Competition 1

The Garden 06:32
United States of America 2021
Directed by: Bill McCarthy
Screenplay: Bill McCarthy
Animation: Animation
Technique: Green Screen
Music: Original music by Matt Venuti
Production/School: Bill McCarthy
Dialogue language: English


The Garden is the story of a blind Indian Shaman who begins planting a garden at the gates of a nuclear weapons facility. The Shaman is confronted by the foreman who demands she stop planting. Disregarding his demand, the Shaman continues planting, resulting in a giant garden of sunflowers which overwhelms the staff of the facility and starts covering the nuclear plant. The Shaman then transforms into a giant sunflower, and blows her seeds to the entrances of nuclear facilities around the world, where they grow larger and larger.



Pottero 10:00
United States 2020
Directed by: Lindsey Martin
Screenplay: Lindsey Martin
Production/School: Lindsey Martin
Dialogue language: English


Pottero is a 10 minute, animated film based on family folklore and issues surrounding mental health, accessible healthcare and social mobility.




Balthazar & Snirt 05:10
United States of America 2021
Directed by: Jim Patrick McCullough, Anthony Ladesich
Screenplay: Jim McCullough, Davis DeRock, Chad Crenshaw, Anthony Ladesich, Danelle Chapman, Keith Chapman
Animation: Jim McCullough
Technique: 2D
Music: Noel Selders
Production/School: Ignition FX
Dialogue language: English

During the age of monsters and magic... A fearless village idiot and an anxious wizard-in-training team up to slay a dragon on a quest full of a thousand monsters and exotic lands.



I’m Here 04:44
United States of America 2021
Directed by: Jennifer Hathaway
Screenplay: Jennifer Hathaway
Animation: Jennifer Hathaway and Quinn Morehouse-Picton
Technique: Autodesk Maya with Experimental Rendering Techniques
Music: Genevieve Eckel
Production/School: John B. Ludwick, Jennifer Hathaway, Ball State University
Dialogue language: English
Subtitles language: N/A

Jenna, a thirteen year-old bullying victim, is brought to the brink after getting beat-up, and decides to end her life, but her Golden Retriever, Maizey, has other plans.


CONNECTED - Log In for Intimacy 02:00
Greece 2021
Directed by: PENELOPE MOROUT
Screenplay: PENELOPE MOROUT
Animation: experimental animation, hand crafted model
Technique: stop-motion, paper crafting, model making, video filming
Music: original soundtrack from Chris Parapagidis, original text&recitation by Penelope Morout
Production/School: PENELOPE MOROUT
Dialogue language: Modern Greek (1453-)
Subtitles language: english

We are living in a digital age, a time where every aspect of the world has its virtual alter-ego. We all the more exist in the virtual space rather than in the real one, where time is somewhat suspended. We can infinitely create and recreate our virtual identities, in order to fit in the body-image ideals projected through the internet. We are ultimately human beings: we crave for a sense of belonging in order to deal with solitude. Virtual space has no specific form. Its boundaries cannot be defined, time has no linearity. It is a rather ‘dead’ space, if we define a ‘living’ one by the actual, physical presence of human individuals, of moving bodies. It is, also, a lonely space if we consider how it creates the idea of proximity. Nevertheless, it is just an idea: it can never be materialized unless we "escape" the virtual space and enter the actual one. Meanwhile, we suspend "in there", fragmented. And little by little, we forget ourselves and lose our sense of purpose. And I wonder: after living so long in the virtual space, constantly transforming and adapting depending on which community we want to fit in, how can we reenter the real space, embracing our physical form, engaging in tangible communication? Remembering what once was, how we used to communicate is not the solution: memory can act as a point of departure but shouldn’t necessarily be the point of arrival, since we will never be the same again. Our current reality demands to invent new ways of communicating, of existing. It cries out for a new body.


Feels / Филс 03:50
Latvia 2021
Directed by: Stas Bashkatov
Screenplay: Kaspars Roga, Stas Bashkatov
Animation: Kirill Blumenkrants
Technique: Animation 2D
Music: Brainstorm
Production/School: BrainStorm Records Company & Zorge Cinema
Dialogue language: English


A 7-year-old girl in a wheelchair feels very lonely sitting in her room. Her only friend is a little ant in a formicarium. She falls asleep and gets into an alternative reality with the four elements superheroes. Her abilities become limitless here. She enjoys life, flies and fight with the enemy. She returns home happy, strong and self-confident.



