StopTrik 2025 Winners – Full List of Awarded Stop-Motion Films
From September 24 to 29, 2025, the 15th StopTrik International Film Festival unfolded in Maribor, Slovenia, reaffirming its position as Europe’s leading celebration of stop-motion artistry. This year’s edition, themed “Satire, Blasphemy, Carnival,” embraced the absurd, the grotesque, and the politically charged — transforming laughter into a form of cultural resistance.
With 71 films from 31 countries selected from nearly 360 submissions, StopTrik 2025 showcased a global spectrum of voices united by one principle: stop-motion as a medium of defiance, introspection, and invention. The festival’s curators encouraged confrontation over comfort, programming “duets” of films that clashed and conversed across generations and ideologies.
Award Winners & Jury Statements
Audience Grand Prix – Stop Motion Animation
2024, Germany, 12’50’’
Detlev – directed by Ferdinand Ehrhardt (Germany, 2024)
dir. Maciek Szczerbowski, Chris Lavis, prod. NFB National Film Board of Canada, 2025, Canada, 17’28”
The Girl Who Cried Pearls / Dekle, ki je jokalo bisere – directed by Maciek Szczerbowski & Chris Lavis (Canada, 2025)
The audience vote ended in a rare tie. Both films tackle vulnerability and identity from different angles — Detlev through sardonic existential humor, and The Girl Who Cried Pearls through poetic grief and emotional symbolism. Together, they capture the spirit of StopTrik’s 2025 theme: empathy emerging from irony.
Audience Grand Prix – Borderlands
dir. Ülo Pikkov, prod. Silmviburlane, 2024
Estonia, 16’38”
Sewing Machine / Õmblusmasin / Šivalni stroj – directed by Ülo Pikkov (Estonia, 2024)
This haunting blend of animation and archival film explores memory, war, and personal resilience. It resonated deeply with audiences and critics alike, earning both the Borderlands Grand Prix and a Special Mention from the jury.
Stop Motion Animation Award (Jury)
On Weary Wings Go By / Linnud läinud / Ko ptice odlete – directed by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (Estonia / Lithuania, 2024)
The jury praised Tuttelberg’s meditative exploration of material and nature. Filmed on analog stock, it’s a tactile poem where every motion of feather, leaf, and light breathes life into stillness. The work stands as a benchmark for contemporary poetic stop-motion.
Stop Motion Animation – Special Mention
Occhio – directed by Giulia Falciani (Germany, 2024)
Occhio delves into the psychological interior, where biology meets nightmare. With imagery both unsettling and hypnotic, it merges humor, tension, and craftsmanship in a uniquely visceral way.
Borderlands Award
Dark Globe / Mračna obla – directed by Donato Sansone (Italy / France, 2024)
A kinetic, three-minute explosion of imagery and sound, Dark Globe channels chaos and satire with surgical precision. The film’s visual rhythm, humor, and pace impressed jurors for its audacity and cinematic control.
Borderlands – Special Mention
dir. Ülo Pikkov, prod. Silmviburlane, 2024
Estonia, 16’38”
Sewing Machine / Šivalni stroj – directed by Ülo Pikkov (Estonia, 2024)
Recognized twice, Sewing Machine merges experimental narrative with historical reflection, reaffirming Ülo Pikkov’s reputation as one of the most thematically daring voices in Eastern European animation.
Young Audience Grand Prix (by age group)
Ages 6–8: Bobel’s Kitchen – directed by Fiona Rolland (Belgium, 2024)
Ages 9–11: The Night Boots – directed by Pierre-Luc Granjon (France, 2024)
Ages 12–14: Freak of Nature – directed by Alexandra Lermer (Germany, 2024)
The youth competition continues to expand, encouraging young audiences to think critically through animation. Each winning film combines humor, heart, and visual wonder — proof that storytelling can inspire across all ages.
Themes of the 2025 Edition
Carnivalesque & Subversion
StopTrik’s 2025 program transformed the grotesque into a language of truth-telling. Laughter was not a mask but a magnifying glass. Dark Globe’s manic satire, Occhio’s body horror, and Detlev’s ironic melancholy each used absurdity to expose the fragile core of humanity.
Material & Formal Experimentation
From analog film to digital photogrammetry, StopTrik 2025 underscored that experimentation remains the lifeblood of the medium. Films like On Weary Wings Go By and Occhio pushed the limits of tactility, showing that every frame can become a philosophical statement.
Historical & Political Resonance
Sewing Machine emerged as the year’s political centerpiece — stitching memory, trauma, and art into a single emotional narrative. Meanwhile, The Girl Who Cried Pearls reframed morality through fantasy, proving that fables can still confront modern disillusionment.
Audience & Jury Synergy
Unique to StopTrik is its dual-structure of jury and audience voting, merging professional critique with democratic participation. This year’s results reflected a shared sensibility — that emotional authenticity and artistic risk can coexist.
Highlights Beyond the Awards
-
Festival Theme: “Satire, Blasphemy, Carnival,” inspired by the writings of Mikhail Bakhtin.
-
Special Programs: Retrospectives pairing classic and contemporary satirical shorts.
-
Social Engagement: The Palestine Animated and AniJam solidarity screenings.
-
Educational Events: Workshot 2.0 – Satire, Blasphemy, Carnival and a children’s pixilation workshop, Upside-Down World.
-
Venues: Screenings and exhibitions across Maribor, including Vetrinjski dvor and the Maribor Puppet Theatre.
Why StopTrik 2025 Matters
While many animation festivals emphasize polish and marketability, StopTrik remains defiantly independent. Its curators champion the handmade, the raw, and the reflective. The 2025 winners prove that stop-motion is not nostalgia — it is activism through art.
By fusing craft with conscience, StopTrik 2025 reminded the world that the smallest movements can still shake the largest truths.
