Northern Animation Network Expands Its Reach With New YouTube Channel
As 2025 draws to a close, the Northern Animation Network (NAN) is celebrating a record-breaking year — and preparing to enter the digital space with a brand-new YouTube channel launching in early 2026.
The initiative marks another major step in strengthening ties between the Nordic and Baltic animation communities. NAN, established as a collaboration between Fredrikstad Animation Festival (Norway), Viborg Animation Festival (Denmark), REX Animation Film Festival (Sweden), and BLON Animation and Games Festival (Lithuania), has spent the past year cultivating cross-regional partnerships, joint submissions, and industry exchange.
A Record Year for the Region
Backed by a €300,000 Creative Europe Media grant and additional support from the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, NAN has significantly expanded its footprint across the region. Attendance at each of its member festivals has risen in 2025, coinciding with an international surge of interest in Nordic-Baltic animation — a movement highlighted by the Oscar win for Flow earlier this year.
At the Fredrikstad Animation Festival’s 29th edition, Sandra Brunkow Simonsen, Head of Program at Viborg Animation Festival, spoke with Cartoon Brew about NAN’s newest endeavor: the Northern Animation Channel, a dedicated online hub featuring in-depth interviews and short documentaries on the artists shaping animation across Northern Europe.
“This series of video portraits will be released online at the beginning of 2026,” Simonsen said. “We have conducted a flurry of interviews at the partnering festivals throughout the fall. The long-time collaboration among our festivals has already manifested this year through the first-ever joint submissions initiative, and we are very excited about this next step.”
Showcasing the Region’s Artists and Heritage
The new channel will spotlight both established and emerging creators from across the Nordic-Baltic region. Among the first confirmed participants are:
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Sara Gunnarsdóttir, Oscar-nominated director of My Year of Dicks
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Kristian Pedersen, Norwegian “poetry filmmaker” known for his experimental short works
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Karla Nor Holmbäck, director of Rosa and the Stone Troll
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Ignas Meilūnas, Lithuanian filmmaker celebrated for his inventive stop-motion techniques
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Anu-Laura Tuttelberg, Estonian director renowned for her porcelain-puppet films, including On Weary Wings Go By
Later in 2026, future episodes will include interviews with Kajsa Næss (Titina), Endre Skandfer, and Nathan Jurevicius, among others.
Simonsen emphasized that the series aims for longevity: “These are conversations that can be enjoyed in five years as well — approximately 20 minutes long and focused on the artists’ general approach and creative process.”
The mission, she explained, is to highlight not only the finished films or games but also the craft, culture, and imagination that drive them.
International Guests and Industry Insight
The Northern Animation Channel will also feature select international guests. Earlier this year, Tomm Moore, co-founder of Cartoon Saloon, delivered a keynote at Viborg Animation Festival, and Bill Wise, a Pixar veteran, appeared at Fredrikstad in 2024. In 2025, masterclasses by Liane-Cho Han (Little Amélie) and Nikita Diakur (Fest) drew large crowds — the kind of deep, reflective sessions the new channel seeks to capture and share more widely.
Building a Stronger Nordic Animation Ecosystem
At FAF’s opening ceremony, Liselott Forsman, CEO of the Nordisk Film & TV Fund, praised the growing spirit of cooperation across the region’s animation industry. “Every time I come together with people from animation, I feel so much energy and power from this community,” she said. “People working in this industry have a strong will to share, collaborate, and find ways to help each other.”
In parallel with the YouTube project, the Fund continues to support Nordic Animation, a producers’ association uniting studios and creators from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland under the “Year of Animation” banner. Together, these initiatives are weaving a more connected creative landscape — one that celebrates both artistry and community.
A Digital Stage for Northern Storytelling
The Northern Animation Channel will debut in early 2026 on YouTube.com/@Northern-Animation. Its goal: to provide a year-round platform for Nordic and Baltic creators and offer international audiences a closer look at the ingenuity behind the region’s growing animation scene.
With its mix of stop-motion, 2D, and CG storytelling — and a strong emphasis on craft — this new digital presence promises to amplify voices from one of the most artistically rich corners of the animation world.
