International Cluj Comics,
Illustration and Animation Festival
- Second Edition -
The Open Call is currently accepting applications!
Platforma BD - International Cluj Comics Illustration and Animation Festival
Edition II | November 2–6, 2026
Rules and Regulations
Please read the Rules and Regulations carefully before applying. When you’re ready, click “Apply Now,” then select the category you wish to enter and complete the corresponding application form.
I. Organizer, Objectives, Partners
Platforma BD — International Cluj Comics Illustration and Animation Festival is a competition festival initiated in Cluj-Napoca by the ArtiViStory Association and the ArtiViStory Collective. Since 2020, they have been expressing themselves through comics, sequential art and animation, becoming active on Romania’s cultural scene within various projects developed in partnership with national and international actors.Together, they aim to build a sustainable, inclusive, and organic ecosystem that supports, promotes, and creates new contexts for the development and wellbeing of young people through co-creation, visual communication, and cultural mediation.
ArtiViStory artists aim to strengthen a community dedicated to sequential art at both national and international levels, and Platforma BD represents a major project designed to provide a launching platform for young creators in the field. Artists, curators, and lovers of sequential art are invited to the festival to create an international dialogue across comics, illustration, animation, and expanded visual storytelling.
The theme of the second edition of the festival, TRANSITIONS, invites participants to explore the shifting landscapes that shape contemporary life: social transitions shaped by migration, housing, vulnerable communities, and inclusion; professional shifts influenced by retraining, the future of work, and digital skills; digital transformations emerging from new platforms, virtual identities, and hybrid realities; ecological change through circular economies and sustainable futures; emotional transitions such as burnout, anxiety, resilience, and healing; and cultural evolution through identity, diaspora, multilingualism, and communities in constant transformation. All submitted works must relate to the festival theme.
The project is carried out with the financial support of our partners.
II. Categories
1. Comic Books (8–24 pages)This category includes short-form printed comics presenting a complete or self-contained narrative through sequential artwork. The format combines text and image to convey story, character, and theme within a compact publication.
2. Graphic Novels (over 24 pages)
This category includes long-form printed comic works, fiction or non-fiction, presenting a cohesive narrative through sequential artwork and text. This format allows extended storytelling, complex character development, and thematic depth within a substantial, self-contained publication.
3. Narrative Illustrations (single illustration or series of up to 3)
This category includes narrative, sequential, or pre-sequential illustrations presented as a single work or a small series. Narrative illustration is a visual form in which the image functions as a vehicle for storytelling, either independently or in direct relation to a text, by depicting a moment, an action, or an implied sequence of events.
Unlike decorative or purely descriptive illustration, narrative illustration involves:
• a temporal dimension (an implied “before” and “after”),
• the presence of action or dramatic tension,
• identifiable characters, setting, and situation,
• a clear intention to guide the viewer’s interpretation.
It may function as:
• a single image that condenses an entire episode (as in picture books),
• a sequence of images approaching the logic of comics,
• an editorial image that critically interprets a text or contemporary event.
The key difference from comics lies in structure: narrative illustration does not necessarily rely on panel-to-panel sequencing; it can concentrate narrative density within a single composition.
4. Illustrated Books
This category includes illustrated printed works in which images and text work together to convey a story, concept, or theme. This format includes children’s books, artist’s books, or thematic works where narrative progression is supported by visual and textual elements.
5. Experimental Sequential Books
This category includes experimental or expanded book formats exploring alternative forms of sequential narration, including but not limited to pop-up books, zines or mini-zines, flipbooks, accordion or leporello books, interactive books, object or sculptural books, material-driven books, hybrid media books integrating video or augmented media, nonlinear narrative books, and silent or wordless sequential books.
6. Short Animations (under 10 minutes)
This category includes animated works with a total duration between 2 and 10 minutes, including credits. The work should function as a complete standalone film regardless of technique, genre, or narrative approach.
7. Feature / Mid-Length Animations (over 30 minutes)
This category includes animated films running longer than 30 minutes in total, including credits. This format is intended for works that develop extended storytelling, worldbuilding, or thematic exploration suited to long-form viewing experiences.
8. Art Installations & Site-Specific Narratives
This category is open only to Romania-based artists due to logistics and other practical considerations.
This category welcomes installation-based works that tell a story through space, time, and the visitor’s physical experience. Accepted directions include volumetric, sculptural, immersive, or multimedia installations that use spatial sequencing, environmental design, or guided pathways to shape a narrative. Works may integrate light, sound, video, projection, objects, or performative and time-based elements, allowing the story to unfold through movement, transformation, and atmosphere. Artists are encouraged to explore spatial storytelling, expanded or sequential art translated into environment and volume, and installations where the narrative emerges from how people navigate and perceive the space.
