BLON 2026 coming soon. Subscribe to our newsletter, and check Facebook or Instagram to make sure you don't miss any programme updates and early bird tickets.
.jpg)
Sonata Vilkevičiūtė is a stop-motion animator who also works with various textile techniques. From a young age, she was interested in animation and doll-making. She attended Kaišiadorys Art School and later graduated from Kaunas Art Gymnasium with a specialization in textiles. For her final arts exam, she decided to explore animation and created her first stop-motion animated short film, "In the Rhythm of a Clock. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Animation at the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VDA), works as an educator with the Animatest team, and occasionally collaborates with the animation studio Kadrų Skyrius.
Gustė Bidvaitė - Was introduced to art at the M.K. Čiurlionis School of Arts. She is currently studying for a bachelor's degree in animation at Vilnius Academy of Arts. Through her works, without speaking the animator seeks to convey emotionally deep themes and stories.
Since 2017, Akvilė has been working at Meinart Animation Studio as a producer, overseeing internationally recognized animated shorts, including The Perfect Fit—the first Lithuanian short acquired by Disney+. In 2023, she was executive producer on the animated feature Nelly Jelly: My Film. She is currently producing several short films, producing and animated series for adults "Hell Corporation" and developing her second feature, The House That Ran Away.
Johan Edström is a producer. He owns APPARAT Filmproduktion AB and is partner of THE CHAPEL FILMS AB. He has since 1977 worked as an animator, director and producer in Sweden, Europe, Japan, the United States and Canada. He has been a guest lecturer in Animation at SKH, Sörängen, Campus i12, Folkuniversitetet, North Park University, Den Danske Filmskole, and StopMotionLab. Johan is a co-producer of Ida Melum's film Ovary-Acting (2025) and the main producer of Anna Mantzaris film PLEASE (2026).
Animation plays a big part in Šarūnas life. He animates daily and watches festival programmes to learn new techniques or the subtleties of writing a compelling story. For 2 years, he led a team for an international doku-animated feature “Aurora's Sunrise”, which premiered at the Annecy festival. In 2022 - 2023, he was the lead animator on a feature animated film, “Nelly Jelly". Šarūnas wants to take advantage of this and create a strong, visually beautiful film with a story that will touch many.
Juho Maurinen is a filmmaker, visual artist, animator and musician from Helsinki Finland. He has deep roots in DIY culture and he’s been described as an “unstoppable genre bending creative force”. Maurinen believes in sincerity and personal intuition in all his work and he enjoys finding new ways of creating.
Nil Atlı is a Turkish-Canadian animator based in Ottawa, Ontario. She graduated from Canterbury High School's Visual Arts Program before completing Sheridan College’s Bachelor of 2D Animation Program in 2026. Her work often explores personal views of the world through 2D animation, and she is strongly passionate about bringing stories to life, both in her own projects and as part of a collaborative team.
Petrit Gora (b. 1990, Pristina) is a Kosovo-born artist based in Uppsala, Sweden. He studied graphic design and photography before serving as Art Director of the Anibar festival for ten years, where he also helped found Kosovo’s sole animation academy. In 2022, Petrit became director of the REX Animation Festival in Stockholm, where he is currently driving its growth for its twelfth edition.
Sofia is a Ukrainian storyboard artist. She's experienced in a wide variety of 2D and 3D animated projects — TV series, commercials, short films, and feature films. Her greatest drive, both in professional and personal work, is a person-to-person connection created through visual storytelling.
Viktoria Filmako is an independent artist and animation director from Ukraine currently based in Switzerland. After working for several years in the field of architecture and cinema she felt the need to realize herself in the world of animation.
Ukrainian film director and screenwriter. She is studying Film and Television Directing at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. She has completed internships at several film production companies, gaining hands-on experience in film production.
AJ Jefferies is a multi-disciplinary director, animator, illustrator and designer from the UK. He has been creating images, characters and animations for the advertising, gaming and entertainment industries professionally since 2001. As well as his commercial work, AJ also writes, directs and animates his own independent films, including his award winning shorts 'H O R S E' and 'DUCKS'.
Ruth Lemmen has spent years building bridges between indie studios, institutions, funding bodies, and talent. From shaping international programs and juries to supporting small teams through complex decisions, she brings clarity where things often feel overwhelming. She works as a systemic coach, mediator and consultant for teams, companies and individuals and as a project and program manager, the later mostly with the indie game development scene.
