ROBERT SOWA 
(1972, Poland) is the head of Animation Film Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts Krakow, Poland. In this workshop, Professor Sowa will be presenting a case study lecture on the subject on experimentation in digital 3D animation. He will demonstrate the stages of project development from conceptual work, through storyboarding, trials and tests confronted with the excerpts from final outcomes. In his presentation, he will also discuss the field of CGI experiments with stereoscopy, contemporary music, documentary filmmaking, with examples from his own work.

As an animation film director and graphic artist, Robert Sowa is a restless experimenter. In his work, he is constantly looking for connections between visual experimentations and experimental sound.
He creates individual languages through a wide range of mediums and a relationship between visual and sonic spaces. Robert Sowa makes animation films using stop motion, mixed media, lighting, painting, and photography. He collaborated on the implementation of many feature and documentary films.

Robert Sowa's works have been presented at many festivals, screenings, and art galleries, including:

Centrum Pompidou, Paris, France;
Museum Of Modern Art, New York, USA;
Festival Del Film Locarno, Switzerland;
Anima Mundi Gallery, Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brasil;
The National Museum In Krakow, Poland;
Center For Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland; Barbican Centre, London, UK;
Center For Contemporary Art (Cccb), Barcelona, Spain. He also cooperates with the Institute of Audiovisual Arts of the Jagiellonian University and the Center for Digital Art and Experimental Media (DXARTS) at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Now in its fourth year, ANIMATED SPIRITS was founded and is organized by Zita Mara Vadasz, Advisor at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, and former director of the Hungarian Cultural Center in New York. The festival is curated by Anna Ida Orosz, lecturer at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, Hungary. Both Zita Mara Vadasz and Anna Ida Orosz are well-known figures in the European animation community.

Since 2015 the festival has showcased 86 films from 21 countries in front of a 1500+ registered audience.

The festival is presented by the School of Visual Arts, powered by The International Visegrad Fund and made possible by MANIFESZT – Association of Hungarian Animation Filmmakers (HU); AniScreen (CZ); Fest Anča International Animation Festival (SK); Galeria Bielska BWA (PL).

The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.