Professional Competition 9

1. Shadows of an Insurgent / Sombras de um Inconfidente 10:43 Brazil 2025
   

   Directed:	Tiago Almeida
   Screenplay:	Tiago Almeida
   Production:	Iasmim Marques, Maikon Rangel, Bruno de Souza, Julia Souto
   Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

   
   

   “Shadows of an Insurgent” is an animated short-film inspired by the life and death of Tiradentes. Martyr of the Minas conspiracy. The film looks through the memories and nightmares of a contradictory hero from colonial Brazil that is at the same time, a symbol of a bygone era and of the current period. The short film makes use of a shadowy expressionist aesthetic using silhouette animation, stop motion, 2D animation and cutout, creating an universe of contrasts between lights and shadows.

2. The Cave 06:00 2026
   

   Directed:	Alireza Salehi
   Screenplay:	Alireza Salehi
   Production:	Alireza Salehi

   
   

   A man wearing VR glasses is riding up an escalator inside a cave when a mysterious hand stops him. He pushes past the hand and continues upward, ignoring it, until he reaches the edge of a precipice. The hidden hand saves him from falling. His glasses break, and he realizes that he is actually inside a cave. Once again, the hand reappears and guides him out of the cave to safety.

3. AMALGAMATION 07:37 2026
   
   

   Enter Another World and experience the journey of an Amalgamation.

4. Team / Tiimi 05:29 2026
   

   Directed:	Minna Väisänen
   Production:	Kierto .
   Dialogue Language:	Finnish

   
   

   The docudrama Team is based on true events and depicts a bureaucracy that should no longer exist. When an inexperienced team leader takes power without responsibility, independent thinking is crushed under rules and intimidation. Team members struggle to survive in a toxic management culture that alternates between mediation and isolating them from one another.

5. Small Hours 09:56 United Kingdom 2026
   

   Directed:	Oscar Wyndham Lewis
   Production:	Andrew Gregory
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   LOGLINE Struggling with alcohol addiction and mental illness, an artist reaches out to an old friend. PRAISE FOR SMALL HOURS “Superb. A brilliant, serious film. Profound and visually astonishing." JULIAN WAITE, Chester Animation Festival "A beautiful animation." MADELEINE CASEY, London Breeze Film Festival “Alcoholism is the only disease that treats loneliness with isolation and SMALL HOURS captures that contradiction brilliantly and brutally. The animation is like nothing I've ever seen before, and so skilfully evokes the mysterious, vague and powerful interaction between alcohol and memory. Many people never free themselves from the vicious cycle of depression and drinking that SMALL HOURS holds at its core, but by watching this miniature masterpiece I am sure that those most in need of help will reach out for it, and precious lives will be saved." JOHN ROBINS, BBC Radio 5 Live presenter, comedian "An empathetic and realistic portrayal of mental health with a unique perspective." SHARON GISSY, Mental Filmness Film Festival "Excellent." ANTONIO ARIAS, DiversidArte Social Inclusion Short Film Festival “An astonishing piece of work. Every piece of it is perfect. The art, the animation, the technical accomplishments are beyond praise. The music is absolutely miraculous. But of course it's the story in all its power, passion, tenderness and honesty. Simply magnificent. It tears at the soul. Beautiful and important." STEPHEN FRY, actor, comedian, writer, broadcaster "A stunning and heartfelt film." MARK BRENNAN, Exit 6 Film Festival "Beautiful." CAROLINA RAMOS, Festival da Saúde Mental

6. Obstacle / مانع 05:52 2025
   

   Directed:	Mehdi Nazari
   Screenplay:	Mehdi Nazari
   Production:	Mehdi Nazari
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   an old man who believes in fatalism lives in isolation and follows a peaceful daily routine, until an unexpected event disrupts his calm

7. Traces 05:32 United Kingdom 2025
   

   Directed:	Tilly Wallace
   Production:	Markus Øvre
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   There is a photograph of a child left on the moon, a golf ball, flags, a lost glove. When the glamour of space exploration fades, what remains?

8. Hacker Leonilia (Oscar-Qualifying Selection) / Hacker Leonilia 15:00 Brazil 2026
   

   Directed:	Gustavo Fontele Dourado
   Screenplay:	Gustavo Fontele Dourado
   Production:	Gustavo Fontele Dourado, Luciana Menescal Landwehr, Rafael Moura, Lorena Figueiredo
   Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

   
   

   In the future, an elderly hacker and embroiderer must confront her own traumas and use her skills to escape a virtual reality. This story is based on the life of my grandmother, Leonilia Ferreira.

9. decay / decaer 07:08 Colombia 2026
   

   Directed:	Juan Camilo González
   Production:	Bibiana Rojas
   Dialogue Language:	Spanish

   
   

   I am grateful to the Chinese for the invention of gunpowder — it feels as if they made it for me.

10. In the Shade of the Trees or the Ten Montenegrin Commandments / В тени деревьев или 10 черногорских заповедей. 12:00 2026
    

    Directed:	Svetlana Andrianova
    Screenplay:	Svetlana Andrianova
    Production:	Olga Granovskaya
    Dialogue Language:	Russian

    
    

    The shade of trees is salvation – no one has ever died from resting. The film is based on the Ten Montenegrin Commandments.

11. The Primeval Father. The Prophecy / Первобытный папа. Предсказание 04:00 2026
    

    Directed:	Vladimir Sakhnovsky, Alla Vartanyan
    Screenplay:	Vladimir Sakhnovsky
    Production:	Olga Granovskaya
    Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

    
    

    The Primeval Son takes an interest in astrology. The stars predict that on this very day, Father will meet his end at the hands of a rhinoceros. It's incredibly hard to save Dad when he doesn’t believe in such nonsense.

12. The River / El Río 14:52 2026
    

    Directed:	Rodrigo Zorzano
    Screenplay:	Rodrigo Zorzano, Leandro Schmutz
    Production:	Natacha Bucatari Villegas
    Dialogue Language:	Spanish

    
    

    During Argentina’s last civic-military dictatorship, Mariana is abducted while pregnant by the armed forces. Inside the ESMA, a clandestine detention center, she must survive even after giving birth to her child, while facing depression and the anguish of his appropriation. One night, the transfers begin.