Professional Competition 10

1. Choir / Хор 06:12 2023
   

   Directed:	Angelina Gilderman
   Screenplay:	Angelina Gilderman
   Production:	Nikolay Makovsky
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   In winter, in a small grey city, a choral concert will take place in the theater. The choir soloist is rushing there with all her might. The hall gradually fills up - conversations, smiles, chuckles, grumblings... The audience quiets down only when the choir appears on the scene. Singing makes people weightless and lifts them to unattainable heights. The concert is over, and the quiet life of the city continues, but in a new quality.

2. wUF wUUF we are DOGS / Мальчик Ося и дядя Коля 19:00 2023
   

   Directed:	Sofiia Nikitina, Vitalii Ushakov
   Screenplay:	Sofiia Nikitina, Vitalii Ushakov
   Production:	Nikolay Makovsky
   Dialogue Language:	Russian

   
   

   Mangy dogs band together into packs, mark their territory, and recarve someone else’s paths to fit their paws – and old grouch Kolya hates them for it. So he decides to build a Fog Machine that will envelop all the land in white and make the dogs lose each other in the whiteness. An obedient boy called Osya is helping him with his plan. When the machine is almost ready, the dogs attack Kolya, and while he is lying on the ground half-dead, they show Osya their wondrous world. The boy decides to help the dogs save their land from the fog, but neither his desire nor his effort is enough. Kolka gets the upper hand, and the dogs’ land disappears into the fog forever.

3. Tango Tonino / Танго Тонино 11:08 2024
   

   Directed:	Boris Korshunov
   Screenplay:	Irina Margolina
   Production:	Irina Margolina
   Dialogue Language:	Russian

   
   

   A film based on the works of the Italian director, poet, and screenwriter Tonino Guerra, particularly his story "Mother's Portrait" from the series "Seven Notebooks of Life." The central idea of the film revolves around the beauty of life at any age. It serves as a reflection and nostalgic journey. Tonino Guerra once said, "Life is never too long." In the cold Moscow winter, the mother of Laura, Tonino's wife, surrounded by gifts and Tonino's drawings, places a record on the phonograph. The sounds of tango bring to life the animated drawings and dresses, swirling her into a dance of memories.

4. KINKU 06:08 2024
   

   Directed:	Wayra Ana Velásquez, Segundo Fuérez
   Screenplay:	Wayra Ana Velásquez, Segundo Fuérez
   Production:	Segundo Fuérez

   
   

   Kinku is a girl who lost her older sister Nanki, who disappeared a long time ago. Hoping to see Nanki again, she begins her journey along several winding paths, going through her fears and pains until she builds a place where she knows there are different ways to meet the ones we love.

5. The Old Man and his Grandson / Старый дед и внучек 14:50 2024
   

   Directed:	Mikhail Gorobchuk
   Screenplay:	Mikhail Gorobchuk
   Production:	Svetlana Dalskaya, Polina El Bakhlali
   Dialogue Language:	Russian

   
   

   The film is about family relationships and understanding of old age, about the importance of personal example in raising children.

6. I AM FINE 04:22 2025
   

   Directed:	Osi Wald
   Production:	Osi Wald

   
   

   This four-minute film is a collection of animated diary entries created between 2022 and 2025—a time marked by protest against the government and horrors of an ongoing war. Through looping sketches of domestic family situations and abstract dream imagery I create fragile bubbles of sanity in a world gone mad. Put together these fragments give a very personal glimpse at what lies under the simple answer “I am fine". The film is a pesonal project and was created with no government support or funds.

7. The idea / L'idea 08:00 2024
   

   Directed:	Emanuele Martorelli
   Screenplay:	Emanuele Martorelli, Elisa Fantinel
   Production:	Mario Kreill Cirillo
   Dialogue Language:	Italian

   
   

   The short film “The Idea” delves deep into the enigmatic and often tumultuous process of creation, inviting viewers on a mesmerizing concentric journey through the mind of the creator. It portrays the evolution of an idea, initially fragile and nebulous, as it gradually takes shape, gaining momentum and complexity. This idea, once born in the fertile grounds of the creator’s subconscious, begins to assert its own identity, transforming into a force that can either inspire or obstruct the creator’s progress. As the narrative unfolds, “The Idea” captures the delicate balance between the conscious and subconscious realms, illustrating how the two intertwine to fuel or hinder creativity. The film’s rich visual metaphors and immersive storytelling highlight the introspective aspects of the creative journey, revealing the struggles, triumphs, and inevitable conflicts that arise when an idea takes on a life of its own, challenging the creator's original intent. Through its exploration of these themes, the film offers a profound meditation on the nature of creativity and the intricate dance between the mind’s inner workings and the external world. A man ready to depart appears unable to leave his own room to reach the adjacent train station. The very short journey transforms itself into a dreamlike voyage through fears, expectations and missed opportunities. The departure of the last train prompts a sudden return to reality, where the protagonist's real existence is called into question.

8. Balconada 08:06 2025
   

   Directed:	Iva Tokmakchieva
   Screenplay:	Iva Tokmakchieva, Rita Domonyi, Vessela Dantcheva
   Production:	Vessela Dantcheva, Christophe Camoirano
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   A hot summer day brings several neighbours out on their balconies. As a welcome downpour wakes everyone from their torpor, one of them finds a way to reconnect them all to each other and to the present moment.

9. The One Who Knows 12:00 2024
   

   Directed:	Eglė Davidavičė
   Screenplay:	Eglė Davidavičė
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   Anxious teenager Ūla is taken on an unexpected adventure during her swimming practise, through which she grows-up and learns to see her body anew.

10. Stay With Me (everything will be okay) 07:37 United States 2025
    

    Directed:

    Hyungjin Lee

    
    

    In the depths of longing and grief, a girl becomes a mother to herself.

11. BLUE / 蓝 02:42 China 2025
    

    Dialogue Language:

    Chinese

    
    

    "Blue" is a frame-by-frame cyanotype experimental animation short film, created using cyanotype technology combined with physical projection exposure technology. I try to capture the shadows of everyday objects in the sun and freeze them on paper and in my memory. (The Making of the short film can be seen in the trailer)

12. The Lost Mason 02:41 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2024
    

    Directed:	Mohammad Ataeirad
    Screenplay:	Cyrus Zardoshti
    Production:	Mohammad Ataeirad
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    Someone is trying to survey the surrounding land and space lonely.

13. I Am A Rebel 04:57 United Kingdom 2025
    

    Directed:	Martin Pickles
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    A hand-drawn comic documentary in which veteran British animator and Oscar-winner Bob Godfrey describes how he got started in Animation and the losses of one era ending and the excitement of a new one beginning. Bob’s narration is taken from an interview he gave in 2006 in his Acme Studio in South London. I Am A Rebel was animated entirely in Flash/Animate and is the successor to an earlier film, What Is Animation? Bob Godfrey MBE (1921-2013) was a much-loved British animator and director, best known for Roobarb (1974) the children’s television series and Henry’s Cat (1983-1993). In 1976 he became the first British recipient of the Oscar for Best Animated Short for his film Great (1975).

14. Hind 07:00 2025
    

    Directed:	Stanley Miller
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    Hind Rajab and her family were murdered by the Israeli Occupation Forces on the 29th of January 2024. The UK is directly participating in the Israeli Genocide of Palestinians.