Figuring out the very long list of many shorts that will qualify to land on the shortlist for the Best Animated Short Film Academy Award each year is about as difficult as the most challenging brainteasers. Nevertheless, we have compiled a list of the shorts that have won a qualifying prize at one of the world’s top film festivals or booked theatrical screening engagements to be considered by the Academy. (The official Oscar shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 21.) Our hats off to all the creators of these innovative, challenging and artistic shorts for making it to this first round. After all, being considered for a shortlist is a great achievement in its own right!
This dossier will be updated until the official shortlist is announced. If you are the director, producer or distributor of a qualifying animated short not yet included here, email edit[at]animationmagazine.net.
27
France, Hungary
Director: Flóra Anna Buda
Produced By: Pierre Baussaron, Péter Benjámin Lukács, Laure Goasguen, Gábor Osváth, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Boddah, Miyu Productions
Synopsis: Alice is 27 years old today. Even though she is suffocating a bit, she still lives with her parents and tends to live in her dreams to escape her dreary everyday life. After a psychedelic party on a factory roof, she has a serious drunken bike accident.
Qualifying Wins: Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Cristal for a Short Film), Cannes (Palme d’Or – Best Short Film), Melbourne International Film Festival (Best Animation Short Film), Sarajevo Film Festival (Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Short Film)
Aikāne
U.S.
Directors: Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
Produced By: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu; executive producers Judith Light, Daniel Karslake; Qwaves, Kanaka Pakipika
Synopsis: A valiant island warrior, wounded in battle against foreign invaders, falls into a mysterious underwater world. When the octopus who rescued him transforms into a handsome young man, they become aikāne, intimate friends bound by love and trust, and an epic adventure begins.
Qualifying Wins: Hawai’i International Film Festival (Best Made in Hawai’i Short), New Hampshire Film Festival (Animated Shorts Jury Award)
Watch the full film
All My Scars Vanish in the Wind
Colombia
Directors: Angélica Restrepo, Carlos Velandia
Produced By: Angélica Restrepo, Carlos Velandia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Synopsis: Between intrusive memories and sought-after memories, a woman answers a disconcerting call from the depths of her being.
Qualifying Wins: Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Film (ZINEBI Grand Prize: International Short Film Competition), Encounters Film Festival (Animated Encounters Grand Prix)
Amarradas (Roped)
Spain
Director: Carmen Córdoba
Produced By: Carmen Córdoba, La Chula Films, Comunidad de Madrid, Gobierno de España, Movistar Plus+
Synopsis: Mother and Daughter are roped for life by an eternal bond that heals and hurts, and that is perpetuated when Daughter becomes a Mother.
Qualifying Win: Animayo (Best Animated Short Film in Spanish)
Armat
Switzerland
Director: Élodie Dermange
Produced By: Nicolas Burlet, Nadasdy Film, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
Synopsis: Élodie tries to find out more about her family’s Armenian origins. She interviews her father, her uncle, her great aunt, and discovers a harsh history where violence and the inability to express love are passed down from generation to generation.
Qualifying Wins: Animator International Animated Film Festival (Grand Jury Prize – The Golden Pegasus), Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Best Animated Short)
Arrest in Flight
Switzerland
Director: Adrian Flury
Produced By: Adrian Flury
Synopsis: This experiment in film sets the stage for a hitherto unseen magical lifeform. The film focuses on the non-obvious character of movement when transferred to an alien object thus endowed with the life derived from the movement’s true to life source.
Qualifying Win: Ann Arbor Film Festival (Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film)
Back to Normal
U.S.
Director: Cecilia De Jesus
Produced By: Jaena Sta. Ana, Donnie McCormick
Synopsis: Two little blobs make their way through a global pandemic that completely upends their lives. This heartfelt animated short was created through the 2022 LatinX in Animation Spark Animation Grant and sponsored by Netflix.
Qualified by exhibition
Backflip
Germany, France
Director: Nikita Diakur
Produced By: Nikita Diakur, Miyu Productions
Synopsis: A digital avatar learns to move, walk and talk. Inspirational quotes from the internet drive him forward, and his creators capture the process in an improvised documentary.
Qualifying Win: German Short Film Award (Animated Film 1 min.–30 min.)
Boom
France
Directors: Gabriel Augerai, Romain Augier, Charles Di Cicco, Yannick Jacquin, Laurie Pereira de Figueiredo.
Produced By: Julien DeParis/Ecole des Nouvelles Images
Synopsis: Silly birds try to protect their eggs from a powerful volcanic eruption.
Qualifying Wins: Winner of the Gold Medal Student Academy Award Gold and the Audience Award at SIGGRAPH 2023.
The Brave Locomotive
U.S.
Director: Andrew Chesworth
Produced By: Andrew Chesworth
Synopsis: An Old West musical tale with 1940s flair about a mighty little train facing harrowing disaster.
Qualifying Win: LA Shorts Fest (Best Animation)
Director: Andrew Chesworth
Produced By: Andrew Chesworth
Synopsis: An Old West musical tale with 1940s flair about a mighty little train facing harrowing disaster.
Qualifying Win: LA Shorts Fest (Best Animation)
The Bridge
Poland
Director: Izumi Yoshida
Produced By: Wojciech Leszczynski, Anna Mroczek, Justyna Rucinska, EC1 Lódz – Miasto Kultury, EJT Labo, Likaon, WJTeam
Synopsis: The film’s inspired by events of the year 1920 that brought Poland and Japan closer. The story is told from a 10-year-old boy’s perspective, showing the history of orphans who lost their families and had to rush into manhood to fight for their lives.
Qualifying Win: Short Shorts Film Festival (Best Short – Animation)
Trailer avialable to watch here
By Water
U.S., Singapore
Director: Iyabo Kwayana
Produced By: Chris Hastings, Maori Karmel Holmes, Nevo Shinaar
Synopsis: An unlikely hero’s journey into his own memories becomes a vehicle for reconciliation and healing for himself and his sibling.
Qualifying Win: San Francisco International Film Festival (Golden Gate Award Animated Short)
Carl’s Date
U.S.
Director: Bob Peterson
Produced By: Kim Collins, Pixar
Synopsis: Carl Fredricksen reluctantly agrees to go on a date with a lady friend but admittedly has no idea how dating works these days. Ever the helpful friend, Dug steps in to calm Carl’s pre-date jitters and offer some tried-and-true tips for making friends — if you’re a dog.
Qualified by exhibition
Chutes
U.S.
Director: Kenzie Sutton
Produced By: Kenzie Sutton
Synopsis: A young girl struggles to be present in her life while navigating the arbitrary rules of society, capitalism and consumerism through the lens of childhood toys.
Qualifying Win: AFI Fest (Grand Jury Prize – Animated Short)
The City (La Ciudad)
Mexico
Director: Camilla Uboldi, Andreas Papacostas
Produced By: Lucía Cavalchini, Melissa Meléndez, César Moheno Plá, Alejandro García, Flare Animation, Fedora Productions
Synopsis: An extraordinary journey through the (un)wonders of a Mexican megalopolis.
Qualifying Win: Morelia International Film Festival (Ojo for Best Mexican Animated Short Film)
Colour!
U.K., Ireland
Director: Britt Bailey
Produced By: Italic Pig, Northern Ireland Screen, BFI Network
Synopsis: On her first day at a new school, one vibrant little girl is constantly clashing with the crowd. Soon enough, all she wants is to blend in with the background. Can she learn to embrace herself? Or does she risk fading away entirely?
Qualifying Win: Animation Dingle (Best Irish Professional Short)
Trailer available to watch here
Crab
Poland
Director: Piotr Chmielewski
Produced By: Wojciech Leszczynski
Synopsis: Animals are our silent companions; they have witnessed the greatest achievements and most horrible failures of humankind. They live their lives parallel to ours. Usually our victory means death for them, but there are moments where the situation changes…
Qualifying Win: Edmonton International Film Festival (Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short)
The Day I Became a Bird
U.K.
Director: Andrew Ruhemann
Produced by: Passion Pictures
Synopsis: Based on a book by written by Chabbert Ingrid and illustrated by Guridi, the short centers on a young boy who comes up with an unusual plan to win the heart of a girl who has only has eyes for birds.
Qualified by exhibition
Dede Is Dead
Czech Republic
Director: Philippe Kastner
Produced by: FAMU, Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts, Prague
Synopsis: This is the story of a boy and his dog Dede, who passes away suddenly and the boy is left alone with his grief. However, he discovers that just because Dede is dead doesn’t mean that she is completely gone.
Qualified by exhibition
The Diplomacy of the Eclipse (La Diplomatie de l’éclipse)
France
Director: César Luton, Axel Mechin, Achille Pasquier, Clémence Bailly, Selim Lallaoui
Produced By: MoPA – L’École de la 3D
Synopsis: At the moment of alignment, of total eclipse, humanity will vanish – this was the message sent by the sun and the moon. The World Council decides to send his best negotiator to stop the end of the world.
Qualifying Win: SIGGRAPH (Best in Show)
Dog Apartment (Koerkorter)
Estonia
Director: Priit Tender
Produced By: Kerdi Oengo, OÜ Nukufilm
Synopsis: Ill fortune finds a ballet dancer Sergei exiled a suburban kolhoz, where he fights mundane battles against routine, domestic animals and alcohol.
Qualifying Wins: In the Palace International Short Film Festival (Best Animation, International Competition), Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (Grand Prix International Competition)
Dora and the Fantastical Creatures
U.S.
Director: William Mata
Produced by: Nickelodeon
Synopsis: Nickelodeon’s famous explorer and her monkey friend Boots embark on an incredible adventure to the land of alebrijes, the most magical creatures in the rainforest.
Qualified by exhibition
Doubt
Czech Republic
Director: Adela Križovenská
Synopsis: Doubt is a short animated essay, which, through voices of four different authors from various fields of art, describes all stages of creative process.
Qualifying Win: Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Best Slovak Animated Short)
Dragonfly
U.S.
Director: Julia Morizawa
Produced By: Julia Morizawa
Synopsis: Dragonfly tells the story of a young girl who learns of her mother’s survival of the Tokyo firebombing on March 9-10, 1945 through the eyes of her brother’s spirit. It was the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. 16 square miles of central Tokyo were destroyed, leaving an estimated 100,000 civilians dead and over one million homeless.
Qualified by exhibition
Drijf
Belgium
Director: Levi Stoops
Produced By: Lunanime Bvba, Jeroen Derycke
Synopsis: Adrift on the open sea, two people fight a bloody battle for their survival and that of their relationship.
Qualifying Win: Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Jury Award)
Eeva
Estonia, Croatia
Directors: Morten Tšinakov, Lucija Mrzljak
Produced By: Adriatic Animation, co-produced by Joonisfilm
Synopsis: It’s pouring down with rain at the funeral. There’s a lot of crying, too much wine, several woodpeckers and a couple of dreams that fill in the gaps.
Qualifying Win: Nashville Film Festival (Best Animated Short)
Electra
Czech Republic, France, Slovakia
Director: Daria Kashcheeva
Produced By: Zuzana Křivková, Martin Vandas, MAUR Film, FAMU International, Papy3D Productions, Artichoke Film Production
Synopsis: Electra rethinks her 10th birthday, mixing memories with dreams and hidden fantasies in this powerful exploration of early sexual abuse.
Qualifying Win: Toronto International Film Festival (Best Short Film)
Epicenter
South Korea
Director: Hee-yoon Hahm
Produced By: Lithium
Synopsis: An old man dreams about the Bukhansan Mountain perpetually covered with snow, while a young woman sees the mountain grows taller after an earthquake. Slowly, the worlds of fantasy and reality collide, exposing an invisible universe.
Qualifying Win: Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Bruce Corwin Award – Best Animation Short Film)
Flesh of God (Carne de Dios)
Argentina
Director: Patricio Plaza
Produced By: Ojo Raro, Fedora Productions
Synopsis: Latin America, 17th century: Amidst the mountains, a Spanish Friar is taken by his indigenous disciple to the house of an old female shaman, to cure his strange illness.
Qualifying Wins: Chilemonos International Animation Festival (Best Latin American Animation Short Film), Guadalajara International Film Festival (Rigo Mora Award for Best International Animated Short Film)
Flutter
U.S.
Director: Adam Reed Levy
Produced By: Adam Reed Levy, Bradford Simonsen
Synopsis: Jerry, a hummingbird of a different feather, must stand up to a hungry house cat in order to keep the flock together.
Qualified by exhibition
fur
U.S.
Director: Zhen Li
Produced By: Zhen Li
Synopsis: When the awkward feelings of a crush are stuck in you for too long, they turn wet and furry.
Qualifying Win: Seattle International Film Festival (Grand Jury Prize Short Animation)
Game (Oyun)
Turkey
Director: Önder Menken
Produced By: Anadolu Üniversitesi
Synopsis: A story about the games played around the world, leaving the future of humanity in the dark.
Qualifying Win: Izmir International Short Film Festival (Best National Short Animation)
Gloria
Colombia
Directors: Daniela Briceño Bello, Diego Felipe Cortés, Blanca Castellar
Produced By: Diego Felipe Cortés
Synopsis: Gloria moves between thoughts and the space of the bathroom; inside, something grows that cannot be contained.
