Stormsurge is a visually striking, dance-driven animated short by Anna Tőkés, set on a misty island where three women’s broken rhythm unleashes a storm. Blending expressive choreography with handcrafted digital animation, the film explores how individual voices can reconnect to rebuild harmony. Recently awarded at Rise&Shine and invited to the 2026 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market, Stormsurge promises an emotional, atmospheric journey into movement, tension, and renewal.

Anna Tőkés graduated from the Animation department of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) and completed her short film The Last Drop (Az utolsó dobás) in 2024 with support from the National Film Institute Hungary. The film premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival and since has been selected at numerous international festivals around the world (Annecy, Monstra, ITFS Stuttgart, London International Animation Festival), receiving multiple awards (BUSHO, ANYMASIROS, Kecskemét Animation Film Festival „KAFF”). Young female creators are bringing a fresh, experimental energy to contemporary Hungarian animation. Anna Tőkés continues the MOME’s tradition of bold, author-driven films that combine strong visual identity with personal storytelling. Her work reflects a growing generation of women animators who shape the scene with emotional precision, collaborative creativity, and a distinctly modern sensibility.

Anna Tőkés’ actual project Stormsurge (Viharkeringő) is being developed with CUB Animation Studio (producers Bálint Gelley and Bella Szederkényi) as part of the National Film Institute Hungary’s Incubator program and the international Rise&Shine workshop. CEE Animation held its Rise & Shine program for the fourth time, inviting creators working on their first or second short film. Among the eleven selected film projects, Stormsurge was the only one from Hungary. It won the Cinefila Festival Distribution Award and was also chosen as one of five projects invited to participate in the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market in Feubrary 2026.

The story takes place on a misty island where, where three women dance in unison. Their movements enchant the air around them, each step stirring up mist and fog, veiling the world in cloudy obliqueness. When their dance breaks, it summons the storm. The women must find their own voices within the maelstrom to calm the weather. Through struggle and rediscovery, they find a new rhythm — one that steadies the wind and gives them voice. It’s a short, dance-driven animated film about finding one’s individual voice within a community, and about rebuilding harmony after errupting tensions. The three women must restore harmony to calm the storm they’ve created. The film reflects Tőkés’ interest in how communities can be transformed without isolating individuals. While she values individual expression, she aims to explore how this can coexist with meaningful, supportive connections.

Stormsurge combines contemporary dance with frame-by-frame digital animation. Nonverbal communication plays a central role: the characters’ unspoken tensions unfold through choreography. Their eventual reconciliation emerges in a shared, wordless vocalization — three distinct voices merging into one harmonious line — inviting the audience to project their own emotions into the performance. As in The Last Drop, the color palette evolves with the emotional arc: cold greys at the beginning, heightened contrast during the storm, and warm tones once peace is restored. The animation emphasizes fluid, expressive movement, supported by the experienced team Tőkés has collaborated with since her graduation film. The project develops the film language introduced in her previous short, which also focused on group dynamics, rhythm, and unspoken conflict, now expanded into a more surreal environment with experimental sound design by composer Balázs Alpár. Choreographer Noémi Juhász-Hörcher contributes to shaping the emotional precision of the movement.

by Orsolya Láng