Im living in Belgium and I do comics, videogames and music!
Katharina Faller is a Multimedia Designer from Germany. She studied Multimedia and VR Design at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle (Saale) and graduated in 2026 with her bachelor's project, Let me See the Sea. Her work focuses on exploring small everyday feelings, enhancing interpersonal moments, and telling stories through interaction and immersion.
Pietro Righi Riva is co-founder and studio director at Santa Ragione, where he directed several award-winning independent games including ‘MirrorMoon EP’, ‘FOTONICA’, ‘Wheels of Aurelia’, and ‘Saturnalia’. As a producer, he also helped bring other notable Santa Ragione titles to life, among them ‘Mediterranea Inferno’ and ‘HORSES’.
I am an indie developer based in Czechia. After finishing my Master's degree in programming, I am continuing my studies at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), where I study Game Design. Meanwhile, I work in the industry as a Level Designer and Game Designer. In my own work, I focus on creating atmospheric, immersive experiences and environmental storytelling.
Viktorija Ežiukas is an illustrator, comic artist and educator based in Klaipėda. She has illustrated more than 20 books, published several comic books, and brings over 10 years of experience in leading creative workshops for children and adults. Her work combines illustration, storytelling, and arts education, inspiring participants of all ages to explore their creativity.
Tommaso established an indie studio in 2021, working on small projects and helping out the local IGDA (International Game Developer Association) chapter to grow the local game dev community. Since then many things have changed, he's still part of that same community, but he manages the Quickload Acceleration Program, is part co-chair of IGDA Italy and works as a producer for poncle.
Iván McGill sees comics as a multidimensional medium, blending animation, video games, and illustration to explore digital identity, dataism, and information overload. His experimental comics capture evolving realities. Co-founder of Shaman Garage and part of the GRAF festival team, Iván is a fellow at the Càtedra Crec Finestres, Elisava, and a professor of Moving Narratives at U-TAD University. His work has been showcased in independent comics and transmedia festivals nationally and internationally through exhibitions, talks, and workshops.
Rasa Narkūnaitė is a visual artist and game developer currently working on "Sticky Date", an anti-dating simulator. She holds a Master's degree in Visual Game and Media Design from the Royal Danish Academy of Art and a Bachelor's degree in Design and Illustration from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Previously, she worked as a freelance illustrator, creating comics and illustrations for children's books and games. Her practice explores storytelling across visual art, games, and interactive media.
I'm Roberta, a digital artist and illustrator based in Lithuania, specializing in editorial illustration, frame-by-frame animation, and game development. Driven by a fascination with the subconscious, I create surreal imagery that explores themes of anxiety, fear, and existentialism, translating complex emotions into compelling visual stories.
Deividas has been passionate about game development since childhood. He began designing game worlds on paper after his Nintendo broke. With over 10 years of experience working at a leading mobile game studio and creating numerous small projects, he decided it was time to make something special. Together with friends, he co-founded the game development studio Hollow Beak Games. The studio aims to create meaningful, atmospheric games that blend the spooky with the emotional.
Pablo F. Quarta is a narrative designer and game producer who specializes in the development of videogames with strong social, political, and cultural perspectives that draw from Latin American identity. They are part of the development team of the award-winning surrealist documentary game Atuel, and were one of the co-founders of Matajuegos, Argentina’s very first indie game workers’ co-op. Pablo has given talks on their work at international events such as GDC, IndieCade, and DIGRA. They are also an adjunct professor at Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires where they teach game and narrative design.
Producer with experience in 8 animated feature films, dozens of short animated films for children and adults, also signed for documentaries, TV shows. Maurfilm's films have won literally hundreds of festival awards including an Oscar® nomination.In addition to animation, he loves his three daughters, books, collecting movie posters, and long distance running. Which always seems like a good metaphor for all animated films...
A former student at La Fémis, Baptiste began his career at Prima Linea Productions (on The Most Precious of Cargoes by M. Hazanavicius) before launching Pentacle Productions in 2020. Then he launched the Pentacle Distribution label, through which he distributes about ten new short films each year. Pentacle Distribution currently represents around fifty titles, including the Cristal for Best Short Film at Annecy 2025. Baptiste is also acting as executive producer.