April 23-25, 2024) all chose WORLD OF GRA as their motif for the just released event trailers and visual designs.

For the very first time, custom trailers for each event have been created – each with its own story, focus and theme – by the same authors, from the same narrative universe, illustrating the harmonious spirit of synergy between the three events of “Stuttgart’s Animated Week.” Dr. Jan Pinkava, Director of the Animationsinstitut, welcomes the choice of WORLD OF GRA and sees it as a significant win-win situation: “I am delighted that our talented alumni have created such a beautifully resonant and meaningful collection of graphics and trailers for this year’s FMX, ITFS, and APDs. This is the best of all worlds for the three events, for our graduates, for the Animationsinstitut, and for Stuttgart’s ‘Animated Week’. Congratulations.”

WORLD OF GRA is a universe of many different stories that share one overarching theme: growth. The beings of the WORLD OF GRA all have one big problem. They grow and grow and just won`t stop growing. Clara Deitmar, the creator of WORLD OF GRA, believes that this theme is a universal human experience – life means change, growth, moving on.

Mirroring the IP itself, all of them have grown personally and artistically throughout the creation process and their Interactive Media studies at the Animationsinstitut. The production of the visuals and trailers for FMX, ITFS and APD 2024 marks a special milestone, as the producer Julius Dorsel explains: “It’s a badge of honour to be selected to provide the trailers for all three events! A bit intimidating and just wonderful that so many people are going to see our characters on the big screens.”

Trailer FMX 2024
Trailer ITFS 2024
Trailer APD 2024

Call for Entries Animated Games Award Germany 2024

The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) is calling for entries for the Animated Games Award Germany 2024. The prize of 5,000 euros is sponsored by the MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg mbH. It is aimed at developers of computer games in Germany and is intended to strengthen the content-related integration of games and animated film and promote the artistic quality of games. The ITFS 2024 will take place from April 23 to 28, 2024.

Deadline for registration and submission of games for the preselection: February 1, 2024

Regulations | Registration form

All ITFS 2024 competitions

Photo: ITFS/Reiner Pfisterer

Pre Fixe with Animation Lounge: Animating Pumuckl

Together with the Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH (organizer of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film) and the AMCRS, MFG organizes the Pre Fixe with Animation Lounge as a prelude to the monthly network meeting of the film industry (Jour Fixe), at which speakers from the animation film scene report on current projects using practical examples and provide insights into their work.

“Revealing the invisible: Animating Pumuckl“ will be the topic on December 11, 2023 at 18:00 CET.

The Pumuckl series brought the radio play character of the goblin to television for the first time in the 1980s. The magic of the series was created in particular by the interplay between the actor Gustl Bayrhammer and the wild, lovable cartoon character of Pumuckl. This adaptation of Ellis Kaut’s books is still very much present in reruns and in the nostalgic memories of the current generation of parents and grandparents. For the new edition of the series by director Marcus H. Rosenmüller, Ludwigsburg-based Studio Soi was commissioned to provide the new animations for the title character. With such a new edition, the question arises as to what should be changed in a contemporary realization. How close do the animators stay to the original? What technology and look could the new Pumuckl use to inspire children again?

Torben Meier, Studio Soi
Michael Hockey, Studio Soi

Michael Hockey, Animation Supervisor, and Torben Meier, co-founder of Studio Soi, will give an insight into these decisions and the working methods of the animation studio. The presentation will be held in English.

The event will take place at the Kulturzentrum Merlin, Augustenstraße 72, 70178 Stuttgart. Admission is free.

More information