Exclusive: Annecy Intl. Animation Festival Reveals Eclectic Lineup for Its 2025 Official Shorts Competition

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has revealed the list of 35 shorts selected for the official competition in its upcoming edition, scheduled for June 8-14. According to the organizers, over 3,900 shorts from a hundred countries were submitted for consideration.  The selection committees were coordinated by Maud Ahamadnia. The participants were Maud Ahamdnia, Imane Belarbi, Raphael Cahuzac, Louis Cacciuttolo, Apolline Caron-Ottavi, Marco de Blois, Corinne Destombes, Vivien Forsans, Lucie Guillermot, Lise Haushalter, Jean-Baptiste Garnero, Laurent Milton, Maral Mohsenin, Marie-Pauline Mollaret, Louise Naudot, Isabelle Vanini and Peggy Zejgman-Lecarne. The final decisions were made by Annecy’s festival director Marcel Jean, after consulting with the selection committee.

The selection breakdown is as follows:

• 35 shorts in the Official Selection
• 9 titles in the Off Limits category
• 17 shorts in the Perspectives sidebar
• 10 selected in the Young Audiences group
  

Here are the 35 titles selected for the Official Shorts Competition:

• 9 Million Colors. Directed by Bára Anna Stejskalová (Czech Republic)
• At Night.  Directed by Pooya Afzali (Iran)
• Atomik Tour. Directed by Bruno Collet (France)
• Bread Will Walk. Directed by Alex Boya (Canada)
• Carcassonne-Acapulco. Directed by Marjorie Caup, Olivier Heraud (France)
• Dog Ear. Directed by Peter Vacz (Hungary)
• Dollhouse Elephant. Directed by Jenny Jokela (Finland)
• Fusion. Directed by Richard Reeves (Canada)
• Hairy Legs. Directed by Andrea Dorfman (Canada)
• Hatjer. Directed by Alejandro Ariel Martin (Argentina)
• Il Burattino et la Balena (The Puppet & the Whale). Directed by Roberto Catani (France, Italy)
• La vie avec un idiot (Life with an Idiot.) Directed by Theodore Ushev, Alexandra Ushev (France)
• Les Bêtes (The Beasts). Directed by Michael Granberry (U.S.)
• Luna Rossa (Red Moon). Directed by Priit Pärn, Olga Pärn (Estonia, France)
• Murmuration. Directed by Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger (Netherlands)
• My Brother, My Brother. Directed by Abdelrahman Dnewar, Saad Dnewar (Germany, Egypt France)
• My Wonderful Life. Directed by Calleen Koh (Singapore)
• Ordinary Life. Directed by Yuriko Mizushiri (France, Japan)
• Ovary-Acting. Directed by Ida Melum (Norway, Sweden, U.K.)
• Praying Mantis. Directed by Joe Hsieh (Taiwan)
• Sappho. Directed by Rosana Urbes (Brazil)
• Shadows. Directed by Rand Beiruty (France, Jordan)
• Shocking Dreams in the Circus. Directed by Xun Sun (China)
• Signal. Directed by Emma Carré, Mathilde Parquet (France, Belgium)
• Sisowath Quay. Directed by Stephanie Lansaque, François Leroy (France)
• Star Wars: Visions “Black.” Directed by Shinya Ohira (Japan)
• Sulaimani. Directed by Vinnie Ann Bose (France)
• Tapeworm Alexis & the Opera Diva. Directed by Thaïs Odermatt (Switzerland)
• Thank you, Doctor Farsi. Directed by Samaneh Shojaei (Iran)
• The Exploding Girl. Directed by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel (France)
• The Girl Who Cried Pearls. Directed by Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski (Canada)
• The Gnawer of Rocks. Directed by Louise Flaherty (Canada)
• The Magician. Directed by Bogdan Muresanu (Croatia, France, Romania)
• The Night Boots. Directed by Pierre Luc Granjon (France)
• The Pool or Death of a Goldfish. Directed by Daria Kopiec (Poland)

The winner of the competition will automatically be shortlisted for next year’s Academy Awards.

Here are the selections for the other sidebars:

OFF-LIMITS

• Capriccio, Hungary – Gabor Ulrich
• Coda, Norway – Thor Silversten
• This Is not Your Garden, Colombia – Carlos Velandia, Angélica Restrepo
• Firewalk, Finland – Pink Twins
• Gerhard, Germany – Ulu Braun
• Rakugaki, Japan – Ryo Orikasa
• SKRFF, Austria – Corrie Francis Parks, Daniel Nuderscher
• The Prologue, Austria – Marzieh Emadi, Sina Sadaat
• Father Ademt, Belgium – Juliette Pons

PERSPECTIVES

• Blinded by the Light, Ghana – Francis Y. Brown
• Bloody Mess, Canada – Megan Wennberg
• Box, China – Yuanjia Huang, Tingyi Zhou, Yafei Xie
• Dédé (Ancestor), United Kingdom – Yasmine Djedje-Fisher-Azoume
• Fačuk, Croatia, Slovenia – Maida Srabovic
• Goldau, Swistzerland – Roman Kalin
• Ibuka, Justice, Canada – Justice Rutikara
• K’uchu: Rincon of childhood, Peru – Alessio Del Pozo
• Kronicitet, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Aleta Rajic
• The Circus of Mustachioed Clowns, Argentina – Ana Comes, Tomas Alzogaray Vanella Nella, Paz Bloj
• Nagofteh Namanad, Iran – Mahboobeh Kalaee, Ali Fotoohi
• Dark Orange, Iran – Zahra Azadpour
• Psychonauts, Croatia – Niko Radas
• S The Wolf: “I Will Have the Crown Back On My Head”, Egypt, France – Sameh Alaa
• Silent Cinema, Macedonia – Krste Gospodinovski
• Snake Soup, Armenia – Zack Demirtshiyan
• All These Deaths, Lebanon – Fadi Syriani

 Young Audiences

• A Walk into the Afterlife, Luxembourg – Jiyun Jeong
• Cardboard, United Kingdom – Jean-Philippe Vine
• Forevergreen, United States – Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears
• The Carp and the Child, Belgium, France – Morgane Simon, Arnaud Demyunick
• The Grand Annual Party of Moon Creatures, Canada – Francis Desharnais
• The Night Tunnel, Belgium, France, Netherlands – Annechien Strouven
• The Carpinchos, Chile, France, Uruguay – Alfredo Soderguit
• Sapan, Turkey, Kerem Yoruk, Yasir Atis
• Snow Bear, United States – Aaron Blaise
• Tsuru, Brazil – Pedro Anias

Visit the website (Annecyfestival.com) to find out more about the 2025 edition. Annecy will reveals its picks for student films, TV and commissioned projects, VR and animated features categories in upcoming weeks.