2026 Athens Animfest – Winner
On the animation side, the most recent fourth-year short film, Al Otro Lado, has made a strong start to its festival run since premiering in January 2026, also being awarded Winner at the 2026 Athens Animfest. Created by a team of BFA students working under the name Piparrak, the film tells the story of Rufi — an old woman whose only companion is a taxidermied dog — whose quiet life of online gaming and deliberate isolation is upended by her hippie neighbour Bob, a man who has turned his motorhome into a private jungle and throws apples with the precision of a half-blind sniper. Between invasive plants, weird incense, and airborne fruit, Rufi's routine begins to feel strangely entertaining.
The film entered the professional circuit through the Málaga Short Corner at the Festival de Cine de Málaga, following in the footsteps of the school's previous fourth-year short Conej, which went on from that same platform to the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival. Al Otro Lado has since been selected for the 15th CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival in Chile, a qualifying festival for both the Goya Awards and was awarded Winner at the 2026 Athens Animfest, where it also formed part of the official selection this April.
DigiPen Europe-Bilbao Students Earn International Recognition Across Film and Games
At DigiPen Institute of Technology Europe-Bilbao, a game development school in Spain with programs in digital art and animation, and computer science, student work doesn't stay in the classroom. From festival circuits spanning four continents to one of Steam's most talked-about student game releases in recent memory, the school's BFA in Digital Art and Animation and BS in Computer Science programs consistently produce work that finds real audiences and earns recognition.
The 2025–2026 academic year has brought a particularly strong wave of achievements across both the BFA in Digital Art and Animation and the BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation.
Third-year shorts have also had a busy season. Flicker, directed by Irene Labrador Villar, the sole creator behind the film's production, modeling, script, layout, backgrounds, animation, compositing, editing, and sound, with original music by Miguel López of Musikene, has been selected for the International Istanbul Women Films Festival (Turkey), and Athens Animfest (Greece), as well as the Lift-Off First-Time Filmmaker Sessions (UK).
Fishy, directed and produced by June Asua Olabarria, again with music by Miguel López from Musikene, follows a stray and hungry cat in a forgotten alleyway who spots what looks like the fish of his dreams perched high on a window, and proceeds to try increasingly wild ideas to reach it. The film has accumulated six official selections to date: Animafantasia, the Lift-Off First-Time Filmmaker Sessions, Humor en Corto, Cine Corto de Salas de los Infantes, Laburbira, the curated touring circuit that travels across the Basque Country, Navarra, País Vasco francés, Madrid, and the UK and Athens Animfest.
Both Flicker and Fishy are notable for being substantially individual endeavors: each was conceived, produced, and animated by a single student enrolled in the digital art and animation degree, with an external collaborator contributing original music.
Alumni Making an Impact in the Industry
The school's influence extends beyond current students. Leire Martínez, who graduated in 2024 and is also credited on Al Otro Lado as part of the Piparrak team, worked as a Clean-Up Artist on Pinchu es así, which won the Biznaga de Plata, the top prize for Best Animated Short, at the 2025 Festival de Cine de Málaga. Shortly before, she attended the Goya Awards ceremony, where Decorado, an animated feature in which she collaborated alongside Leire Acha, Beñat Etxaburu, and Uxue Artetxe, took home the award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Game Development Highlights: Numbra on Steam
On the games side, Numbra, developed by a cross-program team of BFA and BS students working under the name Hamahiru and released on Steam in May 2025, has become one of the most recognized student projects in the school's history. Set in a desolate and ominous world where a young girl must face the dark creatures that lurk in every shadow under a single rule (stay awake), the game has attracted over 226,000 library additions, more than 41,000 players, and upwards of 8,200 hours of gameplay. With 417 reviews averaging an 85% positive rating, it holds a "Very Positive" classification on the platform, a threshold few student games reach.
Numbra's recognition list is extensive: two wins at the 2025 Game Erauntsia Sariak (Best Basque Game and Best Game in Basque Language), the RTVE Award for Best Video Game Project at Weird Market, Best Video Game at Píxel á Feira, Galicia's inaugural dedicated video game festival, a finalist nomination for Game of the Year at The Rookie Awards, and a finalist spot at the Iris Games Awards in the Best Indie Game category, a competition now backed by Spain's Television Academy.
Numbra Steam Additions to the Library: +226, 000
Awards and Recognition
The fact that Numbra was built by a team spanning both degree programs at DigiPen Europe-Bilbao, BFA students handling art, animation, and production alongside BS students writing the engine, tools, and gameplay code, makes it a concrete example of the interdisciplinary collaboration the school's project-based model is designed to support.
Numbra is one of 23 student games published on Steam by DigiPen Europe-Bilbao students, a catalog that has collectively surpassed 1.2 million library additions and 2,500 positive player reviews.
DigiPen Europe-Bilbao Games
455 Competition Laurels and Counting
Across film festivals and game showcases worldwide, students at DigiPen Europe-Bilbao have now accumulated over 455 competition laurels, spanning a few continents and sustained year after year.
Explore the BFA in Digital Art and Animation and the BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation at DigiPen Europe-Bilbao.
