International Competition 3

The International Competition (IC) is the beating heart of the festival. The best of current animated shorts from around the world are shown in this section. Films are humorous, contemplative, creative, or critical. An international jury selects the best animated short film of the year which will be honoured in the grand awards ceremony on Sunday. But you get to vote as well: Choose your favourite film for the SWR Audience Award!

The Race (The Race)

Michaël Le Meur / Frankreich / 06/2015 / 00:14:36 min.

Eternally dissatisfied and doomed to grow, Humanity frantically rushes along at top speed on a mad race. What if this headlong rush was not the fruit of our free will, but the result of mechanical forces ruling the universe?

Afternoon Class (Afternoon Class)

Seoro Oh / Südkorea / 01/2015 / 00:03:50 min.

Drowsiness washes over me during the afternoon class. My head gets heavier as I try to stay awake.

Das Leben ist hart (Life is rugged)

Simon Schnellmann / Deutschland / 03/2015 / 00:03:00 min.

Five short sequences about life are linked together by a black point.

Le Repas dominical (Sunday Lunch)

Céline Devaux / Frankreich / 05/2015 / 00:13:58 min.

Sunday. At lunch, James observes his family. They ask him questions and don’t listen to his answers, they give advice but don’t follow it, they stroke him and slap him, but it’s ok, it is the Sunday lunch.

Splintertime (Splintertime)

W. Rosto / Frankreich / 02/2015 / 00:10:58 min.

A band of sleepy spirits in an ambulance runs out of road. The third in a series of musical short films featuring Thee Wreckers. Although Rosto links characters and stories in all his work, music is what really connects his projects. “Music has always been a driving force in my work. The entire tetralogy is based on Wreckers songs but these shorts are no music videos, since there are no records to sell. The films show what the music looks like. Call it Fantasia for the Rock ‘n’ Roll age, if you will,” Rosto explains.

Sonámbulo (The Sleepwalker)

Theodore Ushev / Kanada / 01/2015 / 00:04:20 min.

With the shade around her waist she dreams on her balcony, […] Under the gypsy moon, all things are watching her and she cannot see them. Federico García Lorca

Yùl et le Serpent (Yùl and the Snake)

Gabriel Harel / Frankreich / 06/2015 / 00:13:11 min.

Yùl, 13 years old, goes with his big brother Dino to conclude a deal with Mike, a thug escorted by his Argentinian mastiff. When things go wrong, a mysterious snake appears.

Piano (Piano)

Kaspar Jancis / Estland / 05/2015 / 00:10:11 min.

Marta hauls a piano home from a shop that sells used musical instruments. She almost succeeds. Albert tries for the thirtieth year already to tell Paula that he loves her. He almost succeeds. Paula wants to respond to Albert in the same way. She almost succeeds. Police commissioner Kits has dreamed of parachuting all his life. He almost succeeds. Mirjam wants to become a circus artist. She almost succeeds…

The Loneliest Stoplight (The Loneliest Stoplight)

Bill Plympton / USA / 06/2015 / 00:06:18 min.

The life and times of a neglected stoplight.