Thirty years of FMX

We love FMX, and it’s not just because they’re very nice to us. Apparently, they’re nice to everyone. The conference serves as a high-powered educational forum for students and an industry get-together, connecting leading artists in animation, visual effects, and digital media. Presentations and panels trigger intense discussion during the sessions and carry on throughout the evening over beers and dinner.

***The iconic Haus der Wirtschaft in downtown Stuttgart is FMX headquarters. (Source: FMX)***

This year, FMX is celebrating its 30th anniversary with the theme The Road Ahead. Appropriately enough, hometown hero Roland Emmerich will return to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of his film Independence Day. That movie won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1997, and it represents a critical point in the trajectory of special effects between miniature modeling and CG techniques. Emmerich will be talking to befores & afters Editor in Chief Ian Failes during an anniversary session at the conference, which runs May 5–7, 2026.

FMX trailer — Hands-on experience: Every year students at the Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg (FABW) create the FMX video trailer. Julian Mehn, who directed this year’s trailer, says, “The trailer really is a tribute to those who have inspired us.” For instance, he said, “there is Shape of Water in the raindrops and Avatar in the hovering rocks.”

As a European-centric conference, the usual issues of standards, collaboration, and communication at the center of content creation can be even more thorny—they certainly can’t be ignored. FMX provides a hub for these topics to be showcased with demonstrations, success stories, and detailed explanations of problems from Oscar and Emmy winners and the people in the trenches.

FMX was founded in 1994 at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg with a clear mission: to help build a strong European entertainment industry. Founders Professor Thomas Haegele, Renate Haegele, and Professor Albrecht Ade saw the opportunities being opened up by digital technology, energized by the era of groundbreaking films like Jurassic Park and, soon after, Toy Story. The conference grew rapidly alongside the industry it championed. Now, three decades on, FMX turns its attention to the next major transformation in creative production: AI. But it won’t lose sight of what it does best—advancing the conversation on digital production pipelines, animation, real-time technologies, and emerging business models. Returning to its roots, FMX will have a Day on Campus at the Filmakademie/Animationsinstitut with special content.

Registration is limited, so if this is interesting to you, it’s best to sign up as soon as possible. Early-bird prices last until March 20, 2026.

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