The animated works produced for the worldwide distribution Puffins Impossible and Prince of the Seas finally got to the big screen on September 23 and September 24, at the first edition of the Novi Sad Film festival. In the packed Arena Cineplex theater, the audience had a chance to enjoy unique works of the local artists and to hear more about pioneering these projects for the first time in Serbia.

The special screenings and the panel discussions with the author teams gathered kids, parents, students, artists as well as the employees and collaborators on both project.

The selection of nine episodes from the Puffins Impossible 3D animated series, starring Johnny Depp, created by ILBE Studios, and produced by Archangel Digital Studios with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, showcased outstanding storytelling for pre-school children. Everyone enjoyed charming stories of five Arctic birds, enriched with unique Serbian humor and original music, with the intention to educate about the important social values. The screening was also an exceptional opportunity to get to know the names of the local artists from ILBES and ADS who successfully completed five seasons of the series and continue to produce the same amount on a yearly basis.

The panel discussion about the series creation moderated by our Storyboard Director & ITC Manager Mileta Poštić, included Peter Nalli, Head of Animation & VFX, Anđelka Janković, Head of Marketing & Communications, Predrag Joldić, Senior Technical Director, Kristina Bojanić, Scriptwriter, Zoran Jovičić, 2D Storyboard Artist, Marija Jelušić, Animation Picture Editor – from ILBE Studios, and Bojan Kosović, Creative Director at the Archangel Digital Studios series production company and director of several episodes.

Peter Nalli, Anđelka Janković, Predrag Joldić, and Bojan Kosović introduced the audience to the beginning of the studio, the series origins, the employment challenges, and role of each company and each team in the series running.

Artists Kristina Bojanić, Zoran Jovičić, and Marija Jelušić talked about their personal experiences in creating short animated 3D content which differed a lot from their previous jobs. They talked about the processes behind their roles, the ways they collaborated with the rest of the team, and the progress they made since the early stages of the series.

The panel was also followed with the interesting questions from students and children interested in the animation process.

The first feature-length animated documentary from Serbia Prince of the Seas was also screened in our country for the first time. Based on the memories of Prince Albert I, Monaco's greatest reformer, the story is divided between the responsibilities of the royal title and his love for the seas and the oceans. The film was produced by ILBE Studios and Furuna Crafts, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.

The local audience had a chance enjoy the film of the very classic animations style. Mainly set as 2D, it also successfully incorporates powerful 3D elements, and lots of CGI work

The group of local artists from the two studios had the opportunity to work on the existing script, but to establish the aesthetics and the style of the film from scratch.

The screening was followed with the panel discussion about the process of adapting the story into an animated documentary moderated by Daniela Piperčević, Assistant Production Manager. Panel participants included Peter Nalli, Associate Producer, Predrag Joldić, Executive Producer, Mileta Poštić, Executive Producer and Milisav Banković, Animation Director.
Peter Nalli explained how the project started and why Serbian studios were selected to take part in it, expressng gratitude to the initiators and specifically Carla Marie Ray Faggionato who was the writer, director, and producer on the film

Predrag Joldić and Mileta Poštić talked about the challenges of aligning 2D and 3D to achieve stylistic fit, and about the adjusting pipeline to meet the time and budget requirements.

Milisav Banković specially praised the young artists who worked on the projects of this type for the first time and progressed immensely by its completion.

They all concluded that the domestic animation professional didn’t have an opportunity like this for decades and that the documentary animation is yet to be developed.

We congratulate to everyone involved in our animated works on the successful first screenings in Serbia! We also congratulate to all our panel speakers for the outstanding presentations! We look forward to more similar public events while continuing to air our animated works worldwide!