Devour 03:27
United States of America 2021
Directed by: Kate Raney
Screenplay: None
Animation: 2D
Technique: Hand-drawn, rotoscope
Music: None
Production/School: Independent

Consumption considered, the din of dining. Using reference videos from my front yard, I created animations and collaged them with cyanotypes of garden material and audio field recordings from travels near and far. The resulting moment in my microcosm becomes a consideration of life cycles and habitats.



the wild variety 03:20
Australia 2021
Directed by: Jayden Van Win
Screenplay: Jayden Van Win
Animation: Jayden Van Win
Technique: Jayden Van Win
Music: Survive by Phil Phanton and Tom Barnes
Production/School: Solo Production
Dialogue language: English


a comical slice-of-life look into the daily lives of a variety of wild animals.



Ruth & Nick: A Confectionery Tale 06:21
United States 2021
Directed by: Carter Rostron
Screenplay: Carter Rostron
Production/School: Carter Rostron
Dialogue language: English


This stop-motion animated short tells the bittersweet story of Nick, a piece of candy who falls in love with a girl who seems out of reach. This film was made by 15-year-old Carter Rostron of Kansas City, using cardboard, construction paper, and a bunch of candy.




The Boy and The Mountain / El niño y la montaña 11:23
Chile 2020
Directed by: Santiago Aguilera, Gabriel Monreal
Screenplay: Pablo Aguirre, , Santiago Aguilera, Aarón Navia, Gabriel Monreal
Animation: Ángel Pérez Opazo, Axel Pailamilla, Cristian Carvajal, Fernanda González, Matías Pérez
Technique: 3D
Music: Miranda y Tobar
Production/School: N/A
Dialogue language: Spanish
Subtitles language: English

Hernán is a child who likes to daydreaming, but in his studies he is not doing well at all. His father constantly urges him to improve, advising him that he must reach very high to succeed in life. Hernán dispenses with his dream, gradually forgetting it to devote himself to his studies. Over time, and already become a successful entrepreneur, Hernán achieves the dream that his father instilled in him, reach high, until one day he will realize that he has not really achieved something he always longed for. Then he will make the crucial decision to fulfill his dream, but fate will play tricks on him. Hernán will have to face a new challenge that will change the meaning of his life.



Ruby & Roach 08:48
South Africa 2020
Directed by: Erentia Bedeker
Screenplay: Dorette Nel
Animation: Erentia Bedeker
Technique: Cut-out Stop Motion
Music: Mart-Marie Snyman & Siobhan Lloyd-Jones
Production/School: Abyss South Africa
Dialogue language: English


TWO SALE TOYS, CRUELLY REJECTED BY THE BUYING PUBLIC BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFERENT, MAKE A DARING ESCAPE AND END UP SOMEWHERE QUITE UNEXPECTED AND SOMEHOW WONDERFUL... In an airport, where a flood of anonymous faces hurry by, and airport stores’ shelves are stacked with dozens of identical products, lives Ruby and Roach, two SALE toys. Discarded to the sale shelf, because they are different, they seem fated to stay behind as all the other toys find their forever homes. Sometimes they get lucky and someone takes them off the shelf for closer inspection. But they’re soon put back. Ruby because of her stained ear and Roach… well… he's a cockroach. One day, Ruby, tired of her dreary life, decides to take action and jumps into an open bag on someone's trolley. Roach, in a moment of sheer panic, jumps after her. But before the duo can climb out of the bag, someone zips the bag closed, trapping them. After a short trip in complete darkness, the bag goes through airport security scanner. On screen Roach’s feelers resemble wires of a bomb and… bam! They trigger a bomb scare. The bomb squad arrives, decide Ruby and Roach are harmless and toss the seemingly worthless toys into a dustbin. Freedom at last! Until a dark shadow is cast over the bin... Soon Ruby & Roach find themselves on a rubbish dump. All seems lost till a little girl who lives on the dump, discovers them… It’s a story laden with metaphor about prejudice in society, as well as the generic, mass manufactured nature of the things we desire - told from the point of view of the imperfect and unconventional reject pile.




