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.
Whether fleeing war, the own family, or the own courage; choices often have life-changing consequences. Unless one lives in a dystopia – in which case nothing matters anyway.
A father and his son are losing the folkrace. In order to win, the boy turns himself into a car tire. Loosely inspired by the director’s childhood, the film pulls us into the surreal car racing world.
Departing from Belém, in Lisbon, three women travel to a city in the South of Portugal to meet the newest member of the family who is about to be born. During the road trip, we learn about their different characters, points-of-view and life choices. As they arrive at the destination it becomes clear that the three characters are more alike than we first thought.
This is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history. As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour.
One day, she was sick. When it got dark outside, she became a piece of glass. At the first night, her husband didn’t see her, but life still goes on.
A spirited young woman persuades a hyena from London Zoo to take her place at a dinner dance held in her honour. Their plan requires a surprising amount of artistry and violence. Based on a story by artist Leonora Carrington, Elizabeth Hobbs celebrates her startling tale with paint and collage.
In the dark swamps of a nocturnal forest, a group of gleaming axolotls is in heat, nuzzling and nibbling one another’s limbs. Soon a much larger, two-legged forest-dweller encounters the lustful group and reaches down to gobble one of the small shimmering creatures. His plump friends begin to partake as well, and a feast begins. While dawn is slowly breaking, a cheerful game begins higher up in the branches.
Ills of fortune have deported a ballet dancer Sergei to a suburban kolhoz. Here he’s having his mundane fights against routine, domestic animals and alcohol.
After a couple of drinks, a girl admits to her best friend that she’s always wanted to know what it feels like to be kissed by a girl.
Star People strolling through the night. Each of them alone, in their own dance, accompanied by shiny flowing waves. Those small sparkling dashes can lead them out of the darkness into surrealistic, mysterious and cheerful scenery, if everything goes right.
A mysterious disease sweeps through the bird population and practically everything goes to hell. Planes crash, cities burn and the TV stops broadcasting. Hundreds of characters succumb to the, “bird plague”, too fast for everyone to really react.