Following the enthusiastic response to the workshop at Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films, which saw 27 applications from 15 countries and three continents, GoCritic! continues its partnership with the Animation Festival Network (AFN) with a workshop at the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia, from 5-10 June 2023.

Up to six promising film journalists and critics will be selected, and their tutoring, accommodation and sustenance expenses will be covered by the programme. Their articles will be published on Cineuropa and Zippy Frames, as well as the festival’s website.

GoCritic! is proud to announce that the workshop will be tutored by Jessica Kiang, a Berlin-based freelance film critic with regular bylines in Variety, Sight & Sound, The Criterion Collection, The New York Times, The LA Times, Film Comment, The Playlist, Rolling Stone and so on. She has served on numerous festival juries, including Toronto, London and IDFA, has twice been a mentor at the Melbourne Film Festival Critics Campus and recently became the international programmer for the Belfast Film Festival.

Launched thanks to the global reputation of the filmmakers sprung from the Zagreb School of Animation, and the result of a decision made by ASIFA (the International Animated Film Association), the Zagreb Film production company and the City of Zagreb, Animafest Zagreb takes place every year in early June. With over 350 films, symposia on contemporary animation studies, presentations, exhibitions, lectures and workshops, the festival will provide a comprehensive insight into contemporary animated production and celebrate its rich tradition. 

GoCritic! is happy to return to Animafest for the first time since 2019, when a remarkably successful workshop resulted in reviews, interviews and features that you can find here.

The call for participants for Animafest 2023 is here, and the deadline is set for 17 April. For more information and any questions, please contact gocritic@cineuropa.org.

GoCritic!@AFN is a training programme for emerging European film journalists and critics, organised by AFN – Animation Festival Network in partnership with Cineuropa and Zippy Frames, and co-financed by the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme.