Student Competition 1

1. Raja 19:42 2024
   

   Directed:	Franziska von Holst, Louisa Maria Würden
   Screenplay:	Franziska von Holst, Louisa Maria Würden
   Production:	Franziska von Holst, Louisa Maria Würden
   Dialogue Language:	German

   
   

   Darkness haunts the young girl, Raja. Overwhelmed by the weight of her shadows, she collapses. A light appears and her journey begins. In search for the end, Raja stumbles through a wondrous in-between world. There, she finds something she thought she had lost forever.

2. Detlev 12:50 Germany 2024
   

   Directed:	Ferdinand Ehrhardt
   Screenplay:	Ferdinand
   Production:	Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Saskia Stirn
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   A constantly freezing man in his forties drives to a lonely petrol station every evening and orders a microwaved Toast Hawaii. Detlev indulges in this in a bizarre ritual, because it's the only thing that warms him in his daily life. But when he is observed by a stranger one night, his world begins to crumble into shameful pieces.

3. FearISH 04:00 United States 2024
   

   Directed:	Soheila Madadi
   Screenplay:	Soheila Madadi
   Production:	Soheila Madadi
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   A hungry fish searches for food in its aquarium, but its world is suddenly disrupted when it is struck by something unexpected.

4. Dear You, 08:26 Bulgaria 2024
   

   Directed:	Tanya Bozhinova
   Screenplay:	Tanya Georgieva Bozhinova, Peter Petrov
   Dialogue Language:	Bulgarian

   
   

   Fighting words and feelings, a man embarks on an emotional journey to confess his love.

5. "THE DOOR" / "DRZWI" 02:00 2024
   

   Directed:	Paulina Woźniak
   Dialogue Language:	Polish

   
   

   It’s the middle of the night, and the protagonist wakes up, disturbed by sounds coming from behind her bedroom door. In the darkness, she tries to make sense of the unsettling situation, observing the light seeping through the door and listening intently to the noises. Unable to see what is happening, she realizes that, while she is observing the unseen, something is also watching her. The film was created as a form of art therapy, based on the personal experience of losing someone in a shared space. It serves as a sensory analysis of those events, examining feelings of fear and uncertainty.

6. un tocco angelico 02:55 Poland 2025
   

   Dialogue Language:

   English, Italian, Polish

   
   

   A silent, sandy impression of a secret affair between two Catholic priests. Their affection blooms between one bed of strawberries and another, in a garden next to an Italian rectory. The animation in this film is done entirely in sand. The backgrounds are painted with black tea and ink.

7. A Heart Enlightened by the Sky / 天空照亮的心 13:58 2025
   

   Directed:	Szu-Teh Li
   Screenplay:	Szu-Teh Li
   Production:	Szu-Teh Li

   
   

   In 1950, Yeh Sheng-Chih was executed at Taipei as a Taiwanese underground member of the Communist Party of China. After the execution, his soul went on a journey to reflect on his lifetime, searching for an answer about his homeland and identity.

8. the dog 04:16 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2025
   

   Directed:	sogand vatankhah
   Screenplay:	sogand vatankhah, hatef hendoustani
   Production:	sogand vatankhah
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   a man get lost in the desert with his dog. suddenly, an accident occurs, and the man and the dog must find a way to save themselves.

9. Awaiting the Lightning Bolt 04:14 Italy 2024
   

   Directed:	Marco Russo
   Screenplay:	Marco Russo
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   In Awaiting the Lightning Bolt, Renato, an eccentric Renaissance inventor, dares the impossible: capturing a lightning bolt in a jar! Fuelled by ambition and defying the skepticism of his peers, he races against time in a thrilling journey, where each storm offers an extraordinary glimpse into the mysteries of nature and the power of love.

10. Memento Vitae 05:45 France 2024
    

    Directed:	Lola Leviez-Deblauwe, Anaïs Lecocq, Quitterie Quipourt, Basile Galiegue, Mathilde Maigre, Paul-Louis Couton
    Screenplay:	Lola Leviez-Deblauwe
    Production:	Carlos De Carvalho

    
    

    On Halloween night, three disguised kids go on a wild trick-or-treating rampage through town, until a mysterious ghost train confronts them with a tragic memory.

11. Cat’ Interview 05:54 France 2024
    

    Directed:	Enora Laden, Erwan Galtier, Baptiste Lebrun, Alexandre Bal, Séréna Prince Agbodjan
    Screenplay:	Enora Laden, Baptiste Lebrun
    Production:	Rudy Turkovics
    Dialogue Language:	French

    
    

    Lucas, a very creative little boy, decides to interview his kitten called Cahuète he rescued a month earlier in the street. However, the cat always does what he wants and avoids the boy’s questions. Lucas, very insistent, ends up angering Cahuète.

12. CHASE 04:12 Japan 2025
    

    Directed:

    Yuki Matsumoto

    
    

    There is a girl who works as a post girl, delivering letters on her yellow motorcycle. One day, a letter is blown away by a sudden gust of wind, and she sets off to chase it on her motorcycle -beginning an expected adventure.

13. Some things are a sign, but some aren't / Ene stvari so znak, ene pa niso 04:20 2025
    

    Directed:	Danaja Kurnik
    Screenplay:	Danaja Kurnik
    Production:	Akademija za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje, Univerza v Ljubljani, Erjavčeva cesta 23, 1000 Ljubljana
    Dialogue Language:	Slovenian

    
    

    In the midst of a talk about psychoanalysis, a girl stumbles upon a sign.

14. Don't Look / No Quiero Mirar 02:45 Chile 2025
    

    Directed:	Bárbara González, Yanis Pizarro
    Production:	Yanis Pizarro
    Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

    
    

    Nicolas argues with his mother due to the illness that keeps her bedridden, pushing him to the brink of wanting to escape. But fate has other plans. Upon leaving the room, a creature with sinister intentions reveals itself before him. Prisoner of paranoia, he decides to return, encountering a revelation that will take him to the depths of his emotions...

15. Chop it down! 02:47 2025
    

    Directed:	Barbara Baturina
    Screenplay:	Barbara Baturina
    Production:	Boris Mashkovtsev

    
    

    A family tries to cut down a tree.

16. Beauty flames 02:24 2024
    

    Directed:	Majd Abdallah Bani domi
    Screenplay:	Majd Abdallah Bani domi
    Production:	Majd Abdallah Bani domi
    Dialogue Language:	English

17. Walking At Night / 夜行 04:27 China 2025
    

    Directed:

    ZIYU XIA

    
    

    Walking at Night is a short ink-style animation from a female perspective, portraying a girl’s psychological experience while walking alone at night. Through minimalistic visuals and sound design, the film reveals the tension and self-protection often felt by women in such moments.

18. Follow (Fall low) 02:26 Costa Rica 2025
    

    Directed:	Karl Bonilla Bolivar
    Screenplay:	Karl Bonilla Bolivar
    Production:	Karl Bonilla Bolivar
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    Five lives. Five screens. One collective descent into curated madness. Follow is a candy-colored cautionary tale where five individuals live picture-perfect lives—until their phones begin to consume more than just their attention. As likes pile up and dopamine flows, reality quietly unravels behind the scenes. Set in a world of saturated hues and manicured smiles, this short blends camp aesthetics with dark humor, exposing the grotesque underbelly of digital obsession. It’s pastel horror with a pixelated pulse—where every scroll brings you closer to something you didn’t mean to see.