CRAFT Animfest 2026 winners: Decay takes the Professional Craft Award; Brain Space, Radix and Silent Cinema recognised

The 6th CRAFT International Animation Festival (Craft Animfest) ran from 23 to 28 October 2026 in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and has now published its winners. In its main strand, the International Competition of Stop-Motion & Traditional Techniques, the Professional Craft Award went to Decay by Juan Camilo González (Colombia). The jury called the film a powerful and deeply moving exploration of grief. Skwigly published the winners list on 31 October; it does not name the jurors.

Three shorts already in the catalogue won awards in the same competition. Laura Tofarides's puppet film Brain Space (United Kingdom) received the festival's Special Mention: Stop Motion Technique, for its use of the cinematic apparatus in animation. Anne Breymann's Radix (Germany) received the Special Jury Mention in the professional section. Krste Gospodinovski's Silent Cinema (North Macedonia) received the Special Mention for Best Cinematography, which the jury gave for an innovative long take.

In the student section, Natalia Mirzoyan's Winter in March won the Strong Craft Basis Award, and the jury singled out its thread material. Stop Motion Magazine describes the film as a puppet stop-motion short made with handmade fabric puppets. Armenian, Estonian, French and Belgian companies co-produced it. In the same competition, Marcy Page's Virgin Fandango (Canada) won both the Audience Award and the Innovative Approach award, for its use of unusual material. Best Short Animation for Kids, in the children's competition for stop-motion and traditional techniques, went to Aller & Retour by Lucia Bulgheroni and Michele Greco (Italy).