Competition Programme
The main competition programme is full of great films! There are new films by old acquaintances of Animanima's audience, Georges Schwitzgebel, Geza M. Toth, Lea Vidaković, Franck Dion, Claudius Gentinetta, Eric Van Schaik, and we will also discover some new names for us, to mention Ricardo Kump from Brazil or the Canadian Colin Racicot, by way of example.
And that, of course, is not even close to all, because among the thirty-two films of the main programme from eighteen countries there will be a lot of pleasant surprises!
The first screening of the main competition program is immediately after the official opening of the festival, on September 19 at 20:00, and the other three from September 20 to 22 at 19:45 in the Grand Hall of the Cultural Center.
Don't forget to vote for the film you liked the most after each screening, because the film with the most votes will win the Audience Award.
Competition Program 01

Georges Schwizgebel
From one painting… to another
An immersion in art through two paintings on the same subject created half a century apart.
Born in 1944, in Reconvilier, Switzerland, animation director Georges Schwizgebel has created a remarkably original body of work. His films - whose technical execution is always masterful - are marked by a playful approach to narrative, spectacular formalism, and the intermingling of visuals and music. Schwizgebel studied fine arts, and in 1971 co-founded the GDS studio in Geneva, along with filmmakers Daniel Suter and Claude Luyet. His films have won numerous awards at prestigious international festivals such as Cannes, Annecy, Zagreb, Hiroshima, Stuttgart, Ottawa and Espinho.

Switzerland
2023
3:10
Paint on cell
D'une peinture… à l'autre
Georges Schwizgebel
Georges Schwizgebel
Georges Schwizgebel
Atahualpa Yupanqui
Studio GDS, Radio Télévision Suisse MIYU Production

Naomi van Niekerk
Box Cutters
A young woman recalls a day when she was attacked by three men on her way home, but daily life must resume its course.
At the center of Naomi van Niekerk’s artistic practice is the visual interpretation of poetic and narrative texts written by South African authors, which she transcribes through film, performance and printmaking. Her desire to bring inanimate materials to life drew her to sand animation. She currently lives in Lyon where she works as a visual artist and animator on several projects.

France
2023
8:24
Powder animation, drawing on film
Naomi van Niekerk
"Box Cutters", Ronelda Kamfer
Naomi van Niekerk, Morgane Perez
Niels Dekker
Arnaud van Vliet
Dryfsand, Valk Productions, Ikki Films

Yuanqing Cai
The Rat
On a stormy night, a drunk man stumbles back home. Vomiting accompanied by vertigo in which he sees two huge rats in his house. Disgusted and cranky he desperately attacks the two rats hoping they will go away…
Yuanqing Cai, animation director, concept artist. