Student Competition 2

1. Joe Doe / Zé Ninguém 03:09 2026
   

   Directed:	Li Dangi
   Screenplay:	Li Dangi
   Production:	Jayden Shirai
   Dialogue Language:	No Dialogue

   
   

   The short film seeks to explore the impermanence of memory and identity through the of grief and the differences between those who depart and those who get left behind.

2. Wings / சிறகுகள் (Siṟakukaḷ) 10:00 India 2026
   

   Directed:	Dhivahar Muthuveeran
   Screenplay:	Dhivahar Muthuveeran
   Production:	Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI), Disha Khedkar
   Dialogue Language:	Tamil

   
   

   A child dreams of flying and school. His loving mom believes in him, but his stubborn father sends him to the mill. Nature and the child's dream slowly metamorphose his father's heart. Wings is a 2D hand-painted gouache animation; its raw brushstrokes and textures reflect emotional depth, making each frame a meditative act of healing.

3. Fading Journey 06:47 United States 2026
   

   Directed:	Cooper C. Rogers
   Screenplay:	Cooper C. Rogers
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   Confined to a sterile hospital room, young Jolie spends her days dreaming of the outside world she cannot be a part of. Each night, she stares out her window, wondering where the stars live and if she will ever reach them. When her Teddy Bear awakens to make her dreams come true, he takes her to the window and welcomes her to the world that was once beyond her reach. They embark on a gentle, otherworldly adventure filled with magic and discovery. Along the way, Teddy must guide Jolie through their journey as she faces the fragility of her lingering illness.

4. Out of Sync / Разноголосие 03:42 Russian Federation 2026
   

   Directed:	Anastasia Turishcheva
   Dialogue Language:	Russian

   
   

   Life and death. Ice and flame. Good and evil. Warmth and indifference. Can opposing values stand in the way of love?

5. Sleeping Roots 05:03 Chile 2026
   

   Directed:	Camila Hernández, Javiera Angulo
   Screenplay:	Camila Hernández
   Production:	Rocío Farias
   Dialogue Language:	Spanish

   
   

   As Violeta devotes her life to caring for her tree, her body begins to transform. Branches grow from her skin, and from the shadows an unsettling presence emerges, threatening the fragile balance of what she holds most dear.

6. False Door 07:04 2026
   

   Directed:	Oktawia Derybowska
   Screenplay:	Oktawia Derybowska
   Dialogue Language:	English, Polish

   
   

   The wanderer traverses a vast icy desert. He strives for a place that seems to be merely an illusion, like a ghost seeking a return to the world of the living. The lynx follows him, awaiting a moment when the vagabond loses all his strength.

7. Kite 05:23 China 2026
   

   Directed:	Shihua Lin
   Screenplay:	Shihua Lin
   Production:	Shihua Lin
   Dialogue Language:	English

   
   

   This short film uses a kite competition as a metaphor for class rivalry driven by adult vanity. Obsessed with saving face, the fathers engage in fierce competition, their facial features flickering in and out repeatedly amid the struggle, a visual representation of fluctuating superficial pride. The relentless tension eventually snaps the kite string. The children fall to the ground, while the candies symbolizing innocence gradually fade. As obsession takes hold, all facial features vanish completely, leaving empty vanity behind. Freed from restraints, the kite abandons its dull grey hue and blooms with vibrant colors, soaring into the distance. The film conveys that only by letting go of vanity and shackles can we embrace our true selves and attain freedom.

8. ShowStopper 03:22 2026
   

   Directed:	Amit Naftali, Smitha Hamsala
   Screenplay:	Amit Naftali, Smitha Hamsala
   Production:	Amit Naftali, Smitha Hamsala

   
   

   In 19th century France, a determined stagehand sabotages the arrogant prima donna's aria, but every attempt she makes only amplifies the diva’s performance.

9. Synchronicity 07:14 2026
   

   Directed:	Da-hyeong Hwang, Jimin Sim, Jisu Lee, Yeong -ju Jang
   Dialogue Language:	Korean

   
   

   Ato, the village shaman, and his childhood friend Yan. One day, Ato decides to hold a ritual in Yan's honor. But as the ritual progresses, an eerie atmosphere settles over the village — and Yan begins to sense that something is terribly wrong...

10. Paradox 11:40 South Korea 2026
    

    Directed:

    Hyowon Shin, Gabeen Kang, Yeonwoo Im, Minha Joo

    
    

    The protagonist, a funeral director, prepares his late father’s body for burial. A sense of stillness hangs over the workshop followed by a mysterious tension when a young makeup artist, hired to restore his father’s face, arrives. As his father’s appearance is brought back to life under the woman’s touch, the protagonist experiences an unexpected emotional upheaval...

11. PLANTED / 플랜티드 07:15 2026
    

    Directed:

    Jiwoo Han, Chaewon Eum, Mijin Jeong, Jinju Jeong

    
    

    Life has all but vanished from a devastated Earth. Robots attempt to restore the planet by planting vegetation, but their efforts repeatedly fail under relentless acid rain.

12. Confession 05:24 France 2026
    

    Directed:	seungjoo Jeon
    Screenplay:	seungjoo Jeon
    Dialogue Language:	French, Korean

    
    

    A girl who has always walked with her eyes on the sky happens to look straight ahead one day and sees the sea for the first time. She returns to walking with her eyes on the sky, but unable to forget the sunset, she wrestles with what to do before finally making a decision.

13. The Bus Is Not Coming 03:45 2026
    

    Directed:

    Mei Xuan Chan

    
    

    Have you ever waited agonisingly for a bus that suddenly decided to take its sweet time to arrive? This film begins with a simple mistake: getting off at the wrong bus stop. What follows is the absurdist wait for a bus that may never arrive. Blending live-action, experimental photography and stop-motion, The Bus Is Not Coming intimately invites viewers to sit within the discomfort of not knowing, and to find their own reflection while waiting. Please hold on to the handrails, you're in for quite an odd ride.

14. In The In-Between 04:04 2026
    

    Directed:	Qi Zheng
    Screenplay:	QI Zi Xu
    Dialogue Language:	English

    
    

    In The In-Between is an experimental animated short that adopts the perspective of a child in a divorced family, presenting the emotional aftermath of separation through the child’s perception and memory. The film not only depicts the child’s repeated movement between two parental spaces, but also indirectly reveals how the mother begins a new life and how the father gradually emerges from a period of emotional downturn. As both parents move forward, the child remains bound to past experiences, carrying memories of former happiness while constantly traveling between the two.

15. The Starless Desert / 没有星星的沙漠 06:30 China 2026
    

    Directed:	媛 周
    Screenplay:	媛 周
    Production:	可可 张
    Dialogue Language:	Chinese

    
    

    The night sky over the desert was pitch black. The girl who lived there in seclusion created her own starry sky. She worked day after day, cultivating a kind of floating, glowing plant—Star-flowers. Every so often, she would release them into the night sky, and from then on, the starlight lingered until they withered away. One day, a Star-flower knocked down a little alien. Its arrival shattered the quiet of the girl's life—and brought new life to it as well.

16. Acerola 08:31 2026
    

    Directed:	Sofia Mendes Lara
    Screenplay:	Sofia Mendes Lara, Beatriz Chatinho Logrado
    Dialogue Language:	Portuguese

    
    

    Acerola, a lonely woman, is trapped in her work routine, which limits her ability to express her roots. As she sinks deeper into the frenetic corporate world, her perception of reality begins to distort, bringing to the surface a part of herself she thought had disappeared.