David (大韦)
Country: China
Directed by: Kai Xue, Hong Jiexi
Produced by: Kai Xue, Hong Jiexi
Synopsis: In a small northeastern town, a lost childhood photo. The sound of a train whistle brings memories of running in sunflower fields. I believe another self exists, like Dawei and me.
Qualifying win: Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film at Cairo International Film Festival (Egypt)
Dembaya
Country: Ireland
Directed by: Borja Espana Guillot
Produced by: Shauna Cullen; JAM Media
Synopsis: Forced to flee their African village due to war, a young girl and her family seek refuge in Ireland. As they rebuild their lives, they discover that home is not just a place but a feeling they create together.
Qualifying win: IFTA Award for Animated Short Film at Irish Film & Television Awards (Ireland)
Detlev
Country: Germany
Directed by: Ferdinand Ehrhardt
Produced by: Saskia Stirn, Ferdinand Ehrhardt
Synopsis: A constantly freezing man in his 40s drives to a lonely petrol station every evening and orders a microwaved Toast Hawaii. Detlev indulges in this bizarre ritual because it’s the only thing that warms him in his daily life. But when he is observed by a stranger one night, his world begins to crumble into shameful pieces.
Qualifying win: Best Short Film (International Animation) at CINELEBU (Chile)
Dull Spots of Greenish Colors
Country: Germany
Directed by: Sasha Svirsky
Produced by: Nadezhda Svirskaia, Karsten Matern; Wait a Second!
Synopsis: War for our attention has suddenly become an actual war. Information technologies appear not just as mere means for somebody’s ends but as something having their agency, as one of the acting forces rendering possible a horrific event, which is very hard to accept and almost impossible to comprehend.
Qualifying wins: Animated Film at German Short Film Awards (Germany); ASIFA Austria Award at Vienna Shorts International Film Festival (Austria); Grand Prix at Animafest Zagreb (Croatia)
Earth Coal
Country: France
Directed by: Bastien Dupriez
Produced by: Richard Van Den Boom; Papy3D Productions
Synopsis: In the countryside of yesteryear, in the mines and factories, these men of the past seem to share the same sorrows. Something seems to resonate within us today, maybe it’s just an illusion, or maybe it’s just the humbleness of everyday life.
Qualifying win: International Animated Short Film Competition at Chilemonos International Animation Festival (Chile)
The Eating of an Orange
Country: United Kingdom
Directed by: May Kindred-Boothby
Produced by: May Kindred-Boothby
Synopsis: In a large manor house identical figures eat the same, move the same, look the same. But everything will change for one woman when she is given an orange by an unknown figure. In the exploration of this new and exciting discovery, she gets transported into another realm of lichens, slugs and sensuous fluidity.
Qualifying win: Grand Jury Prize for Animated Short Film at Seattle International Film Festival
The Escort
Country: U.S.A.
Directed by: Rick Williamson
Produced by: Black Triumph Productions
Synopsis: The Escort is a story of a young boy traversing through all the moments of his romantic life while guided by a mysterious figure. Shown all the events that will transpire in his life, a young boy must find peace in knowing all the bliss and grief that comes with life. The Escort reconnoiters the relationship between human spirituality and the emotional spectrum of our lived experiences.
The Eggregores’ Theory
Country: Italy
Directed by: Andrea Gatopoulos
Produced by: Marco Crispano, Ariens Damsi, Luigi Mascolo
Synopsis: He doesn’t remember much from that time. Things have faded, like the color of a painting exposed to too much light. The only thing that bothers him is the music that keeps popping up in his head. He forgot what it meant, and all he knows for sure is that he can’t get rid of it.
Qualifying wins: Best Short Fiction at In the Palace International Short Film Festival (Bulgaria); ZINEBI Grand Prize (International Short Film) at International Festival of Documentaries and Short Films of Bilbao — Zinebi (Spain)
Éiru
Country: Ireland
Directed by: Giovanna Ferrari
Produced by: Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Paul Young, Gerry Shirren and Melanie Lynch; Cartoon Saloon, Herstory
Synopsis: When the water mysteriously disappears from the well in a warrior clan’s village, an intrepid child descends into the belly of the earth to retrieve it. Éiru is the story of a child in search of a challenge, and a goddess in search of a champion.
Qualifying wins: James Horgan Award for the Best Animation Short at Galway Film Fleadh (Ireland); Animated Grand Prize at Indy Shorts International Film Festival; Best Animated Short at Riverrun International Film Festival
Father Figure
Country: Hong Kong
Directed by: Shek Ka Chun
Produced by: Shek Ka Chun
Synopsis: Four rooms, four memories. The son steps into a tunnel of recollection during a visit to his long-absent father in prison. Pushing open door after door, he attempts to rediscover the visage of his father within these rooms of memory.
Qualifying win: Best Animated Short Film at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (Taiwan)
Filante
Country: France
Directed by: Marion Jamault
Produced by: Lisa Verhaverbeke, Marin Dalmier; Phénomènes Films
Synopsis: Every night, Paulette stands on the lookout of her lighthouse and observes the same shooting star. Her pet rat has mysteriously disappeared, so she sends her wish for a reunion up to the night sky. The apparent celestial body turns out to be a bat with a fondness for glitter.
Qualifying win: Best in Show at Spark Animation (Canada)
