Murmuration
Countries: Netherlands, Belgium
Directed by: Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger
Produced by: Peter Lindhout, Annemie Degryse, Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger
Synopsis: Piet, an elderly man in a nursing home, finds himself limited in his actions when he suddenly begins to transform into a bird. Although he is still accepted within the group, he feels that it’s time to join a new flock.
Qualifying win: Best Animation Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia)
My Brother, My Brother
Countries: Egypt, France, Germany
Directed by: Abdelrahman Dnewar, Saad Dnewar
Produced by: Lucas Tothe, Jessica Arfuso, Hesham Marold, Abdallah Dnewar; Punchline Cinéma, Milkman Films
Synopsis: The complexities of a past shared by identical twins Omar and Wesam. A split narrative retells both sides of their memories — from the instant they were fused together in their mother’s womb to the moment when one of them tragically dies.
Qualifying win: Golden Gate Award for Best Animated Short at San Francisco International Film Festival
A Night at the Rest Area
Country: Japan
Directed by: Saki Muramoto
Produced by: Sayaka Omodaka
Synopsis: At a midnight highway rest area, weary travelers each quietly relax their minds. A brief moment spent with complete strangers is lonely yet somehow comforting.
Qualifying win: Grand Jury Award for Animation Short at Slamdance Film Festival
The Night Boots
Country: France
Directed by: Pierre-Luc Granjon
Produced by: Yves Bouveret; Am Stram Gram
Synopsis: In the middle of the night, while his parents are entertaining friends, a child slips on his wellington boots and sneaks off into the woods. There, a strange solitary creature leads him into the heart of the forest to meet the nocturnal inhabitants.
Qualifying win: Cristal for a Short Film at Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France)
No Vacancy
Countries: United States, Colombia
Directed by: Miguel Rodrick
Produced by: Miguel Rodrick
Synopsis: No Vacancy explores the unraveling mind of Jack, depicted through his dilapidated motel. The film blurs reality and memory through vivid, often disorienting imagery. Jack navigates chaotic nights filled with mysterious phone calls, deep-seated humiliation, addiction struggles and the inescapable weight of his past mistakes.
Qualifying win: Best U.S. Latino Animated Short Award at Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
On Weary Wings Go By
Countries: Estonia, Lithuania
Directed by: Anu-Laura Tuttelberg
Produced by: Marianne Ostrat
Synopsis: This stop-motion film shot in nature with porcelain puppets expresses the arrival of winter in the Nordic countryside. The sun movies low above the horizon, the days get shorter and shorter … as birds leave and give way for the winter to come.
Qualifying wins: Golden Dove for Short Animation at DOK Leipzig (Germany) and 16 other awards, including the Golden Zagreb at Animafest Zagreb, Best International Short at Femcine and Special Jury Award at Brussels Anima
Ordinary Life
Countries: France, Japan
Directed by: Yoriko Mizushiri
Produced by: Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Nobuaki Doi
Synopsis: Ordinary life repeats itself every day. The succession of moments that we repeat over and over again is never the same, and everything changes and wavers. In an uncertain and fluctuating world, only the feeling of the body touching something, which exists only in this present reality, can be recognized as “now.”
Qualifying win: Best Animated Short at Nashville Film Festival
Ovary-Acting
Countries: Norway, Sweden, U.K.
Directed by: Ida Melum
Produced by: Kjersti Greger, Michelle Brøndum, Johan Edström
Synopsis: While stuck at her sister’s baby shower a 30-something woman is forced to decide whether she wants to have kids or not after unexpectedly giving birth to her reproductive organs.
Qualifying win: Grand Prize Winner for Best Short Animation at Rhode Island International Film Festival 2025
Overture
Country: Czech Republic
Directed by: Jakub Hronský
Produced by: Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM)
Synopsis: The film follows a humanoid insect whose presence and actions continuously alter and transform the surrounding world of a Bratislava housing estate. But what can emerge from its “devouring” and transforming of its environment? What changes will it bring?
Qualifying win: Best Slovak Animated Short at Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Slovakia)
Paradise Man
Country: U.S.
Director: Jordan Michael Blake
Producer: Jordan Michael Blake
Synopsis: Paradise Man searches for meaning in an unknown universe. And he wants to talk a little bit about … golf.
Qualified by exhibition
Patterns
Country: Germany
Directed by: Alex Glawion
Produced by: Alex Glawion
Synopsis: A passenger’s optimistic train journey swiftly descends into a nightmare when he is struck by noise and rudeness, forcing him to don his headphones and escape into a vibrant, patterned world. Here, an unexpected encounter with a lively woman lifts his spirits, and their playful interaction brightens the journey.
Qualifying win: Best Animated Short Film at Cleveland International Film Festival
Playing God
Countries: Italy, France
Directed by: Matteo Burani
Produced by: Arianna Gheller, Nicolas Schmerkin
Synopsis: A clay sculpture comes to life in the darkness of a workshop, surrounded by strange creatures.
Qualifying wins: Best Animated Short Film Award at Tribeca Film Festival; Grand Jury Award at Animayo (Spain)
Pow!
Country: U.S.
Directed by: Joey Clift
Produced by: Mik Moore, Donick Cary, Joey Clift, Harold Moss; FlickerLab
Synopsis: A Native American kid scrambles to charge his dying video game console at a bustling intertribal powwow.
Qualified by exhibition.
Psychonauts
Country: Croatia
Directed by: Niko Radas
Produced by: Filip Gašparović Melis; Croatian Association of Digital Artists
Synopsis: Leaving their human hosts, mental disorders take on anthropomorphic forms and find new refuges.
Qualifying win: Best Short Animation at Guanajuato International Film Festival (Mexico)
