16.07.2026
TAFF Pro 2026: Animated to Life 26.–28.8.2025
TAFF Pro brings together Finnish and international animation artists as well as professionals from related fields. The program consists of talks, presentations, and panel discussions, as well as film screenings. TAFF Pro promotes the vitality of the animation industry and offers new ideas and contacts to industry professionals and students.
This year, TAFF Pro focuses on bringing objects to life and object manipulation. The program offers fascinating perspectives from professionals in stop-motion animation and puppetry on how movement, storytelling, and the magical bringing to life of inanimate characters create a connection between these art forms. The entire TAFF Pro program is suitable for both professionals and students in the fields of animation and puppetry.
We are organizing TAFF Pro in collaboration with Aura of Puppets, a network of puppetry professionals. Based in Turku, Aura of Puppets brings together the top Finnish talents in the field, advances the art form, and promotes contemporary puppetry in Finland and abroad. Our other partner is the Turku Arts Academy at Turku University of Applied Sciences. The Turku Arts Academy not only offers top-tier education in animation in Finland but also part-time studies in puppetry as part of its theater directing program.
Program
Portfolio coaching opens the program
On Wednesday, TAFF Pro is organizing an animation portfolio coaching event in collaboration with the animation program at the Turku Academy of Arts. Participants selected for the portfolio clinic will receive expert guidance on developing their portfolios. The portfolio clinic is a request from the animation industry, and as a festival dedicated to advancing the field, we want to respond to it.
Does your portfolio need some polishing? we’ve now opened additional spots for portfolio coaching. Read more and sign up here:
Masterclass: Thomas Volda – Breathing the Inanimate to Life
On Thursday, director Thomas Volda (UK/CRO) offers an insight into the creative and practical process of making puppet films through his award-winning stop-motion films made in with his artistic partner, Ivana Volda. Drawing on his experience in stop-motion animation, Volda explores storytelling, visual development, puppet performance, and the expressive possibilities of handcrafted filmmaking. Through examples from his own films and production process, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how animation can transform inanimate materials into compelling cinematic worlds.
Masterclass: Anna Ivanova – From the Puppet’s Perspective
Puppet theater expert and director Anna Ivanova (FR) brings the perspective of a puppeteer to the theme of how the inanimate becomes alive. Anna has years of experience in various puppet theatre productions, most recently she has delved into baby theatre.
Nanna Mäkinen & Anni Oja – Laboratorio
The theme of “Animated to Life” is explored in greater depth in the workshop LABORATORIO, led by puppet maker Nanna Mäkinen and animator Anni Oja. The workshop explores how puppet theater and stop-motion animation can be used to bring puppets, materials, and objects to life. Both the instructors and participants will bring their own perspectives and expertise to the table to create short experiments. Participants are welcome to bring along any (small) objects that interest them. The workshop’s experiments will be filmed using the participants’ own devices, such as a smartphone and the free Stop Motion Studio app.
Masterclass: Anita Killi – MasterGlass
This year’s TAFF jury member, director and screenwriter Anita Killi (NOR) will introduce you to her fascinating world of stop-motion and multiplane animation. Killi founded the film studio Trollfilm in 1995 and has written and directed several award-winning films.
Masterclass – Ishmael Falke
A puppeteer’s perspective on storytelling is offered by puppeteer and performance artist Ishmael Falke, whose international career centers on the stories told by materials and spaces, the redefinition of the body, and the deconstruction and reconstruction of old and familiar stories.
Discussion: Animated to Life: The Difference Between Story and Movement
In a discussion moderated by Tatu Pohjavirta, Falke and Claus Gladyszak (NOR), a producer at the Norwegian company Trollfilm, explore two different ways of bringing inanimate material to life: the three-dimensional world of puppets and the layered expression of multiplane work. The discussion will explore the common expressive techniques of these handmade, material-driven art forms and their approaches to addressing both everyday and challenging topics, as a counterpoint to computer-generated and AI-based content.
TAFF Pro Classics
Friday’s TAFF Pro program concludes with the TAFF Pro Classics special screening, for which TAFF’s artistic director, Joni Männistö, has carefully selected some of the most fascinating stop-motion classics in the art of animation.
Animation Lounge
On Saturday, professionals are welcome to attend the Animation Lounge, where, in a relaxed atmosphere, they can learn about the activities of the Finnish Animation Guild, Media Metka, Grafia’s Association of Visual Communication Designers in Finland and animation organisation Freimi, and exchange ideas and contacts.
Schedule
Manilla Culture Factory, Viinatehdas
Thursday 27.8. Animated to Life
11:00–11:05 Opening Remarks. Annika Dahlsten, Festival Director
11.05-12.30 Masterclass 1: Thomas Volda (CRO): Breathing the Inanimate to Life
12.30-13.30 Lunch (self-financed)
13.30-15 Masterclass 2: Anna Ivanova (FR)
15.30-18.30 Workshop: Nanna Mäkinen (FIN) & Anni Oja (FIN): LABORATORIO
Friday 28.8. Narration and script
11-12.30 Masterclass 3: Anita Killi (NOR): MasterGlass
13-14 Lunch (self-financed)
14-15.30 Masterclass 4: Ishmael Falke
16-17 Discussion: Animated to Life: The Difference Between Story and Movement.
Ishmael Falke & Claus Gladyszak. Moderator: Tatu Pohjavirta
Kino Kilta, Art House Turku
18:00 – 20:00 TAFF Pro -screening: TAFF Pro Classics
Saturday 29.8.
Manilla, Viinatehdas
17-19 Animation Lounge
All professionals and students in the fields of animation, film and the arts in general can apply for accreditation to the festival. Accreditation grants the festival pass with the discounted price of 38 €. The pass must be purchased on site at the festival ticket office, where the accreditation status will be checked. The accreditation pass gives access to all of the festival’s screenings.
Click here to apply for accreditation »
TAFF takes place in the hometown of the renowned Turku Arts Academy. Our venue is a beautifully restored old factory milieu by the River Aura, as well as a former tobacco factory, nowadays the home of Art House Turku and arthouse-cinema Kino Kilta.
TAFF is organized by the non-profit Association Turun elokuvatapahtumat ry.
See you in Turku!