Qualifying Win: Bogoshorts (Best Animation Short Film – National Competition)
Harvey
Canada, France
Director: Janice Nadeau
Co-Produced By: The NFB (Marc Bertrand) and Folimage (Reginald de Guillebon)
Synopsis: Told through the eyes of a child with an overflowing imagination, Harvey is a poetic, luminous look at bereavement and coping with the loss of a parent.
Qualified by exhibition
Headprickles
Poland
Director: Katarzyna Miechowicz
Produced By: Agata Golańska, Polish National Film School In Łódź
Synopsis: The film consists of over a dozen animated epigrams connected by the motif of being trapped in a loop of absurdity. In a colorful labyrinth of observations, the protagonists try to make sense of nonsense — or stay mindlessly within it.
Qualifying Win: Guanajuato International Film Festival (Best Short Animation)
Home of the Heart (À Cœur perdu)
France
Director: Sarah Saidan
Produced By: Jérôme Barthélemy, Camille Condemi, Daniel Sauvage, Caïmans Productions
Synopsis: Omid, an Iranian immigrant now living in France, has a fateful encounter that takes his breath and heart away. Or maybe he left it behind in his beloved homeland.
Qualifying Win: New York International Children’s Film Festival (Jury Award Animated Short)
Hospes
U.S.
Director: Stephanie J. Williams
Produced By: Stephanie J. Williams
Synopsis: Performing a choreography of resistance, a scaffolded amalgam of body pieces tries to remain whole in an environment programmed to disassemble it. A film about appearing “racially ambiguous.”
Qualifying Win: New Orleans Film Festival (Helen Hill Award for Animated Short)
Hot Dogs!
U.S.
Director: Frank Volk
Synopsis: A hot dog man has a crisis of faith.
Qualifying Win: Slamdance Film Festival (Jury Award for Animation Short)
The House of Loss
Japan, South Korea
Director: Jeon Jinkyu
Produced By: Yamamura Koji
Synopsis: The elderly at the nursing home have their heads shaved. The protagonist who works there sees them but can’t read their expressions.
Qualifying Win: Cinequest Film Festival (Best Animated Short Film)
Howl If You Love Me
U.S.
Director: John R. Dilworth
Produced by: Stretch Films
Synopsis: This new short from the beloved creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog series is a romantic horror comedy about a man named Jim whose girlfriend Jules is a werewolf. When Jules is put in danger, Jim is forced to make a life-transforming decision.
Qualified by exhibition
I’m Hip
U.S.
Director: John Musker
Produced by: John Musker
Synopsis: The world doesn’t quite agree with a self-absorbed cat who proclaims his “hipness” to the world in a jazzy song and dance.
Qualified by exhibition
I’m Not Afraid!
Germany, Norway
Director: Marita Mayer
Produced By: Fabian Driehorst, Anita Killi, Lillian Løvseth
Synopsis: During a game of hide and seek Vanja leaves the bright living room and enters a dimly lit courtyard which has far too many dark corners weird shadows and strange noises. To overcome the fear Vanja turns into a dangerous tiger!
Qualified by exhibition
It Dawns the Longest Night
Spain
Directors: Lorena Ares Lago, Carlos Fernández de Vigo
Produced by: New Gravity Laws SL, Arquetipo Comunicacion, Damián Perea
Synopsis: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse meet to review the state of humanity. A weak and dying Death receives his companions with the intention of convincing them to torment humans less, but Famine, Pestilence and War dream of a humanity trapped in a world without escape.
Nominated for a Goya (Spanish Oscar), qualified by exhibition.
It’s a Gray, Gray World
Iran
Director: Seyed Mohsen Pourmohseni Shakib
Produced By: Seyed Mohsen Pourmohseni Shakib
Synopsis: In a completely gray world, people are terrified when the colorful identity of a conservative young man is accidentally revealed by a playful boy.
Qualifying Win: Cleveland International Film Festival (Best Animated Short Jury Award)
Kafka’s Doll
Portugal, Spain
Director: Bruno Simões
Produced By: Humberto Santana, Roger Torras, Celine Fernandes, Animanostra, WKND, Lusco Fusco Animation, Studio Kimchi
Synopsis: Inspired by an unconfirmed anecdote about the famous writer penning letters to a little girl from her lost doll, chronicling its incredible travels, the short blends factual research, fiction, fantasy and myth into a story about loss and resolution.
