Personal Stories That Become Universal

Personal Stories That Become Universal

Shortway 2026: A Review

| Journal | Reviews |

From April 7–9, the Campus and Bootcamp activities of Shortway 2026 took place at the Indie 100 Cluster and Ciudad Creativa Digital, with strong participation from the community.

After listening to the master classes, mentor feedback, each project's public pitch, and the opinions of many participants, it became evident once again that when a project explores personal dilemmas and intimate concerns, or seeks to portray experiences that have shaped the creator's life, the presentation connects deeply and moves the hearts of those who hear the story and learn about the projects.

Certainly, this is not a new idea, nor one we have not mentioned before, but it became especially clear in this year's edition of Shortway through the selected projects themselves: all of them told deeply personal stories and featured distinctive visual styles that reflected the conflicts and experiences they sought to portray. It was also evident in the talks by Flora and Pájaro, which you can watch here.

Below is a brief recap of the Campus and Bootcamp activities as a review of what Shortway 2026 has been so far.

Shortway Campus

It is worth noting that this year the open activities included two master classes, one panel, and one talk. In addition, the Ideatoon workshop was held in the morning at the Pixelatl Classroom located in the Indie 100 Cluster.

Nearly 300 people attended the talks, which began with Sofía Rosales, who discussed the differences between her independent work (her short film The House of Memory won the Ariel Award), major Hollywood productions (she worked on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), and work within a major studio (she currently works as a production supervisor at LAIKA).

Next came the panel showcasing progress on the animated short films being produced for the FIFA World Cup, selected through a call for entries we launched in November. The panel featured Carlos Gaxiola, René Castillo, Claudio Jiménez, and Jonathan Guzmán.

Afterward, attendees learned how an independent, artistically driven animation studio survives through the talk by Natalia Pájaro, who also shared previews of her animated feature film The Language of Birds (incidentally, the project has nothing to do with her surname, as she clarified with a laugh). Finally, the open activities concluded with a screening of the short film 27, a behind-the-scenes look at its production, and a Q&A session with its director, Ana Flora Buda.

The Bootcamp

The Bootcamp is an exclusive event for selected projects, featuring training activities, intensive mentoring, and networking opportunities designed to support the development of the author-driven animated short film projects chosen through the call for entries.

Following the welcome session, we formally inaugurated the Pixelatl Classroom at the Indie 100 Hub with a pitch-focused workshop led by Christian Bermejo. The methodology helped participants identify the most important elements of their projects while also serving as an icebreaker that allowed everyone to get to know each other's work better.

The workshop lasted until midday, and the first one-on-one mentoring sessions took place in the afternoon. Some participants used the time between sessions to begin refining their projects. The mentors joined everyone for dinner, allowing conversations to continue and personal relationships to begin forming—relationships that, as Pixelatl’s history has shown, often lead to future collaborations.

The second day began with an inspiring master class by Ana Flora Buda, the Hungarian artist whose animated short 27 won both the Annecy Crystal and the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Her presentation traced the journey of the film from its conception, pitch process, and search for partners and collaborators, through financing, production, and eventually the search for agents and distribution, making for an extremely instructive and inspiring session.

The program continued with a second round of mentoring sessions and, after lunch, merged with the Shortway Campus activities mentioned earlier. That evening, as tradition dictates, everyone gathered at the iconic Santo Coyote restaurant, where a more relaxed atmosphere allowed participants to connect and strengthen the relationships that, as experience has repeatedly shown over the years, often become the foundation for future collaborations.

The third day featured a master class on marketing for animated projects, shared with participants enrolled in the Advanced Executive Production Workshop for Animated Projects (we published a brief review of that program’s activities here). The session, led by Damne Jesús Irigoyen, was packed with practical advice on building audiences and allies from the earliest stages of production, as well as strategies for generating attention and leveraging a project's journey—not only economically, but also in terms of positioning oneself as an artist, creator, or producer.

Afterward came the public pitch session, where it became evident just how personal each project was, to the point of sparking interest and empathy among listeners (we know of cases in which participants from the producers’ workshop approached project creators to offer support and join the productions).

Finally came the closing ceremony, where the winning projects were announced. To conclude the event, Chilli thanked everyone for participating and spoke about the importance of having a creative community to help bring its members' projects and aspirations to life. He encouraged all attendees to continue participating and making the most of the spaces and initiatives designed to advance their careers.

What Comes Next

This year there were three winning projects. Two of them will soon be presented at the Annecy Animation Festival as part of the pitches organized by The Ibero-American Animation League. The third project will be presented at the Pixelatl Market in search of partners who can help bring it to completion.

Learn more about the winning projects here

We thank all participants, both those who submitted projects to the call and those who attended the open activities. We hope to see more and more personal projects come to life and move hearts!