The directors of the seven projects selected will have another chance to talk to the panel of international experts who tutored them during the festival and to discuss their subsequent progress
The ZINEBI Animation Lab 2026 mentoring programme is back in operation, with a second round of online consultations due to run until Friday 22 May. In this new phase, the seven projects selected will have an opportunity to discuss the progress they have made since they had their first face-to-face meeting in Bilbao at last year’s festival.
The successful projects were chosen from among forty-nine applications and previously underwent analysis and accompaniment by a panel of experts from a range of backgrounds. The panel consisted of filmmakers Ivana Bošnjak and Thomas Johnson; programmer Sébastien Sperer, (who has been a member of the selection committee at the Annecy Festival for the last 25 years); Daniel Šuljić, artistic director at Animafest Zagreb; and Basque scriptwriter and filmmaker Pedro Rivero.
This year’s selection consists of six short films and one feature. The short films are Ac & Apo, by Bilbao illustrator Isabel Molinos; Klera, by San Sebastian studio Dibulitoon, based on the children’s book by the writer Leire Bilbao; Los Niños de la Guerra, by London-based filmmaker Alize Sotelo from Navarre; Pacífico, by Chilean filmmaker Camila Murúa; Shio, by Georgian filmmaker Ana Markozashvili; and Txantxangorria, by French director Alice Lahourcade. Completing the selection is Noa, a feature film by Colombian director Diego Gaviria.
This second round of conversations continues the mentoring process begun in Bilbao last year by ZINEBI Animation Lab. The aim is to provide support to animation projects at various stages of creation by fostering dialogue between the filmmakers and top international figures from the industry.