Qualified by exhibition
A Kind of Testament
France
Director: Stephen Vuillemin
Produced By: Remembers
Synopsis: A young woman comes across animations on the internet that have clearly been created from her private selfies. A stranger with the same name confesses to identity theft. But death is quicker than the answer to the question: “Why?”
Qualifying Win(s): Go Short International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (Best European Short Animation Film)
Letter to a Pig
France, Israel
Director: Tal Kantor
Produced By: Pierre Baussaron, Amit R. Gicelter, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Miyu Productions, The Hive Studio
Synopsis: A Holocaust survivor writes a “thank you” letter, after the war, to the pig that saved his life. Following his testimony in the classroom, a young schoolgirl dreams a dark version of his story.
Qualifying Win: Anima (Grand Prix Anima for Best International Short Film)
Little Fan
Germany
Directors: Sveta Yuferova,, Shad Lee Bradbury
Produced By: Paul Maresch
Synopsis: As Little Fan explores the table, he encounters an object, which brings new challenges.
Qualified by exhibition
Little Smasher (Petit cogneur)
France
Director: Gilles Cuvelier
Produced By: Papy3D Productions
Synopsis: Poetic testimony of a family crossing time and space to the rhythm of the uncontrollable crises of the youngest.
Qualifying Win: Interfilm International Short Film Festival Berlin (Best Animation, International Competition)
Mariupol. A Hundred Nights
Ukraine, Germany
Director: Sofiia Melnyk
Produced By: Andrii Palatnyi (Gogol Fest)
Synopsis: As the Russian invasion of Mariupol begins, a little girl is woken up on February 24 by the air alert, and tries to find someone living in the burning city.
Qualifying Win: Krakow Film Festival (Silver Dragon for Best Short Animated Film)
Misaligned
Latvia, Poland
Director: Marta Magnuska
Produced By: Piotr Szczepanowicz, Grzegorz Wacławek, Animoon
Synopsis: Scenes of a marriage rendered in minimalist, vibrating, black-and-white animation: A woman and a man in a room. A fly rotates around the lightbulb and the couple around themselves.
Qualifying Win: DOK Leipzig (Golden Dove – International Competition Short Animated Film)
Miserable Miracle
France, Japan, Canada
Director: Ryo Orikasa
Produced By: Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Jelena Popovic, Robert McLaughlin, Michael Fukushima, Nobuaki Doi, Miyu Productions, NFB, New Deer
Synopsis: An animated adaptation of Misérable Miracle by Henri Michaux (1956), on his experiences with mescaline.
Qualifying Win: Ottawa International Animation Festival (Best Independent Short)
Morning Joy
U.S.
Director: John Henry Hinkel
Produced by: Ethan K. Pakchar
Synopsis: A recently widowed pianist finds inspiration from an unexpected source one morning.
Qualified by exhibition
Mum’s Spaghetti
U.K.
Director: Lisa Kenney
Produced by: Emma Grazette, National Film and Television School
Synopsis: MC mastermind Poppy and her beatboxing border terrier Snoop are the new kids in town — and they’re ready to make their reputation known. Straight As and bubble baths are their way of life — but when confronted by an older crew en-route her first day at school, Poppy quickly changes her tune.
Qualifying Win: Student Academy Awards (Bronze Medal – Animation)
Mushka
U.S.
Director: Andreas Deja
Produced By: Andreas Deja, Roger Viloria, Mushka Productions
Synopsis: A story of love and sacrifice set in Ukraine. A nine-year-old girl raises a young tiger cub, but as the cub grows up, trouble ensues.
Qualified by exhibition
Night
Germany, Qatar, Palestine, Jordan
Director: Ahmad Saleh
Produced By: Fabian Driehorst, Saleh Saleh, Jessica Neubauer
Synopsis: The dust of war keeps the eyes sleepless. Night brings peace and sleep to all the people in the broken town. Only the eyes of the mother of the missing child stay resilient. Night must trick her into sleeping to save her soul.
Qualified by exhibition
Ninety-five Senses
U.S.
Directors: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
Produced By: Miles David Romney, Tori A. Baker
Synopsis: An ode to the body’s five senses delivered by a man with little time left to enjoy them.
Qualifying Win: Florida Film Festival (Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short)
Once Upon a Studio
U.S.
Directors: Dan Abraham, Trent Correy
Produced By: Yvett Merino, Brad Simonsen, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Synopsis: An all-star ensemble of beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios assembles to take a group photo in honor of The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary — making for a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion.
