Professional Competition 8

1. Bug 06:00 2024
   

   Directed:	Ali Masoumi
   Screenplay:	Ali Masoumi
   Production:	Ali Masoumi

   
   

   A family of three has recently moved in and the little girl inspects the new home with curiosity, when a small cricket finds its way into their home as a surprise visitor. But with the father’s unexpected reaction, the child’s perspective begins to shift, turning a simple encounter into something far more unsettling

2. unPlug 19:50 2025
   

   Directed:	haisi Hu
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   A woman’s attempt to free her animal spirit from the forces of technologization.

3. Patient comes first / Első a beteg! 03:00 Hungary 2024
   

   Directed:	Zoltán Zsolt Porpáczy
   Screenplay:	Zoltán Zsolt Porpáczy
   Production:	Gertrud Andrási
   Dialogue Language:	Hungarian

   
   

   Emergency room. Three cabbage-form doctors are trying to revive an old goat on an operating table. The goat’s charming daughter is waiting behind the door, watching the scene through the door’s window and crying. When the goat returns, he immediately devours one of the cabbage doctors. Above them a big picture is hanging on the wall. It depicts a shady wolf professor with a hand gesture remembering the doctors to the Hippocratic Oath. They have to make a choice between their duty and their own survival.

4. Fiston 03:21 France 2025
   

   Directed:	Sibirtseva Liudmila
   Screenplay:	Charly Astié, Richard Navarro
   Production:	Charly Astié
   Dialogue Language:	French

   
   

   Music video for the song “Fiston” by CHARLY. Extract of the show "Concerto déconcertant". A melodious and ironic composition in which a father addresses his future son to speak about the paradoxes and realities of the contemporary world. Created using hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation, the video features detailed animation and match cuts to create smooth transitions between scenes. The universe oscillates between dream and reality, offering a poetic take on inheritance, disobedience, and the passage into adulthood. Subtitles avalaibles in English, French, Spanish and Catalan. Directed and animated by : Liudmila Sibirtseva Lyrics & Music : Charly Astié & Richard Navarro Arrangements : Benoit Pithon Sound recording and mixing : Lou Touchard

5. Blu's 09:50 India 2025
   

   Directed:	Rajesh PK
   Screenplay:	Rajesh PK
   Production:	Rajesh PK, Shibin KV, Jaser PV, Jeeth Parambendavida
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   Growing up freely in harmony with nature, witnessing her beautiful environment being swallowed up by industrialisation, BLU decides to fight for the wildlife, meadows, rivers and trees before they disappear completely.

6. Nephilim 11:01 Romania 2025
   

   Directed:	Vlad Ilicevici, Radu C Pop, Bogdan Lazăr
   Screenplay:	Vlad Ilicevici
   Production:	Vlad Ilicevici, Andrei Iancu, Radu Pop, Dragoș Vîlcu
   Dialogue Language:	Romanian

   
   

   In a frozen wasteland, near the North Pole, Frederick the arctic explorer finds his salvation and his final companion in the last remaining member of a long-lost species: the giant Nephilim.

7. Ruins 04:20 China 2025
   

   Directed:	胤潜 李
   Screenplay:	胤潜 李
   Dialogue Language:	Chinese

   
   

   An elderly person with a mental decline like that of a child spent what seemed like an ordinary day in a nursing home. In his eyes, this place is a playground full of huge, silent adults, and mahjong is his most beloved building block. When what he thought was his "father" came to visit, a cruel truth calmly unfolded before his eyes, and the world in his eyes and his true identity collapsed with a crash. AI technology has constructed a seemingly plausible world for films. The world that the elderly do not see clearly has become more concrete through AI technology. We attempt to restore the ambiguous subjective world of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease through this AI illusion.

8. Živa 06:30 2024
   

   Directed:	Tamara Maksimovic
   Screenplay:	Tamara Maksimovic
   Production:	Mladen Djukic

   
   

   Živa is a poetic exploration of inner struggle and liberation. Trapped by the oppressive green threads, Živa’s body and spirit begin to dissolve. From the red world, her unconscious, she draws strength and reclaims her freedom, breaking the bonds that hold her. Through movement, self-discovery, and the blending of green and red, she creates a radiant new harmony. A story of resilience, transformation, and the beauty of setting oneself free.

9. Ira 07:25 France 2024
   

   Directed:	Rozenn Busson
   Production:	Margot Renard, Charline Pierret

   
   

   In the depths of a volcano, Ira, consumed by seething rage, triggers a spectacular eruption. In this boiling world, she meets a giantess who helps her release her inner power. Now a giant herself, Ira leads the volcano's inhabitants in a liberating dance, transforming their world into an endless sea of lava.

10. Serenity Live / בוקר של שלווה 03:04 Israel 2025
    

    Directed:	Shimon Engel, Ofer Winter
    Screenplay:	Shimon Engel, Ofer Winter
    Production:	Dov Abramson
    Dialogue Language:	Hebrew

    
    

    Using Live broadcasts on social media, Anna seeks to bring serenity and generosity to the world, but her sister Gogo has a far more urgent matter to deal with. In a world where the messages projected to us on screens hold such a central place, we have to make sure we get our priorities straight.

11. cauge / 枷 04:43 2025
    

    Directed:	Zhang Yaxuan
    Screenplay:	Zhang Yaxuan
    Production:	Zhang Yaxuan
    Dialogue Language:	Chinese

    
    

    The appearance of a snail shell makes the little girl realize that the space which has always sheltered her may not actually want her out of control. When she tries to be free and escape, but the home holds her tight and tights …

12. this side ,other side 08:51 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2024
    

    Directed:	Lida Fazli
    Screenplay:	Lida Fazli
    Production:	Lida Fazli, Defc

    
    

    No boundary can prevent the formation of friends and affection between children

13. 113 Words for You Today / 为你省下的113个字 12:31 United States 2025
    

    Directed:	Bo Qing Tang, Lan Zeng
    Screenplay:	Bo Qing Tang
    Production:	Bo Qing Tang
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    A team of workers, including Soo, is sent to planet Gliese 12b to build a gravitational portal. To conserve energy for survival on the frozen planet, each worker is allowed to speak only 138 words per day. Soo chooses his words carefully. When he picks up the phone, he listens but rarely speaks. When a lever bar falls on his foot, a reflexive groan makes him feel regret. When a powerful blizzard hit, he chooses to return alone to retrieve a fallen crystal, not wanting to use words asking for help. This leads him deep into the storm, where he barely survives by taking shelter in a crashed cable car. That night, back in his sleeping pod, he calls his wife back on Earth. When the call connects, the exhaustion on his face fades. He smiles and proudly says, “Hi sweetie, I saved 113 words for you today.”

14. The Family Photo 08:48 United States 2025
    

    Directed:	John Norris Ray, Maria Victoria Sanchez
    Screenplay:	John Norris Ray
    Production:	John Norris Ray
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    What happened after an Earth astronaut left a family photo on the moon fifty-plus years ago? This animated short explores the butterfly effect of such an action. How will it affect us all?

15. Paolo Ricci. Hugo the Owl / Паоло Риччи. Совенок Уго 04:33 2024
    

    Directed:	Elena Petkevich
    Screenplay:	Irina Margolina
    Production:	Irina Margolina
    Dialogue Language:	Russian

    
    

    An animated vision of a musical fairy tale written by composer Paolo Ricci about Owlet Hugo