The story straddles the line between reality and imagination, with a tiny fire creature luring a young boy into a series of mischievous escapades. Although his father repeatedly tries to rein him in, the boy follows his new friend into a surreal mushroom world offering seemingly endless freedom. Even there, however, actions have consequences, and the journey ultimately leads him to confront the outcomes of his desires and the importance of taking responsibility. 

“My film was created mainly through a combination of stop-motion and digital drawing animation. I saw this project as an opportunity to experiment with ideas and techniques I hadn’t worked with before,” says Janka Feiner, who graduated from the Animation MA programme in 2025 with the Rector’s Diploma Award. “As a child, I wanted to become a puppeteer, a photographer, or a filmmaker. Stop-motion became my passion because it brings these practices together. Materiality, hands-on processes, and the aesthetics of imperfection are central to my work – they’re what make animation feel genuinely alive.” 

In their official statement, the Berlin International Film Festival selection committee highlighted the film’s visual ingenuity: 

“Fire in My Pocket immediately stood out as an outstanding example of short-form filmmaking for young audiences. It is beautifully structured, visually inventive, and confident in its choices.  The different animation styles used to depict the waking world and the realm of imagination produce a clear and convincing contrast, and create a strong sense of immersion. At times, the imagined space feels more tangible than reality itself. The film offers a sensitive and convincing portrayal of the tension between childhood desires and obligations.” 

The Hungarian premiere of Fire in My Pocket will take place on 17 January in the Diploma Premiere section of the Fresh Rooster Animation Film Days, at the Toldi Cinema. 

Fire in My Pocket  was produced by MOME with support from the National Film Institute at MOME’s Animation programme with the involvement of numerous current and former students, Csaba Kalotás and Bálint Szabó as sound designeers, Béla Balázs Award-winning editor Judit Czakó as editor, Eszter Talabér-Glaser and Kata Lakatos as production managers, Réka Anna Szakály as line producer, and Zsuzsanna Vincze and József Fülöp as produceers.  International distribution and festival coordination are managed by the MOME Centre for Film in cooperation with the National Film Institute Hungary. 

Reflecting on the film’s success, producer Zsuzsanna Vincze noted “MOME’s Animation programme has been committed to teaching stop-motion for decades, building on Hungary’s strong animation traditions. As with many diploma projects, the lack of a dedicated stop-motion studio presented a significant challenge. Despite this, the film was completed to a high artistic standard, and hopefully the achievement would help support further development and lead to more internationally visible works in the future.” 

The Generation Kplus section of the Berlin International Film Festival focuses on films made for younger audiences that tell complex stories through perspectives shaped by their age and experience. The selection of Janka Feiner’s film marks another milestone in a long-running series of international accolades: since 2017, diploma films from MOME’s Animation programme have featured regularly at the Berlinale. Fire in My Pocket now joins a line of internationally recognised works, including Symphony No. 42 (2012) by Réka Bucsi, Vulcano Island (2017) by Katalin Lovrity, Entropia (2019) by Anna Flóra Buda, and From the Corner of My Eye (2023) by Domonkos Erhardt.  Most recently, in 2025, Wish You Were Ear by Mirjana Balogh received the Crystal Bear for Best Film in the Generation 14plus competition. 

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/1153507638?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci 

Instagram: @jankafeiner 

More information about the Animation programme: 

Animation MA in English language:https://mome.hu/en/kepzesek/animation-ma-angol-nyelven 

Fresh Rooster Animation Film Days programme: https://frisskakas.mome.hu/screening/ 

More details about the Fresh Rooster Animation Film Days: https://mome.hu/en/hirek/a-felvetelitol-a-fesztivalokig-jon-a-friss-kakas 

Contact: 
MOME Press 
press@mome.hu