Qualified by exhibition
Oneluv
Russia
Director: Varya Yakovleva
Produced By: Studio SHAR
Synopsis: Strangers come to visit the home of a young couple. Taking advantage of the hospitality of the hosts, the unexpected guests push the couple to do rash things, which leads to the destruction of the established order and harmony within the family.
Qualifying Win: Animafest Zagreb (Grand Prix – Best Short Film of the Festival)
Our Uniform
Iran
Director and Producer: Yegane Moghaddam
Synopsis: An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. She admits that she’s nothing but a “female” and explores the roots of this idea in her school years.
Qualifying Win: Animayo (Grand Jury Prize)
Pacemaker
U.K.
Directors: Christopher Lennertz, Brian Vincent Rhodes
Produced By: Alex Bedford, Magdiela Hermida Duhamel, Darlene Caamano Loquet, Ben Parkin, A Running Commentary
Synopsis: When a lonely widower who needs a pacemaker to save his life accepts his grandson’s identity and opens his heart to him, he receives a second opportunity at true love.
Qualified by exhibition
Watch the full film on YouTube or Vimeo
Pachyderm
France
Director: Stephanié Clement
Produced By: TNZPV Productions
Synopsis: Like every summer, Louise stays at her grandparents’ in the countryside for a few days during the holidays. It will snow at the height of summer and a monster is going to die.
Qualifying Wins: Foyle Film Festival (Best Animated Short Film), Manchester Animation Festival (Best Short Film)
Watch the full film on YouTube
Pete
U.S.
Director: Bret “Brook” Parker
Produced By: Jake Kaplan
Synopsis: Gender identity, Little League Baseball, the people who inspire change by trying to be themselves, and the superheroes who allow that change to happen.
Qualified by exhibition
https://youtu.be/od925Ro4O60?si=l__1oKLuUcT6vzWb
Pina
Belgium, France
Directors: Jérémy Depuydt, Giuseppe Accardo
Produced By: Lucas Tothe, Maxime Feyers, François-Xavier Willems
Synopsis: In the 19th century, in a Sicilian countryside village, the young Pina holds the power to regenerate the land. With each harvest, the village is prey to shameless mafia looting.
Qualifying Win: Flickerfest International Short Film Festival (Yoram Gross Award for Best International Animation)
Pivot
Canada
Director: Ana Gusson
Produced By: Tini Wider, WIA Vancouver ACE Program
Synopsis: Pivot is the story of 12-year-old Ashley, a girl who doesn’t align with her mother’s perfect image of who she should be.
Questbound: Forbidden Ventures of the Undead Soul
Netherlands
Directors: Owen Buckley, Alexander Bierling
Synopsis: An ancient evil creature misreads the intentions of a quest-bound knight and ends up flirting with a married man.
Qualifying Win: Kaboom Animation Festival (Best Dutch Short Film)
Watch the full film here
The Record
Switzerland
Director: Jonathan Laskar
Produced By: Sophie Laskar-Haller, Punched Paper Films
Synopsis: A traveler gives an antiques dealer a magic vinyl record: “It reads your mind and plays your lost memories.” Obsessed by this endless record, he listens to it again and again.
Qualifying Win: RiverRun International Film Festival (Best Animated Short) / Qualified by exhibition
Red Ears (Das Rotohr)
Germany
Director: Paul Drey
Produced By: Max Breuer, Nils Gustenhofen
Synopsis: Thirteen years after his civil service in a hospital in Thiès, Senegal, Paul challenges his memories and traumas. With old video footage, interviews and animations, he questions his role as a volunteer within the German system of development aid.
Qualifying Win: Tampere Film Festival (International Competition Grand Prix)
Remember How I Used to Ride a White Horse (Sjeti se kako sam jahala bijelog konja)
Croatia
Directors: Ivana Bošnjak Volda, Thomas Johnson Volda
Produced By: Igor Grubić, Kreativni sindikat
Synopsis: Time continuously elapses, apathy can trap consciousness into a loop. Escaping this stagnation, one can discover the true beauty of existence.
Qualifying Win: VIS Vienna Shorts Festival (Jury Prize – Animation)
Reprise
Switzerland
Directors: Saskia Bulletti, Carine Chrast, Livia Neuenschwander, Leance Volschenk
Produced By: Gerd Gockell, Jürgen Haas, HSLU Studienbereich BA Animation Hochschule Luzern, Design & Kunst
Synopsis: A young girl navigates her daily life with her family and stepfather, the fox. The girl seems strangely cautious of the friendly fox. It is only when they are alone that the fox becomes intrusive and the girl’s situation becomes clear.