SUMMER HOLIDAYS 06:55
Greece 2021
Directed by: Natasa Roustani
Screenplay: Natasa Roustani
Animation: Natasa Roustani
Technique: Digital
Music: Mor-Giannis Alexandropoulos
Production/School: Hellenic Open University
Dialogue language: Greek
Subtitles language: English

A walk from Viktoria Square to Omonoia Square, Athens, through Patision Str. Meeting the repeating historical motifs until a tidal bore ruins the city. A childhood's nightmare, repetitive attempts of breathing, a drowning city. How does a civilization end? Walking through this specific route can become a dense tour of the regional history: The Acropolis, the Archaeological Museum, the Polytechnic University - the scene of the student's bloodstained revolution against Junta on 1973, the fountains- remains of swimming pools built for the poor refugee children during the '30s, the homelessness, drug abuse and human trafficking as integral parts of the history of the area, the Zackie Oh Str- where the drag artist and activist Zak Kostopoulos was murdered on 2018 by a local goldsmith, a real estate agent and the police, the Omonoia fountain- a symbol of the gentrification of the city centre and the arrogance of the authorities. On 2018, passing by Kypseli's Sq, I saw two of my Afghan pupils bathing in the fountain and playing with a ball. Considering this image an integral part of the urban landscape, I decided to include it in my animation, placing the children in the fountain on Egypt's sq. Discussing about it with a friend, to my surprise, she informed me that this specific fountain was built during the '30s as a swimming pool for the poor refugee children. As G. Kubler in 'The shape of time remarks on the history of things' indicates the repetition of shapes and images in a larger time continuum, I wonder about the repetition of social oppressions and the people's breathing attempts, through the times of this route.



Immortality / Αθανασία 20:30
Greece 2020
Directed by: Nikoletta Chouchouli
Screenplay: Nikoletta Chouchouli
Animation: Nikoletta Chouchouli
Technique: cutout, stop motion
Music: Dimitrios Mantzirakis
Production/School: Nikoletta Chouchouli / New York College, Athens
Dialogue language: Modern Greek (1453-)
Subtitles language: English


The Greek writer Gregorios Xenopoulos recollects a special day in his childhood when he met a beautiful young woman named Athanasia, while spending his days at his aunt’s house. That woman was meant to stay in his mind forever and serve as his muse.




CoronaViolence 06:25
Greece 2020
Directed by: Alexia Tsouni
Screenplay: Alexia Tsouni
Animation: Iren Kontou
Technique: stop-motion
Music: Stefan Kartenberg
Production/School: FemArtAct
Dialogue language: Modern Greek (1453-)
Subtitles language: english, french, italian, spanish, portuguese


During the COVID-19 quarantine, an immigrant woman, along with her minor children and witnesses, resorts to the Police Station to report domestic violence. She is expelled, under the pretext, among others, of the coronavirus. A true story, unfortunately, which happened in Athens in March 2020. Fortunately, solidarity had the last word.



Handprint Parade 03:19
Korea 2021
Directed by: Eunmi Kang
Screenplay: Eunmi Kang
Animation: Eunmi Kang
Technique: handprints, 2d digital
Music: Sang Yoon Lee
Production/School: Eunmi Kang

A child's handprint transforms into multiple patterns that interact with musical beats and rhythms to create an audiovisual parade. Preliminary handprint images act as visual components in compositing the patterns like toy blocks.



Elevator Alone 03:38
Greece 2021
Directed by: Anastasia Papadopoulou
Screenplay: Anastasia Papadopoulou
Animation: Anastasia Papadopoulou
Technique: stop motion
Music: John Kiritsis
Production/School: University of West Attica

Four people and the time they spend in an elevator. Inspired by everyday life and by the difference in people's behavior when they are alone, in contrast to the socially acceptable behavior that individuals adopt when in public space and especially in the confined and always awkward setting of an elevator.


Season 07:51
France 2019
Directed by: Giovanna Lopalco
Screenplay: Giovanna Lopalco
Animation: Dalila Rovazzani, Giulia Landi
Technique: 2D Animation
Music: Andrea Martignoni
Production/School: Insolence productions
Dialogue language: No Dialogue

A cortege of men dressed in white are walking a young woman to a strange procession. Around this dark landscape, a perpetually moving world will start the metamortphosis of her body.



Home Remedy 02:24
Canada 2021
Directed by: Santiago Zorrilla Medina Luna
Screenplay: Santiago Zorrilla Medina Luna, Andrea García de Alba Lobeira
Animation: Santiago Zorrilla Medina Luna
Technique: 3D animation
Music: 5 Alarm Music
Production/School: Andrea García de Alba Lobeira
Dialogue language: English


Bored during a global pandemic, 10-year-old Pat struggles to entertain himself when suddenly an ad pops up on his tablet, offering him the "cure" to his problems: a free quarantine friend.