Student Competition 7

1. The Legend Of The Jack O' Lantern 04:15 South Africa 2025
   

   Directed:	Chris Bonani
   Screenplay:	Dan Sandoval
   Production:	The Animation School
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   Jack is an eccentric undertaker who lives alone in his cathedral. His unfortunate hobby is scaring the mourners of his graveyard with horrifying masks. He's very proud of his work and morbid creativity. One day Jack dons his pumpkin mask and pranks an old man crouched behind a gravestone. This man is someone he never should have pranked. As punishment for his insolence, he is cursed, and the mask binds itself to his face. As he struggles, the man gleams potential within Jack and makes him a grand offer. 

2. Cook Sisters 03:41 South Africa 2025
   

   Directed:	Chris Bonani
   Screenplay:	Hannah Cloete
   Production:	The Animation School
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   In the small South African town of Robertson, twins with vastly different baking styles attempt to run their family-owned bakery together. Things do not work out as planned with their opposite personalities, especially with a meddlesome fly.

3. Doctor Me 04:49 2026
   

   Directed:	Toni Lee Aping
   Screenplay:	Toni Lee Aping
   Production:	University of Hertfordshire
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   A woman goes to a not-so-helpful psychologist; herself, to analyze the bizarre dreams that have been plaguing her for weeks.

4. Paper Trails 02:35 2026
   

   Directed:	Izzy Ben-Nathan
   Screenplay:	Izzy Ben-Nathan
   Production:	University of Hertfordshire
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   A brother and sister from a turbulent childhood try to heal their broken lives through art

5. A Time Before 12:43 United Kingdom 2024
   

   Directed:	Leo Metcalf
   Screenplay:	Leo Metcalf
   Production:	Leo Metcalf
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   Trapped between waking life and dreams, Olly delves into his childhood memories, navigating the fantastical dream worlds his sister created to shield them from family strife. A journey into the buried past that shapes who we are. Available in English and French.

6. Text me when you arrive… / Στείλε μου όταν φτάσεις… 04:24 Greece 2026
   

   Directed:	Konstantinos Taliadouros
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   In this short animated film, a young student boards on a train that is heading from Athens to Thessaloniki. With the goal of returning back home, he nervously embarks on this journey that unfortunately is going to take an unexpected turn. He will try to overcome his emotions and don't let the abyss drag him to the darkness. This 2D drawn animation relies on the events of the disastrous train collision at Tempi Greece in 2023 and acts as a commemorative space for those that were affected by it.

7. SKOLIONATI 03:47 2025
   

   Directed:	Greta guercio, Thomas Osaze Edo ihaza
   Screenplay:	Greta Guercio, Cristoforo Dell'Acqua
   Production:	Greta Guercio
   Dialogue Language:	Italian

   
   

   The film depicts three attempts to straighten the protagonist's scoliosis. The first involves an ancient medieval torture method, the second is by using angel wings to fly, and the third, most extreme method involves her throwing herself under a car to straighten her back. All of this is accompanied by a mentor who provides detailed explanations on how to proceed.

8. Sugar Laced / Πέρνα Ζάχαρη 06:49 2025
   

   Directed:	Maria Eleni Tsaousi
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   Lemonia is the owner of the most popular bakery in town, but the genius behind her most sought-after goods is not her, but her new employee, Margarita. Margarita's repertoire includes many types of desserts, the most renowned being her hyperrealistic cakes made to look nothing like sweets. They imitate cuts of meat, but imitation can only go so far...

9. Lipstick 03:53 2025
   

   Directed:	Éilis O'Neill
   Screenplay:	Éilis Therese O'Neill
   Production:	Éilis Therese O'Neill
   Dialogue Language:	Irish

   
   

   'Lipstick' explores the lives of three generations of women within one family as they deal with ageing, sickness and interdependence.

10. VivaCity / VivaCidade 14:40 Brazil 2026
    

    Directed:	Fernanda Giulia Bulgarelli Santos, Brenno Bertolaccini Machado
    Screenplay:	Fernanda Giulia Bulgarelli Santos, Rafael de Castro Araújo
    Production:	Beatriz Ercoli Varini, Raphael Mello
    Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

    
    

    After an exhausting day, Clarice, a young black woman, is robbed and then harassed by the police, mistakenly accusing her of doing graffiti. Dazed with a mix of feelings of anger, tiredness, and injustice, Clarice in fact starts tagging the walls and the impossible happens: all of the graffiti around her comes to life right beyond her eyes.

11. The Undying Pain of Existence 05:20 2025
    

    Directed:	Oscar Jacobson
    Screenplay:	Oscar Jacobson
    Production:	Franz Rügamer, Nadiia Yunatska
    Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

    
    

    A nude model is posing with statuesque stillness for an elite drawing class – until an unfortunate mosquito bite challenges his self-control. Driven to madness by the itch, he’s caught between the ruthless demand for perfection and his most unhinged, animalistic impulses.

12. Waiting for the green / В ожидании зелёного 03:39 2026
    

    Directed:	Saule Matvienko
    Screenplay:	Saule Matvienko
    Production:	Boris Mashkovtsev

    
    

    A story about a chance meeting, freedom that trunks reach for, and love that sometimes only requires a short stop.

13. It Hurts! 04:29 2025
    

    Directed:	Anastasiia Petrova
    Screenplay:	Anastasiia Petrova

    
    

    It hurts! Everything hurts, from the bottom to the top, every part of her body! It drives her insane! But the doctors keep saying - she's in perfect health. So, what's the reason behind that pain?

14. At the same time tomorrow / À Mesma Hora, Amanhã 05:48 2025
    

    Directed:	Iara Sousa, Lara Sousa, Pedro Alves, Rodrigo Mafra
    Production:	Iara Sousa, Lara Sousa, Pedro Alves, Rodrigo Mafra
    Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

    
    

    Mr. Rufferz lives an exhausting routine, hiding his fatigue beneath a mask that slowly begins to crack over time. One day, after being constantly mistreated at work, his patience collapses and the mask goes mad. He tries to remove it, but realizes it has become his own face. With great effort, he tears it off and throws it to the ground in panic, leaving it behind. What he will do next, no one knows.

15. A Dream Of Memories / 千禧一梦 04:03 China 2026
    

    Directed:	莫寒 龚
    Screenplay:	培莉 梁, 一华 许

    
    

    One summer dusk, Pingping was playing alone in the park when she ran into An'an, a friend she hadn't seen for a long time. They hit it off right away and left the park hand in hand. As they wandered through streets and alleys, the paths grew narrower and dimmer, and danger loomed all around...

16. You & Me 10:34 United Kingdom 2026
    

    Directed:	Joe Hogan
    Production:	Iain Gardner
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    You & Me, follows a grumpy little wizard as he attempts to resurrect the dead. Failure after failure, he just can’t do it by himself, but upon cloning himself, he finds that he is his own worst enemy.

17. Intermittent Intimacy 03:20 United Kingdom 2024
    

    Directed:

    Joe Hogan

    
    

    Intermittent Intimacy is a semi-autobiographical film about dating in the modern-day gay dating scene. When hookups are all that seem to be available, looking for something deeper can become quite defeating. How long until you accept that maybe this is just how things are?