Student Competition 3

1. NIRJARA / निर्जरा 07:10 India 2023
   

   Directed:	Gaurav Pati
   Screenplay:	Gaurav Pati
   Dialogue Language:	English, Hindi

   
   

   A short film exploring the hierarchy in religious practices and Indian family structure. Aniket and Venkat two brothers are at the Varanasi ghat to perform the last rites of their deceased mother. Aniket, the younger, has spent his entire life in the shadow of his older brother who is sought as the 'man' after their father. Always ahead of him -even now, as the older son performs the last rite rituals of their mother according to the Hindu tradition. Throughout the film Aniket questions his position as a son and challenges his relationship with his brother.

2. The Prince's Dilemma 05:00 United States 2023
   

   Directed:	Devin Rowe
   Screenplay:	Devin Rowe
   Production:	Katie Leong
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   The film follows Prince Philip, who longing to be with a prince of his own, must decide to follow the traditional tale expected of him or forge his own happily ever after.

3. To the Moon and Back / 月亮粑粑 12:05 Japan 2023
   

   Directed:	Shuqin LI
   Production:	Koji YAMAMURA
   Dialogue Language:	Chinese

   
   

   Since I was born, the moon has circled the Earth 9,125 times. We all grew older with each orbit, but the moon never seems to age. A story about my grandma, her death, and my childhood.

4. The Raven / Le Corbeau 06:30 France 2022
   

   Directed:

   Olivier Dubucq, Julien Parmentier, Edouard Fizaine, Lisa Fortrie, Léa Legueulle, Elisa Garcia Romeu, Lisa Fortrie

   
   

   Unable to overcome the death of his wife, a formerly successful and now secluded playwright witnesses his world shattering once again when a mysterious creature throws him into metaphorical visions of his past relationship.

5. Olympia 05:07 China 2023
   

   Directed:	Ning Ma
   Screenplay:	Ning Ma
   Production:	Siteng Yin
   Dialogue Language:	Modern Greek (1453-)

   
   

   On the way to attend his father's funeral, the protagonist inadvertently recalls scenes of his childhood father's psychological problems. During these long years, the father's psychological illness quietly had a subtle impact on his daughter. The protagonist became increasingly aware that her growth path was deeply constrained and influenced by her father's mental health. During the days she spent with her father, she often felt anxious, helpless, and sad emotions, which gradually taught her to hide her true emotions. However, during the protagonist's participation in his father's funeral, he seemed to understand that he needed to face and heal his inner wounds in order to truly find himself and embark on his independent life journey.

6. The Ballad of the Indispensable Walnut Man 16:24 United Kingdom 2023
   

   Directed:	Nathan McQuaid, Ben McQuaid
   Screenplay:	Nathan McQuaid, Ben McQuaid
   Production:	AirTv, 2 Muggers productions
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   In late 19th century Scotland the Walnut man, a performer in a travelling circus, has become frustrated with his tired act. Instead he wants to perform his poems and songs to the crowds. What follows is a dark tale about entertainment, violence and greed. All made in Stop Motion animation

7. Dreaming Big 04:38 Spain 2023
   

   Directed:	Carmen Pelaz, Patricia Ferrer
   Production:	Paula Astorga, Maider Biain
   Dialogue Language:	Spanish

   
   

   The story of a girl who tries to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. Join Diana through her rollercoaster of emotions and discover how such a simple question can end up being so complicated.

8. Hair / مو 05:00 Iran 2023
   

   Directed:	Sahar - Yamani
   Screenplay:	Bahram Jalali pour
   Production:	Art University of Tehran
   Dialogue Language:	Persian

   
   

   It's about a half-bald man who tries to use chemical drugs on his head to grow back his hairs so he can marry his loved one. but the result is different from what he expected.

9. Stuck pages / Les pages collées 09:16 France 2022
   

   Directed:	Luka Amsallem
   Dialogue Language:	French

   
   

   Esteban is a restless young teenager. At the beginning of the school year, he falls in love with Margot, the new student. Unlike him, she is discreet and doesn't care about the world. To interest her, he tries to start reading, but it triggers a deep anguish in him.

10. Mum's Spaghetti 10:53 United Kingdom 2023
    1st Place - International Student Short Animation - Jury
    

    Directed:	Lisa Kenney
    Screenplay:	Jack Maraghy, Lisa Kenney
    Production:	Emma Grazette
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    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.

11. 《Beasts of the South》 / 《南方野兽》 04:36 China 2023
    

    Directed:	Xiongyuan YAO
    Screenplay:	Xiongyuan YAO
    Production:	Xiongyuan YAO
    Dialogue Language:	Chinese

    
    

    Reflect on the living environment under climate change with their own experience of climate trauma. In my works, I recall and reorganize a "disastrous world" through a cycle of depiction, erasure, reconstruction and erasure, and peep into the fragile and sad state of things in it, and how everything falls apart. As a disaster victim, I use animation to describe the experience of the flood and the phenomena I witnessed during the disaster. Regarding the climatic trauma of floods, I began to think about how to use art to express my own disasters. Through reading the works of relevant artists on ecological and climate crises, I extended my exploration of the content of memory, life, survival and the possibility of artistic creation.

12. The Spark 09:11 Poland 2023
    

    Directed:	Anna Tabi Jasińska
    Screenplay:	Anna Tabi Jasińska
    Production:	Anna Tabi Jasińska, Agata Golańska
    Dialogue Language:	Polish

    
    

    Neda must transport dangerous cargo to an occupied city. There are some complications along the way.

13. Akan (Will) 08:36 Indonesia 2023
    

    Directed:	Dimas Fajar Purnomo
    Screenplay:	Faiza Zahwa Maharani
    Production:	Aziz Hammad Kusteja
    Dialogue Language:	Indonesian

    
    

    About a mouse named "will" wants to move on with his family tragedy upon the war that unfortunate his experience to watch their family dies out slowly

14. Sunset Singers 10:40 Germany 2022
    

    Directed:	Jessica Poon
    Screenplay:	Jessica Poon
    Production:	Kunsthochschule für Medien
    Dialogue Language:	Yue Chinese (Cantonese)

    
    

    The retired Hong Kong couple, Long and Sophie, as amateur singers, attend their singing performance separately. Despite social unrest, their performance sets off as usual. While Sophie arrives early at the venue and gets herself prepared, Long is caught up in the subway by an unexpected circumstance. Employing both animation and documented materials obtained during the Anti-extradition Protests 2019, Sunset Singers presents a fictional commentary on the parallel lives of Hong Kong’s individuals.