Professional Competition 1

1. Bye Bear 10:44 Germany 2023
   2nd Place - International Professional Short Animation - Jury
   

   Directed:	Jan Bitzer
   Screenplay:	Jan Bitzer
   Production:	Christian “Chan” Zehetmeier, Ilija Brunck, Jan Bitzer, Jona Brunck
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   The 80s. A run-down motel. This is where a secret club of robot friends gather regularly to live out their dreams of being something else. They share a desire to be animals. On this night, it’s a goodbye party for one of them. This friend will change and leave for good.

2. Spark! 20:00 Kazakhstan
   

   Directed:	Alibi Mukushev
   Screenplay:	Alibi Mukushev
   Production:	Alibi Mukushev

   
   

   Short synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world subjected to global cooling, several wars and the totality of everything that civilization has come to in its decline, where there is nothing but scorched earth and burned or frozen corpses from the cold, a match comes to life! A match that is looking for a living person, because its main purpose and the meaning of its existence is to warm someone by burning itself...

3. Bench / Скамейка 02:52 Russian Federation 2024
   

   Directed:	Maria Mityaeva
   Dialogue Language:	Russian

   
   

   This story is based on a accidental dialog with two strangers, that was caught on a voice recorder This film is about big city, and its loneliness

4. TERRACUA 04:44 Argentina 2024
   

   Directed:

   Nahuel Franzetti

   
   

   On a planet where there are two types of beings facing each other, made of earth or water, an inventor resists making a bomb to destroy the enemy, creating instead a weapon to spread life.

5. Hellish Rhythm / Ritmo Infernal 04:14 Brazil 2024
   

   Directed:	Estúdio Escola de Animação
   Screenplay:	Estúdio Escola de Animação
   Production:	Estúdio Escola de Animação

   
   

   In the depths of hell, a demon who stands out at work scaring humans begins to suffer from burnout due to the incessant demands of her terrible boss. When she is about to be consumed by all the stress of her role, she comes across something unusual that changes her life, in a rhythmic and glamorous way.

6. Anita, Lost in the News 17:00 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2023
   

   Directed:	Behzad Nalbandi
   Screenplay:	Behzad Nalbandi
   Production:	Behzad Nalbandi
   Dialogue Language:	Kurdish

   
   

   : On October 27th, 2020 an inflatable boat leaves the coast of Dunkirk, France, to take 19 illegal immigrants to England, however, it is capsized after a few minutes. Seven migrants drowned in the English Channel, five belonged to a Kurdish-Iranian family (Rasoul 35, Shiva 35, Anita 9, Armin 6 and Artin just 15 months) who had gone on this difficult journey dreaming of a better life. This is an anima-documentary based on a true story.

7. Thunderstory / Tordenhistorie 04:52 Norway 2023
   

   Directed:	Margaret Emdal
   Screenplay:	Margaret Emdal
   Production:	Margaret Emdal

   
   

   Violence Begets Violence. About a Witch Killing a Scarecrow.

8. TEMPORARILY REMOVED 14:00 Israel 2023
   

   Directed:	Yoav Brill and Dotan Goldwaser
   Screenplay:	Yoav Brill and Dotan Goldwaser
   Production:	Yoav Brill and Dotan Goldwaser

   
   

   Deep inside a municipal art museum, a single guard is the sole queen of a small exhibition. When being forced to leave the room, her exile becomes a journey in search of a new home.

9. Thoughts during meditation / Tankar under meditation 04:20 Sweden 2024
   

   Directed:	Thomas Costa Freté
   Screenplay:	Thomas Costa Freté
   Production:	Thomas Costa Freté
   Dialogue Language:	Swedish

   
   

   A man is trying to meditate but keep getting interrupted by his own thoughts.

10. Long time no see 11:53 China 2024
    

    Directed:	Ming Sheng
    Screenplay:	Ming Sheng
    Production:	Qiongjuan Zhou
    Dialogue Language:	Chinese

    
    

    One-sentence summary: A stray dog is rejected by a new owner, eventually accepted, but ultimately it cannot escape its fate of wandering. Plot Summary: A stray dog is adopted by a kind-hearted young boy. The boy's mother is suffering from a severe illness, and she places all her hopes on a statue of the Guanyin Bodhisattva. The mischievous stray dog climbs onto the dining table, knocks over and shatters the Guanyin statue, and is confined by the mother in a cage. One morning, while the mother was sweeping the floor, she suddenly collapses. The dog desperately breaks open the cage to wake the sleeping boy, saving the mother. From then on, the mother accepts the dog, and it becomes a part of the family's life. However, the good times do not last long. The mother's condition worsens, and it is anticipated that her days are limited. The boy is studying in another city, and Dad's workplace does not allow dogs, so they cannot provide care for the dog. At this point, the mother faces a difficult decision: what should be the dog's fate?

11. above the light / بالاتر از نور 07:55 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2023
    

    Directed:	somayeh nili
    Screenplay:	somayeh nili
    Production:	somayeh nili

    
    

    The young woman is desperate because of the loss of one of her loved ones. A force invites him to continue his life again.

12. Heart of the ocean 08:57 Russian Federation 2024
    

    Directed:	Natalya Kharina, Alena Rubinshtein
    Screenplay:	Alena Rubinshtein
    Production:	Mikhail Khuberyan

    
    

    After the apocalypse, “life” on the planet resumed again, but in a different form: the broken fragments of mechanisms achieved consciousnessand form, creating a new world. One of the steel fishes of the dead ocean somehow brings to life a real live egg. The steel fish embarks on a journey of wonder and true parental love. The mechanical steel fish nurtures the tiny live being and sacrifices its own life for its survival.