Qualifying Win: Warsaw Film Festival (Best Animated Short Film)
Rest in Piece
France, Germany
Director: Antoine Antabi
Produced By: Katharina Weser, Georg Neubert, Laure Dahout, Reynard Films
Synopsis: A starving migrant man resorts to eating the objects he has packed for the journey. The monstrous effects of this desperate meal give him the strength to carry on through a scorching desert.
Qualifying Win: Atlanta Film Festival (Best Animated Short Film)
Rosemary A.D. (After Dad)
U.S.
Director: Ethan Barrett
Produced By: Tiffany Barrett
Synopsis: Would my daughter be better off without me? The question swims around a father’s mind as he cradles his newborn, in this darkly funny and poignant animated tale.
Qualifying Wins: Austin Film Festival (Animated Short Jury Award), Cairo International Film Festival (Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film), Heartland Film: Indy Shorts International Film Festival (Grand Prize for Animated Short), St. Louis International Film Festival (Best Animated Short)
Scale
Belgium, U.K., France, Czech Republic
Director: Joseph Pierce
Produced By: Helene Mitjavile, Bridge Way Films, Endorfilm, Melocoton Films, OZÙ Productions
Synopsis: Driving along the motorway, Will loses his sense of scale. As his condition deepens, he struggles to unpick the sequence of events that led to this predicament, before he’s lost forever.
Qualified by exhibition
Search for the Human
France
Directors: Mélina Ienco, Lucie Juric, Caroline Leibel, Faustine Merle, Claire Pellet
Produced By: Cécile Blondel
Synopsis: In a fantasy world, a griffin embraces his fate and goes on an epic journey to find a legendary creature: The Human.
Qualifying Win: Rhode Island International Film Festival (Best Short Animation)
Skinned (Écorchée)
France
Director: Joachim Hérissé
Produced By: Komadoli Studio
Synopsis: In an old building, lost in the middle of the swamp, live two strange women — Siamese twins connected by one leg. At night, the Skinned has terrifying nightmares in which she sees her sister’s flesh covering her own body.
Qualifying Wins: Kaboom Animation Festival (Best Short Film), Odense International Film Festival (H.C. Andersen International Award), Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Best Animated Short Film)
Watch here:
The Smeds and the Smoos
U.K.
Directors: Samantha Cutler, Daniel Snaddon
Produced By: Barney Goodland, Martin Pope, Magic Light Pictures, BBC One, ZDF
Synopsis: Based on the children’s book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, this tale of forbidden love centers on two young creatures from warring families who flee to a distant planet to stay together. Starring Sally Hawkins, Bill Bailey, Ashna Rabheru, Rob Brydon.
Qualified by exhibition
Smoke (Humo)
Mexico, U.S.
Director: Rita Basulto
Produced By: 3rd Street Video, Mindsoup Entertainment, Outik Animation
Synopsis: A boy, Daniel, travels by train towards a dark destination known as the smokehouse.
Qualifying Win: HollyShorts Film Festival (Best Animation Award)
Soliloquy
U.S.
Director: Martine Syms
Produced By: Rocket Caleshu, Gabrielle Datau
Synopsis: Digital avatar Kita, who acts as cultural commentator, speaks to questions of consciousness within the systems of race, capitalism and technology.
Qualifying Win: Athens International Film and Video Festival (Best Animation)
As perceptive and playful as ever, Martine Syms distils the infinite loop of post-internet life into seven minutes of pixelated, hip-hop-soundtracked heaven. pic.twitter.com/84d4qIixsM
— MUBI (@mubi) October 23, 2022
Starling
U.S.
Director: Mitra Shahidi
Produced By: Jessica Heidt, Mona Productions
Synopsis: Starling, the spirit of a mischievous little girl, shoots down from the heavens to spend her birthday with her family.
Qualifying Win: Tribeca Film Festival (Best Animated Short)
Sunflower Field
U.S., Ukraine
Director: Polina Buchak
Produced By: Polina Buchak, Camila Grimaldi, Honto 88, Fazed Films; animated by Mulan Fu
Synopsis: Under the shadowy threat of war, a young Ukrainian girl awaits a call from her father and, as day turns into night, sinks into a dreamscape from which she must find her way home.
Qualifying Win: Woodstock Film Festival (Best Animated Short)
Swing to the Moon
France
Directors: Marie Bordessoule, Adriana Bouissie, Nadine De Boer, Elisa Drique, Chloé Luau, Vincent Levrero, Solenne Moreau
Produced By: ESMA 3D
Synopsis: Living in the forest, little spider Temi dreams of catching the Moon. For that, she will do anything.
