Last year proved fairly spectacular for Spanish animation with “Robot Dreams” scoring a best animated feature Oscar nomination, “Sultana’s Dream” winning the Annecy Festival’s Contrechamp, its biggest sidebar, and “Buffalo Kids” proving the third most popular local movie in Spain, grossing €5.2 million ($5.4 million) while breaking out to substantial sales abroad.

“Robot Dreams” and “Buffalo Kids” were produced out of Catalan capital Barcelona. Two of the five producers on “Sultana’s Dream,” however, are based out of the Basque Country: San Sebastian’s Sultana Films, the production label of director Isabel Herguera, and UniKo, behind Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars,” a Gkids U.S. pickup, and “Homeless Home,” an Annecy Best Short winner.

In 2025, Basque cinema looks on track to grab more international limelight as it builds as an animation hub. Reasons for that growth also suggests why animation is one of the most exciting futures for international cinema.