The Anim'est International Animation Film Festival has in recent years become Bucharest's most loved film festival and is a recognized event on the international animation scene.

This year's festival has just wrapped up following 10 days of competition in the Romanian capital. There were six competing sections in this year's festival, ranging from best international feature film to best Balkanimation.

Animation film producer Ron Diamond was also a member of the festival jury. He says interesting ideas come from the Balkans:

"I come to an animation festival to see independent films. I can see studio films all year long but it's the films that come from unexpected places - the Balkans or here in Romania - that to me is exciting, because I see international films all the time but generally people in small regions don't send their films to every film festival."

The film "The day of the Crows" earned the award for best feature film.

The organizer of Anim'est Festival, Vlad Ilicevici, says he hopes the festival will gain more importance in the future. "Anim'est is one of the largest animation festivals in Europe...I hope it will grow bigger and I hope it'll serve its purpose at a certain moment, that is, to have a real animation school which will be linked to the festival," he said.

The award for the best Balkanimation film went to the film "Aunty" from Turkey. Fulya Tokaoglu, director of "Aunty", said he was shocked and happy to receive the award. "I saw really good films the whole festival and it really helped me a lot for my animations," he said.

The award for the best short film in the line-up went to "The Little Blond Boy With a White Sheep" from France.

The festival's presentations, workshops and masterclasses have, since 2006, provided the perfect opportunity to get in touch with the latest animation creations.

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