On 16 January, a full-day professional programme at the MOME Auditorium will offer comprehensive insight into the animation profession, from admissions through to working internationally. The morning opens with an introduction to the MOME Anim programme, followed by an open forum led by Head of MA programme Tibor Bánóczki and Head of the BA programme Orsolya Sipos, focusing on admissions requirements and who the animation programme is suited to. Questions from the audience are welcome throughout. 

This is followed by the talk Goals and Near Misses, in which producer Gábor Osváth and animation director Réka Anna Szakály explore what distinguishes a strong portfolio from a weak one, sharing practical advice with aspiring filmmakers. One of the most anticipated sessions of the day is the portfolio consultation Those Who’ve Already Made It, where current MOME students offer personalised feedback on submitted work. In the afternoon, established filmmakers including Krisztián Király, Judit Orosz, Viktória Traub, and Péter Vácz speak about how their careers developed after graduation. Festival selectors from leading European animation festivals then offer rare insight into how films are chosen for their programmes.  

One of the highlights of the day is the masterclass by internationally recognised French–Dutch graphic artist and animation director Alice Saey. Working between Paris and Rotterdam, she moves between design and film, focusing on poetic and graphic forms of storytelling. Her animation work includes the music videos She’s Young, Happy, and Careful, and she has collaborated with institutions and platforms such as ARTE, Centre Pompidou, and Kiblind. She has also created a 20-square-metre mural for the La Courneuve – Six Routes metro station in Paris.  

In her masterclass she will discuss her creative methods and recent festival successes before launching the twenty-hour online Comics Marathon. This unusual event will include a twenty-hour drawing challenge that participants begin without knowing how the story will end. Every five hours, a new page of the narrative is revealed, requiring them to respond and adapt their drawings as the story develops. By the end of the challenge, each participant completes a four-page comic. The finished works are reviewed and awarded the following afternoon by a professional jury chaired by Alice Saey. 

The 17 January screening programme offers a wide-ranging selection drawn from the latest works of the Hungarian and international animation scene. The highlight of the day is the premiere of the newest MOME Anim diploma films, shown on the big screen for the very first time. The 2025 graduating class presented an extensive body of work in June, spanning film, immersive formats, and other experimental projects. Eight short films have been selected for Fresh Rooster, and together, they reflect the diversity of approaches developed within the programme, both in terms of subject matter and technique. These include stop motion, 3D, paper cut-out, and 2D animation, offering a clear sense of the studio-based practice and long-standing workshop culture that define animation education at MOME. The programme includes Each, All and Every by Nikoletta Veress, MATT by Balázs Szentesi, Inlands by Zsófia Fanni Pethő, About the Line by Réka Ráhel Gáti, Firefly in My Pocket by Janka Feiner, Cargo Voyage by Dániel Diószeghy, Night Sky Elevator by Csanád Baksa-Soós, and Bonefuzz by Márk László. 

A special segment of the festival is dedicated to the oeuvre of the late Ferenc Sajdik, whose distinctive characters have shaped the visual world of Hungarian animation for generations. His work includes some of the most enduring Hungarian animation classics such as Pom-Pom and The Great Ho-Ho-Ho Fisherman, and he was also involved in major productions including the Palme d’Or–winning Moto perpetuo. The screening brings together both well-known and lesser-known short films from the golden age of Hungarian animation. Behind the playful, childlike visual style so closely associated with Sajdik’s work, these films reveal sharp and often bittersweet insights into everyday life. 

The recent revival of the Hungarian music video scene comes into focus in the Music Video: Life after MTV selection. In recent years, animated music videos have entered a new golden age in Hungary, developing powerful and distinctive visual languages for performers. Often experimental in approach, these videos combine the music with bold visuals that are at times surreal. Many of the most prominent recent videos have been created by current MOME students or alumni. At the latest Hungarian Music Video Awards, MOME Open instructor Zsófi Tasnádi received an award for Dzsúdló’s PRESSO, created with her fellow animators and colleagues.  The festival programme also features another Dzsúdló video, Keringő, directed by Réka Anna Szakály and Boglárka Ászity, alongside several music videos by Péter Vácz and László Csáki, as well as a selection of works by PIROS Animation. 

The block shifts the focus to MOME Anim instructors as outstanding practising filmmakers. The selection includes earlier films by head of programmes, teachers, and guest lecturers. The works, created through both narrative and experimental approaches, are as diverse as the animation programme itself. Altogether, Fresh Rooster 2026 offers inspiration, practical insight, and a broader international perspective for anyone interested in contemporary animation and the next generation of talent.   

The full programme is available on the event website. 

SPOT: https://vimeo.com/1144809360?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci