Professional Competition 3

1. Unusual Mind 05:00 Greece 2025
   

   Directed:	Savvas Ampatzidis
   Screenplay:	Savvas Ampatzidis

   
   

   "Unusual Mind" is an animated short film that narrates a journey inside an unusual mind. From the dark and tense depths of the mind inhabited by creatures and demons to the places where the coveted calmness exists. An immersive, introspective experience that visualizes the struggle between inner darkness and the pursuit of peace, offering a mesmerizing exploration of the psyche’s most uncharted realms.

2. the SEED / Семечко 11:55 2026
   

   Directed:	Ul'ana Tsvirkun
   Screenplay:	Ul'ana Tsvirkun, Misha Aldashin
   Production:	Boris Mashkovtsev

   
   

   The Wanderer carries the last seed through the ruins of the world.

3. Next Step 05:03 Hungary 2025
   

   Directed:	Tamás Patrovits
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   The film consisting of countless original risograph prints, is an under-the-camera, straight-ahead animation improvised to the rhythm of the scores of the Hungarian percussion group, Amadinda. The risograph prints are based on various mark-making techniques. Stamping, brush and monotype strokes, line drawings, fingerprints, letterpress accents, trace of the masking tape are mixed together in this rapid visual journey. However, the film uses only two risographic colors, teal and gold. The animation is a consistent conceptual work that avoids post-digital manipulation, consisting solely of a series of risograph prints captured frame by frame under-the-camera.

4. 50.000.000 tons of Landscape 05:49 Greece 2025
   

   Dialogue Language:

   No Dialogue

   
   

   A reflection on the relationship between nature and humankind, set within a complex interplay of landscape tones and human frailties: a gentle story of dialectical coexistence and shared journey.

5. A Tree 09:15 Singapore 2026
   

   Directed:	Mark Wee
   Screenplay:	Mark Wee
   Production:	Jia Lee
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   A sacred tree is desecrated as land is cleared for urban development and a migrant worker suffers from unexplainable afflictions. Fearful of repercussions from reporting a work incident, a worksite foreman attempts a cover up and learns of histories that haunt the land.

6. Party Of The Apocalypse / キモノ＆チビー 15:00 Japan 2026
   

   Dialogue Language:

   English, Japanese

   
   

   Fleeing from 'The Disappearing', our heroes Kimono & Chibby set out on a quest of life, death and music. Along the way we meet a vast array of oddball characters including Momo & Mitzy the Marmosets, Captain Mario and the fabulous Girlyman as they journey across deserts, through the city, to the sea and beyond. Kimono & Chibby inhabit a world, populated by diverse characters animated in a wide variety of styles and techniques. Music is an integral part of the film which features Amsterdam-based band, The Doppelgangers and the seminal Japanese psychedelic rock band, Acid Mothers Temple.

7. TRUST 10:24 Japan 2025
   

   Directed:	Tomofumi Inoue, Kazuma Shimizu, Chizuru Kakimoto
   Screenplay:	Tomofumi Inoue
   Production:	Hana Shiota
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   In a near future dominated by the metaverse, AI agents investigate cybercrime. Violet, an AI detective, is assigned to question Mia, a defiant youth. But upon hearing Violet’s name, Mia reveals a shocking truth. In this sealed interrogation room, what revelation awaits? A neo-noir suspense short with a bold visual style.

8. When Will You Be Back? / Khi Nào Con Về? 02:25 2026
   

   Directed:	Tung Pham
   Screenplay:	Tung Pham
   Production:	Tung Pham
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   A quiet journey through hand-drawn memories of a familiar, bygone Hanoi, where a grandson gradually comes to understand his grandmother’s life of waiting, uncovering the weight of a question he can no longer answer.

9. SquareBoxAndGoldfish / 方盒子与金鱼 05:15 China 2026
   

   Directed:	启瑞 路
   Screenplay:	启瑞 路
   Dialogue Language:	Mandarin Chinese

   
   

   From a first-person perspective: As a clever goldfish who began to suspect the authenticity of the world, I was informed by an elder fish that we were living inside a square box. After experiencing my first "leaping over the dragon gate," community life, and the death of the elder fish, I finally jumped out of the square box, uncovered the truth about the "square box," and yet, still chose to keep leaping.

10. The cart of life / Karroca e jetës 09:08 2026
    

    Directed:	Shaqir Veseli
    Screenplay:	Shaqir Veseli
    Production:	Adrian Guri, Ana Veseli
    Dialogue Language:	Albanian

    
    

    “And one by one, we step aboard the carriage of life… Never asking where it will take us, nor how long the journey will last…”

11. CONDUCTOR / DIRIGENTAS 08:46 2026
    

    Directed:	Antanas Skučas
    Screenplay:	Antanas Skučas
    Production:	Justė Michailinaitė
    Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

    
    

    Tomas lives in a musical city where everyone has their own melody. But he dreams of creating a piece that everyone will play together. When the city becomes one vast orchestra, Tomas is its sole conductor – dictating the rhythm of life for all.

12. Sunflowers in Sorrow / Le Chagrin des tournesols 18:36 2026
    

    Directed:	Léa Krawczyk
    Screenplay:	Léa Krawczyk
    Production:	Vanessa - Jean Buttin-Labarthe – Bouthors
    Dialogue Language:	French

    
    

    After many years apart, Sue and Paula, two former wrestlers in their seventies, reunite for one last motorcycle road trip to their childhood home. Unspoken words will eventually burst.