Professional Competition 10

1. Melancholy of the Minotaur : the sketches for the labyrinth / ミノタウロスの憂鬱 迷宮のためのエスキース 05:44 2024
   

   Directed:	Yujin Iwai
   Screenplay:	Yujin Iwai
   Production:	Yujin Iwai
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   Minotaurs live in labyrinths. The film shows fragments of his Melancholic life, in which he only repeats his daily movements.

2. All This Death / كل هذا الموت 17:00 2025
   

   Directed:	Fadi Syriani
   Screenplay:	Fadi Syriani
   Production:	Jana Wehbe, Georg Neubert, Maryam Al Khulaifi, Fadi Syriani

   
   

   An old Beirut resident, checks the obituaries page and attends funerals daily. His “mourning” routine reveals a journey of grieving and accepting the loss of a loved one, a home, a city.

3. Alisa 03:00 Argentina 2025
   

   Directed:	Alejo Ezequiel Paredes
   Screenplay:	Alejo Ezequiel Paredes
   Production:	Alejo Ezequiel Paredes

   
   

   Sol lives quietly on her island until her friend Lana makes her see that things are not so good.

4. Traitor to the Working Class 12:21 2026
   

   Directed:	Humberto Santana
   Screenplay:	Humberto Santana
   Production:	Humberto Santana
   Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

   
   

   Swept away by the current of the turbulent period in Portugal's recent history known as PREC (Ongoing Revolutionary Process), which followed the April 25th revolution that overthrew the dictatorship and ended the colonial wars, a young teenager is influenced by the radical excesses of Maoist ideology, and finds himself entangled in an adventure hardly appropriate for his age.

5. Bici, The Story Of a Bike / Bici, A História de Uma Bicicleta no Afuá. 08:42 2026
   

   Directed:	Otoniel Lopes Oliveira
   Screenplay:	Marina Quadrelli
   Production:	Victoria Rodrigues
   Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

   
   

   Bici is a mountain bike that travels to Afuá, a city in the Amazon region, to experience adventures. Abandoned after breaking down in an accident, she needs to reconnect with herself and find new meaning in her life while exploring a society where the only transportation is bicycles.

6. La vie avec un idiot 17:58 2025
   

   Directed:

   Theodor Ushev

   
   

   n/a

7. Peninsula / Presqu’îles 05:00 France 2025
   

   Directed:	Angèle Vergoni, Sarah Vanhoeck
   Screenplay:	Sarah Vanhoeck, Angèle Vergoni
   Production:	Christelle Coopman
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   One day, a woman wakes up in a tiny forest. Or maybe she is the big one ? We don’t really know. The forest is filled with funny looking people, also very tiny. They don’t seem to be happy with the woman being there. Pretty embarrassed, she decides to go explore the rest of this place to find a spot where she wouldn’t bother anyone.

8. Kinder Doll: A Kindertransport Story 07:52 2025
   

   Directed:	Christine Veras
   Screenplay:	Paula Goldberg
   Production:	Nils Roemer, Christine Veras
   Dialogue Language:	English, German

   
   

   Kinder Doll is a stop-motion animation that follows a young girl on a Kindertransport journey as she leaves her home, family, and everything familiar behind. Holding tightly to her beloved doll, she faces the uncertainty of exile with quiet courage. Through delicate handcrafted puppets and miniature sets, the film transforms historical memory into a moving visual meditation on loss, resilience, and the enduring power of hope.

9. Goblin Market 14:00 2025
   

   Directed:	Pasha Shapiro
   Screenplay:	Pasha Shapiro
   Production:	Mila Stareva
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   A surreal animated retelling of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, brought to life in the extravagant, taboo-challenging style of Aubrey Beardsley. Two sisters fall under the spell of goblin merchants, as temptation, sensuality, and sacrifice unfold in a dreamscape that teases out the poem’s erotic undertones. Narrated by Jameela Jamil, whose intimate, one-on-one storytelling style draws viewers deeper into the hauntingly beautiful world, this adaptation invites audiences to experience a unique and evocative journey.

10. The Power of Persuasion 14:00 2025
    

    Directed:	Ernst Weber, Pasha Shapiro
    Screenplay:	Pasha Shapiro, Ernst Weber
    Production:	Pasha Shapiro, Mila Stareva
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    Based on true events, this animated short follows 10-year-old Barack Obama as he struggles to fit in as the only Black student at his new school in Hawaii. To win over his classmates, he spins a story that his father is an African prince. But when his dad is invited to speak at the school, young Barry faces the devastating possibility of losing both his newfound popularity and the respect of the man he admires most. As the truth teeters on the edge, a mysterious supernatural force tied to ancient African spirits begins to stir.