The category also encourages an active dialogue between analog and digital practices, acknowledging the fluidity of contemporary artistic production. Works may combine traditional techniques with new media technologies, hybridizing physical matter and virtual components into a coherent narrative structure. Artists are invited to experiment with diverse supports and working surfaces, as well as conventional and unconventional materials, provided that the formal choices serve a clear storytelling intention.
Cross-media approaches are welcomed, including but not limited to woven, stitched, collaged, layered, engraved, or digitally printed elements. Processes such as textile construction, printmaking (including engraving), manual or digital reproduction, and mixed-media assemblage are equally valid, as long as they contribute to the unfolding of a story. The emphasis remains on narrative coherence: regardless of medium, technique, or materiality, the work must articulate a meaningful narrative experience through its spatial, material, and sensory composition.
Additionally, the dimensions and formats of the individual components must allow the artist to package and ship the installation independently to Cluj. Works should therefore be conceived with practical considerations of transport, handling, and reassembly in mind, ensuring that all elements can be safely delivered and installed without requiring specialized freight solutions.
III. General Requirements
• Submissions must be original works. AI-generated or AI-enhanced works are not accepted.• Each category may include original projects created after January 1, 2024.
• All works must relate to the festival theme. Applicants must provide a short artistic concept explaining the meaning and intent of their work, written in English and formulated in third person.
• The works or animated films must be original and claimed by the author or authors. Any style, medium, or technique is accepted.
• Works submitted in the comics and illustration categories may contain texts written in Romanian, English, French, Italian, or Spanish. All animated films containing dialogue must include English subtitles.
• Works created using traditional or analog techniques must be scanned, digitally processed, and submitted in PDF format at registration and in print format for exhibition if selected.
• Selected artists will be required to send their final works for exhibition or installation; therefore, participants must plan production, printing, packaging, and timely delivery in advance.
• Participants may submit to multiple categories, but only one entry per category is allowed.
• There is no registration fee for the festival competition.
IV. Format and Registration / Submission
• Applicants must complete the online registration form and provide a Google Drive folder with viewing access containing all required materials. The Google Drive folder must remain accessible until the end of the festival for selection and jury purposes.• For comics, graphic novels, illustrated books, and experimental sequential books, applicants must upload the work in PDF format (maximum size: 25 MB), including the front cover, which must clearly display the title of the work and the author’s name, and 1–2 representative pages of their choice. Traditional or analog works must be scanned and digitally processed before submission.
• For narrative illustrations (single illustrations or individual illustrations within a series of up to 3), applicants must upload each illustration in digital image format or PDF (maximum size: 25 MB). Each illustration original size should not exceed A0 in size.
• For short animations (under 10 minutes) and feature/mid-length animations (over 30 minutes), applicants must provide three film stills (1920×1080 px, maximum size 25 MB) in the Google Drive folder and a private, accessible online link (YouTube or Vimeo) for selection. The submitted animation must include intro and credits clearly indicating the title of the work and the author(s) of the project. The final MP4 file of the animation will be required if the work is selected for screening. The recommended MP4 technical specifications are: mov/mp4 container, H.264 codec, maximum 20000 kbps constant bit rate, resolution 1920×1080, AAC 48 kHz / 16-bit sound. Animations containing dialogue must include English subtitles.
• For installation and site-specific narratives, applicants must provide visual documentation, a project description, technical requirements, spatial presentation details, the estimated time required for installation setup, and any additional materials necessary for understanding the proposed work.
V. Selection, Announcement, and Submission of Works
The selection committee of Platforma BD - International Cluj Comics Illustration and Animation Festival selects the works that will participate in the festival and makes the final decision.The selection results will be communicated directly to selected participants via email within the shortest possible time after the Open Call ends, once the Selection Committee has finalized the evaluation.
The selected works in exhibition categories must be printed, produced, or prepared according to festival technical specifications and sent to arrive in Cluj-Napoca within the announced deadline that will be communicated in the confirmation e-mail for each selected project in the festival. If it is the case, the technical specifications for the selected artworks and presented in the regulations above will be detailed in the confirmation e-mail sent to the selected artists. Shipping costs are borne by the participants.
The festival is not responsible for works that arrive after the deadline, and organizers reserve the right to cancel exhibition or screening of late works.
The festival does not commit to returning the printed works submitted for exhibition. Works will be kept in the festival archive and may be exhibited in other contexts with the consent of the parties. Works will not be sold or transferred by the Platforma BD team.
