Over the weekend in Klaipėda, awards were presented for the international animation and video game festival. This year’s competitive programs featured more than 70 works from around the world, and 15 awards were presented across 7 competitive programs – recognizing animation creators from Lithuania, Ukraine, the Baltic Sea and Nordic countries, young viewers and international competitive programs, as well as video game creators.

The four-day festival featured an extensive program of animated films, video games, and virtual reality works – visitors could see more than 100 different works from around the world. Animation and video game enthusiasts attended numerous seminars and meetings with creators, and a separate program was organized for families, featuring special film screenings and various creative workshops.

Festival organizers are counting increased visitor numbers – preliminary results show approximately 10% audience growth.

Having become a BAFTA qualifying festival in 2025, this year BLON organized competitive animation programs together with international partners and received more than 600 applications.

“Forming the competitive programs, the team did tremendous work – we reviewed hundreds of works. We feel great responsibility to select the best, most interesting, and most fitting works for BLON’s uniqueness. For the first time, we also created a young viewers’ program, which we gave special attention to. We are very happy with the large number of directors who came to present their works. This year we received a record number of guests – more than 80,” says Laura Almantaitė, BLON festival director.

Seven Main Awards Presented

This year, the festival featured five competitive animation programs – supplemented by international and young viewers’ competitive programs, as well as two competitive video game programs.

The BLON Lithuanian creators’ animation competitive program winner was declared to be the film “Little October”, directed by Matas Pakutinskas.

“In the film we find a perfect balance between crazy storytelling and engaging theme and visuals. This short work honorably continues the animation genre tradition characterized by fast pace and black humor. And although this is not a viewers’ prize, we couldn’t help but notice that we weren’t the only ones enjoying this film,” say the program’s jury members.

The winner of this program received a 1000 EUR monetary prize from the Audiovisual Works Authors’ Rights Association “Avaka”, and 2D animation software creator “TV Paint” donated a program license to the winner.

At BLON festival, the prestigious WINGS award was presented in Lithuania for the first time – an international award given to video games created by women creators, women-led studios, or teams.

The award was won by Lithuanian game studio “Hollow Beak Games”, which presented the yet-to-be-released video game “Vale’s Echo”.

“While world-building creates a sense of unease and mystery, the player’s curiosity is gradually awakened as they solve carefully thought-out tasks. In the game, exploration and puzzles perfectly match the horror atmosphere, keeping the player engaged and encouraging them to move forward to reveal secrets,” said Wings Interactive organization representative Zuraida Buter when presenting the award.

“WINGS Interactive” organization presented the winner with a special award and a 2000 EUR monetary prize.

This year’s BLON “Aware Game Awards” winner was declared to be the game “Atuel”, created by Argentine studio “Matajuegos”.

“Dive, float, explore. Merge with the ‘Atuel’ ecosystem – it challenges what games are: interactive experience, documentary film, meditative state of mind. ‘Atuel’ combines all of this. It shows us why it’s important to preserve and protect our environment and the stories within it,” said commission members.

The BLON Ukrainian creators’ animation competitive program winner was declared to be the film “Beyond Time”, directed by Nata Metlukh.

“This year’s prize for the best Ukrainian animated film goes to a work that disturbed us, made us doubt our ability to escape the labyrinth of thoughts and duties. Watching it, we experienced time as if standing still, which made us doubt the very concept of time and reality,” said the commission members who evaluated the program.

The Baltic Sea-Nordic countries competitive program winner was declared to be director Ida Melum’s work “Ovaries All Over”. This creator won her second award at the festival – her film “Night of the Living Dread” triumphed in the International Competitive Program in 2022.

The International Competitive Program winner was declared to be the film “I Wish You Were an Ear” and its director Mirjana Balogh.

“This unique and visually impressive film attracted us with its inventive storytelling and deep meditation on love, identity, and self-knowledge. In a world obsessed with change and the pursuit of perfection, it sensitively reminds us how daily communication shapes us,” said commission members.

First Festival Young Audience Award Presented

This year, BLON festival organized the International Competitive Young Viewers Program for the first time. The program’s films were viewed and the winner was selected by 4A class students from Klaipėda Liudvikas Stulpinas Progymnasium.

They selected as the winning film United States director Aaron Blaise’s animated film “Snow Bear”.

“We really liked the film because it was both fun and a little sad. It was beautiful when the bear found a friend. It also stuck with us how the world changes and animals have a hard time,” justified their choice the young jury members.

4 Special Mention Awards

In addition to the five main competitive animation program awards, 4 more special BLON festival prizes were awarded:

• Ukrainian creators’ animation competitive program special mention – to Anastasiya Falileiyeva’s film “I Died in Irpin”
• Lithuanian creators’ animation competitive program special mention – to Ugnė Žvirblytė’s film “Between Flashes”
• Baltic Sea and Nordic countries competitive program special mention – to Swedish director Andreas Granér’s work “Siri’s Dream”
• International competitive program special mention – to director Oscar Jacobson and his work “Endless Existential Pain”

“Aware Game Awards” special mention was awarded by the commission to the game “PRŠÍ”, created by studio “Herdek”.

The BLON festival also presented the Lithuanian Animation Association award. This award is given to an animation creator for their contribution to Lithuania’s animation industry. This year it went to animator and director Meinardas Valkevičius.

The festival is funded by the Lithuanian Film Centre, Klaipėda City Municipality, and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.