Qualifying Win: DeadCenter Film Festival (Best Short Animation)
Teacups
Australia
Directors: Alec Green, Finbar Watson
Produced By: Alan Holly, Alec Green, Finbar Watson, Carla Vulpiani
Synopsis: For almost half a century, Don Ritchie would approach people contemplating suicide at the edge of a cliff just 100 feet from his home in Australia, his palms facing up. Voiced by Hugo Weaving, Teacups is a poignant animation about his life, his surreal interactions with hundreds of suicidal individuals and his journey to reconcile the suicide of his best friend.
Qualifying Wins: Sydney Film Festival (Yoram Gross Animation Award), Spark Animation Festival (Best in Show)
A Tree Once Grew Here
U.S.
Director: John Semerad
Produced by: Dara Semerad
Synopsis: Combining captivating visuals, animation and imagery, the short sets out to remind us that we must rebalance harmony and nurture our planet because we can no longer afford not to.
Tomato Kitchen
China
Director: Junyi Xiao
Produced By: Bilibili, Junyi Xiao
Synopsis: An accident interrupted Lee’s dinner with his colleagues. The dark truth of the Tomato Kitchen, along with Lee’s hidden past, were revealed by this unexpected incident.
Qualifying Win: Chilemonos International Animation Festival (Best International Animation Short Film)
Trace (Sleda)
Bulgaria
Director: Asparuh Petrov
Synopsis: A young man is trying to hold his life and career together. When he learns that his wife is pregnant, everything collapses. He enters the dark space of his fears, where he is confronted by memories of his childhood.
Qualifying Win: Lebu International Film Festival (Best Short Film, International Animation)
Way Better
Lithuania
Director: Skirmanta Jakaitė
Produced By: Agnė Adomėnė, Art Shot
Synopsis: A man is waiting for a test result. He expects the worst but at the same time hopes for the best. Distressed and afraid, he spends a week in a limbo of his own creation, neither here nor there, dreading the things that haven’t happened yet.
Qualifying Win: Palm Springs International ShortFest (Best Animation Short)
We Are Here
U.S.
Directors: Doménica Castro, Constanza Castro
Produced By: Doménica Castro, Constanza Castro
Synopsis: What is it like to walk this land in the shoes of an immigrant under 30? Reflections of young adults who immigrated to the United States as children remind us that beyond citizenship, there is a human.
Qualifying Win: New Hampshire Film Festival (Shorts Jury Award, Animation)
Welcome to Texas
U.S.
Director: Mike Corey
Produced by: Mike Corey
Synopsis: In January of 2022, with the threat of overturning Roe v. Wade looming, Mike Corey started work on this project, which personalizes the traumatic impact the loss of healthcare for women poses.
Qualified by exhibition
Well Wishes My Love, Your love
Malaysia, Sweden
Director: Gabriel Gabriel Garble
Synopsis: Newly orphaned and freshly wounded from a loss, a boy lends his companion a prosthetic arm for the day.
Qualifying Win: Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Best Swedish Short Film)
Watch the full film here
Wild Summon
U.K.
Directors: Saul Freed, Karni Arieli
strong>Produced By: Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Jay Woolley
Synopsis: A natural history fantasy film, following the dramatic life cycle of the wild salmon in human form. Narrated by Marianne Faithfull.
Qualified by exhibition
Worry World
Ireland
Director: Jessica Patterson
Produced By: Shauna Cullen, JAM Media
Synopsis: A young factory worker dreams of escape from a world where one’s every thought is on display.
Qualifying Win: Galway Film Fleadh (James Horgan Award for the Best Animation Short)
Yellow Dove Aftermath
U.S.
Director: Rony A. Abovitz
Produced by: Rony Abovitz, Richard Taylor, Martin Baynton
Synopsis: The surreal adventures of Yellow Dove in his bunker within the world of Hour Blue.
Qualified by exhibition
Zima
Poland
Directors: Tomek Popakul, Kasumi Ozeki
Produced By: Marcin Podolec, Wiktoria Podolec (Yellow Tapir Films)
Synopsis: Anka loves cats. And Jesus. In a winter silence, the lagoon freezes and the unspoken resurfaces like crack on ice.
Qualifying Win: Krakow Film Festival (Golden Dragon for Best Short Film)
— Compiled by Gillian Glover, with assistance from Benoit Berthe Siward
