It all started with a full-length animation program in spring 2017. Two screenings of current animated films from Germany and a live audiovisual concert awaited our guests and ensured a sold-out house in no time. Two blocks of the latest animated films from Germany and a live audiovisual concert awaited our guests and ensured a sold-out house in no time.

This success spurred us on and – thanks to generous funding from the HKF – we were able to grow into a proper festival with three days of events and three locations as early as the following year in 2018.

In 2019, the future looked rather bleak for FAB due to limited funding opportunities. However, thanks to our amazing, active animation community and a successful crowdfunding campaign, our great partners, a motivated team, and a bit of improvisation, we were still able to put on a great one-day festival edition and satellite pitching event.

What happened in 2020 and 2021, we all know only too well. And yet FAB was able to host its festival as a physical, in-person event both years with three full festival days and an additional series of webinars and livestreams.

In the 2022 and 2023 festival editions, we expanded our supporting program once again. FAB Dimensional was given plenty of new scope for interactive animation projects in the concrete hall of silent green Kulturquartier. The Berlin Animation Hub, meanwhile, gave home to our popular festival formats such as masterclasses, workshops, talks, networking and pitching sessions.

In 2024, the FAB took a sabbatical year for the first time after 7 festival editions. However, in Berlin you could take part in a total of four Animation Rendezvous, which surprised their visitors with exciting topics, special guests and unusual locations.

In 2025, FAB is back with its 8th festival edition!

The co-founder of Animation Network Berlin e.V. and artistic director of the Festival of Animation Berlin (FAB), Pia Djukic, grew up in Stuttgart and became a regular visitor to the ITFS animation festival there. When she moved to Berlin for her animation studies at Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, she was missing one thing above all – a local animation festival. Fortunately, she met Daniel Demele, who was already actively supporting ComicInvasion. Together they decided to put their idea of a Berlin animation film festival into action and founded FAB in 2017.

The Animation Network Berlin e.V. is the association responsible for organizing our annual festival FAB and sees itself as a multidisciplinary hub for animation artists and animation lovers. We do not only aim to connect members of the industry with each other, but also with filmmakers and institutions of related fields as well as interested parties. This is what our network meetings are for – our meet-and-greets, discussions, talks, pitching events, workshops, receptions and, of course, also our parties!

After 5 successful festival years Daniel has moved on professionally. But he still remains with the festival team as an honorary member of Animation Network Berlin e.V. Since 2022 Lukas Thiele is the production manager of FAB. He is already curating FAB Dimensional, our exhibition for space-based animation, since 2020.