Two of the newest animated films from Glenna Burmer took home a total of three awards at the Montenegro International Film Festival 2026.
Yokaitopia (2026) received an award for Best 2D Animation, and Bippy the Little Robot (2024) received two awards: Best Created Environment and Best Original Song or Score.
This year, the Montenegro International Film Festival received 879 submissions from 45 countries. Only 29 winners were selected, meaning fewer than 4% of those who applied received an award. The festival’s mission is to discover, honor and promote emerging filmmakers worldwide. “We believe that exceptional filmmaking deserves recognition regardless of budget, industry connections or geographic constraints,“ said festival producers.
Yokaitopia, completed in 2026, introduces Western audiences to the mysterious world of Yokai — strange, sometimes terrifying, Japanese spirits that inhabit all living and inanimate objects. The story follows a Japanese boy on a bike ride through a forest when suddenly he encounters a mysterious black cat. Within minutes, his life changes. In a remote house deep in the forest, he rescues a group of broken toys trapped by a snow demon. The film’s message of kindness and generosity is brought to life with sumptuous animation, a rich vibrant color palette and stirring all-original musical score.
The story of Bippy the Little Robot (2024) takes place in the future after mankind is annihilated; all that remains are broken and forgotten machines. Trying to find out whether other machines survived, Bippy embarks on a journey, ending up in an abandoned music studio where he improvises a jazz piece that awakens a pink toaster named Anna. Together they dance in a dreamy pas de deux that personifies the beauty and resilience of the human spirit. As music fills the air, the future seems a little brighter.
A classical composer and award-winning concert and animated-film producer in Seattle, Burmer’s music and original voice create compelling stories that resonate with audiences worldwide. Yokaitopia and Bippy the Little Robot, in addition to her first film Nana korobi, Ya oki, were produced by a multi-award-winning collaboration between Glenna Burmer and the animation studio Deep Sky.