Competition 8

Expend 03:53
USA 2018
Directed by: Bismark Fernandes
Screenplay: Bismark Fernandes
Technique: Stop-motion
Production/School: Savannah College of Art and Design
Dialogue language: None
Subtitles language: None


A stop-motion film about a man’s endless hunt for elusive energy sources in a decaying world.



Toco Tim and the Turtles 03:00
Trinidad and Tobago 2018
Directed by: Steven Edwards, Stephen Edwards
Screenplay: Steven Edwards
Animation: Kurt Guard
Music: Akis Samuel
Production/School: Steven Edwards
Dialogue language: English


Toco Tim shares advice on how human behaviour affects the lives of leather back turtles.




Just Visiting 01:38
USA 2018
Directed by: Charlie Kothe
Screenplay: Charlie Kothe
Animation: Charlie Kothe
Production/School: Charlie Kothe
Dialogue language: English


After a trip to the big city, a mysterious traveler and his faithful canine catch a ride home that’s out of this world.



Abeo 07:01
Canada 2018
Directed by: Brenda Lopez
Screenplay: Brenda Lopez
Animation: Brenda Lopez and Ana Eskildsen
Technique: Stop-Motion, 2D digital, Sand Animation
Music: Adrian Gutierrez
Production/School: Mel Hoppenheim School of cinema
Dialogue language: Spanish
Subtitles language: English


ABEO is a hard hitting mixed media animated short that depicts the journey of Nadia and Lupe, two immigrants who risked their lives to cross the Arizona desert in search for a better life.




MIX 06:40
Japan 2018
Directed by: Kotoko Nakamura
Screenplay: Kotoko Nakamura
Production/School: Kotoko Nakamura
Dialogue language: Japanese
Subtitles language: English


A “lie” hidden within a happy-looking family. For what, for whom is this secret kept? What is important to you in this “mix” of a world? Fact or fiction? Right or wrong?



Obon 15:00
Germany 2018
Directed by: André Hörmann, Samo (Anna Bergmann)
Screenplay: André Hörmann
Animation: Samo (Anna Bergmann)
Music: Daniel Regenberg
Production/School: André Hörmann
Dialogue language: Japanese
Subtitles language: English


Akiko Takakura is one of the last survivors of the atomic bomb explosion of Hiroshima. During Obon she receives the spirits of her parents and is haunted by memories. Akiko’s childhood consists of constant rejections and beatings. Finally Akiko experiences fatherly love in the midst of Hiroshima’s ruins.




Henlightenment 13:42
Canada 2018
Directed by: Dwight Friesen
Screenplay: Dwight Friesen
Animation: Dwight Friesen
Technique: Dwight Friesen
Music: Gary Koftinoff
Production/School: Dwight Friesen
Dialogue language: English
Subtitles language: N/A


A plucky hen cooped up in a cage finds a spiritual path to freedom.



Concrete 07:34
Switzerland 2018
Directed by: Pirmin Bieri, Aira Joana, Luca Struchan, Nicolas Roth
Animation: Pirmin Bieri, Aira Joana, Luca Struchan, Nicolas Roth
Music: Rahel Zimmermann
Production/School: HSLU Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Dialogue language: No Dialogue
Subtitles language: No Dialogue


Troubled by his own reoccurring transformations, a restless backpacker seeks his place in the world. Through a mysterious encounter in a concrete building in the midst of a barren swampland, he hopes to have finally found such a place.




Happy 05:11
Italy 2018
Directed by: Gaia Alari
Screenplay: Gaia Alari
Animation: Gaia Alari
Technique: Clay Animation - Stop Motion
Music: "Half loving" - Ada Lea
Production/School: Gaia Alari Production


A tiny film in clay animation that follows the growth of an introverted kid who turn into an introverted girl, showing how families and more in general society deal with shyness. A simple ode to solitude that for certain people, can be a way to happiness. (Direction and design: Gaia Alari, music: Ada Lea)




Down the Line 03:35
USA 2018
Directed by: Al Kamalizad
Production/School: Mother Jones Magazine

A remembrance for a source who gave one journalist a startling look into America's opioid crisis. He said he had everything to live for. Two months later, he was dead. Produced for Mother Jones Magazine.



Phooled 01:17
USA 2017
Directed by: Dan Hale
Production/School: Clemson University
Dialogue language: English

Phooled is a comedic animated short by Clemson University students in the Digital Production Arts MFA program. The film pays homage to the classic Looney Tunes episodes and in doing so features a boisterous lead character, gratuitous violence, and puns (also gratuitous).