Student Competition 1

1. End Tour / 終局之旅 08:30 Taiwan 2024
   

   Directed:	Lei Tsao
   Screenplay:	CHANG HUANG SHENG
   Production:	Brand Ciou
   Dialogue Language:	Mandarin Chinese

   
   

   Searching for energy, the robot and the displaced lizard embarked on a journey together, only to find remnants of civilization awaiting them.

2. Nanis' Kitchen 03:55 United States 2024
   

   Directed:

   Meera Ralhan

   
   

   Wanting to pass on their traditional way of cooking, two grandmothers teach their granddaughter, Nimbu, how to make different Indian dishes. However, they underestimate the creativity and gusto in which Nimbu wishes to add to the original recipes. Ranging from new ingredients to awkward shapes, their granddaughter confuses them with each new addition until it becomes too much for them to bear. Frustrated, the grannies usher her out of the kitchen to get the cooking done. It isn’t until they feel the emptiness in the space and taste her new creation that they see the error of their ways. They bring her back into the kitchen, reconciling with her and learning to appreciate her new takes on old ideas… Even if that means PB&J dosas become a fixture on the menu!

3. Black Spot 04:33 Taiwan 2024
   

   Directed:	Hau-Tzu Yang
   Dialogue Language:	Chinese

   
   

   The original animation "Black Spot" explores the psychology behind the man's reluctance to face his wife's death and society's tendency to delay seeking medical care. The story symbolically represents the man's approach to his own health through the wrong way of caring for a rose. Using the metaphor of "pruning diseased branches" in plants, it conveys the message that humans should promptly seek proper medical treatment when ill. The narrative concludes with a metafictional technique, leaving a hint of suspense to encourage reflection.

4. Daisy 04:47 Spain 2023
   

   Directed:

   Aditi Dixit, Joffrey Atienza Zamora, Shecid Domínguez Aguilera

   
   

   In the depths of darkness lies a music box which opens to reveal a young girl dressed in a petal dress. As the spotlight illuminates her, she discovers her ability to make music with her movements, which engages her to dance. Unbeknownst to her, eerie eyes observe her dance, causing petals to pluck out from her dress. Suddenly, she realizes that she is being watched by these eerie eyes. Desperate to escape, she struggles against her captors, only to be confined within the music box. However, a twist of fate unfolds as another child emerges from a new music box.

5. Entertainment 02:58 Cuba 2023
   

   Directed:	Frank Canino
   Screenplay:	Frank Canino
   Production:	Frank Canino
   Dialogue Language:	Spanish

   
   

   Some medieval jesters go through the experience of entertaining a king. All this with the risk of being executed if their interpretations are misunderstood by an authority blind to art.

6. Little Yaga / Małajaga 07:39 Poland 2023
   

   Directed:	Kamil Karcz
   Screenplay:	Kamil Karcz
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   A little witch living in a mountain village is one day sentenced to execution by a greedy monk living there. She is inadvertently rescued by a vampire who lives in a tower in the middle of the forest. A friendship develops between the two. The film talks about the necessity of doing good and forgiveness, and warns against judging a book by its cover.

7. The 9th Continent 06:24 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2023
   

   Directed:	Mostafa Borzouyan Dastjerdi
   Screenplay:	Mostafa Borzuyan Dastjerdi
   Production:	Mostafa Borzouyan Dastjerdi

   
   

   The story is about a fisherman who is searching for fish in a sea full of garbage and pollution, but cannot find any fish. Suddenly, he comes across a school of fish and follows them with his boat until he reaches an island made of garbage. Many fish are trapped among the garbage, and he easily hunts and collects them. But when he returns to his boat, he sees that a lot of garbage has accumulated around it, to the point where he cannot see the shoreline and becomes lost in the garbage island.

8. Piritus 04:48 Hungary 2024
   

   Directed:	Enikő Dörfler
   Screenplay:	Enikő Dörfler
   Production:	Werner Dörfler
   Dialogue Language:	Hungarian

   
   

   The basis of my animation is the Nightmare Cockerel (vagy Rooster), also known as Piritus/Piritusz, a belief in Hungarian folk lore that if you find a black egg, a Piritus may hatch from it. Initially the creature seems nice, helps its owner, brings them money if they takes care of it, but at night it bites them, makes them sick, and if they don't get rid of it before the end of the night, it may bring death. There are several ways to banish the creature, one of which is to stick a pitchfork in the ground. I think that this story draws relevant parallels with toxic human relationships and the importance of ending them.

9. The Beast of Dream / 夢之獸 03:29 Taiwan 2024
   

   Directed:	Althea Huang
   Screenplay:	Althea Huang
   Production:	Althea Huang

   
   

   Even the dream maker can not chain it’s wildness for dream is a part of the turbid self savage and uncontrollable but just like purified water can not breed life chaos and impurity is also a part of ourselves don’t be afraid, try to walk among the dreams accept it until transfer into the beast of dream

10. Pebble / 礫 08:00 Taiwan 2024
    

    Directed:	Cheng-Ya Hsieh
    Screenplay:	Cheng-Ya Hsieh
    Production:	Althea Huang
    Dialogue Language:	Mandarin Chinese

    
    

    A youth who lost in violence and sorrow Seeking for his precious given by someone important for him Yet what was lost in the river of past will not been found again With the flow, it disappeared without a trace But it also lead him to another encounter Another different but also similar soul

11. NON 04:53 France 2023
    

    Directed:

    BARDAUD Camille, ZHANG Tianying, NIU Xiaoning, SIBILLE Julie, NIU Yanfeng

    
    

    In the subway, a woman sees a black shadow approaching a little boy. It was then that she remembered an experience she had at the same age: her unfortunate encounter with a child criminal.

12. Allergy 04:40 China 2024
    

    Directed:	Xiaoxiao Shi
    Screenplay:	Xiaoxiao Shi
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    One early morning, a little girl is diligently memorizing words. However, she just can't wake up completely as she is so sleepy. Gradually, she realizes that she seems to be allergic to something. What is that allergen? Is it that English test paper? In any case, she and her mother begin a journey to try to save herself...

13. Monday Tuesday Washday 03:45 France 2024
    

    Directed:

    Charlotte WATRELOT, Morgan COULON-HARTMANN, Stephane SOLOMONIDES, SEPTIER SEPTIER

    
    

    Aimé, a young man, is getting ready in his bathroom. Suddenly, a power outage brings his washing machine to life, which runs away, stealing his clothes. What follows is a chase across the rooftops of the city.

14. Ebb Tide 08:09 Taiwan 2024
    

    Directed:	Pin-Rong Pan, Xiu-Hui Lai
    Screenplay:	Pin-Rong Pan, Xiu-Hui Lai
    Production:	Pin-Rong Pan
    Dialogue Language:	Chinese

    
    

    One of the childhood friends has gone to the city to pursue his ideal, while the other has been left behind in his hometown, and the two have drifted apart. But one day, the person who left him came back.

15. Hello, Afternoon! / Selamat Sore! 07:54 Indonesia 2024
    

    Directed:	Vanesha Quentin Soebroto
    Screenplay:	Vanesha Quentin Soebroto, Rachel Nifaeri Putri Waruwu
    Production:	Felicia Grainne Purnomo
    Dialogue Language:	Indonesian

    
    

    Lala (9) is a little Dayak girl who is both spirited and caring. Despite her normality most of the time, she secretly harbors a powerful magic, able to transform herself into a powerful fairy hero! With the help of her friends, she is able to use her powers for the sake of good, protecting her home-town, Palangkaraya, and the people in it. When Palangkaraya gets struck by a smog disaster, menacing smoke monsters start to appear, wrecking havoc and making everybody sick. Lala and her friends tries to defend their home against these monsters, until one faithful day, when one of her friends seemingly "dissapears" due to the smog. Lala devises a plan, determined to save her friend and seek revenge from the smog monsters. As she embarks on her mission, she finds herself venturing beyond a border she has never crossed before.

16. A Cartoon's Revenge 04:30 Netherlands 2024
    

    Directed:

    Ted Heemskerk

    
    

    A boy is watching a cartoon on his tv about a character that puts himself in very unlucky situations. The boy likes it and starts to laugh. Then suddenly the character starts to realise that somebody is laughing at him. The character is annoyed and wants to start a fight with the boy. Eventually the character finds a way to take revenge, and turns the boy into a cartoon. The boy starts to fight back. This results in a clash between reality and the cartoon world.

17. HeadMister 04:05 Russian Federation 2023
    

    Directed:	Alina Trubacheva
    Screenplay:	Darya Bukhteeva
    Production:	Alina Trubacheva
    Dialogue Language:	Russian

    
    

    Girl Farah tells her classmates a creepy story about an eccentric director.

18. Turduck-in 02:23 United States 2024
    

    Directed:	Sydney Christensen
    Screenplay:	Sydney Christensen
    Production:	Ringling College of Art and Design
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    The animated origin story of how the turducken- a Thanksgiving delicacy- first came to be. When a turkey doesn’t weigh enough to be transported off the farm, he takes matters into his own wings to try and rapidly gain enough weight before the transport truck drives off. Unfortunately his first few attempts fail to pass the scale, and with time ticking, he has no choice but to try a desperate endeavor if he wants to get out and have his “freedom”.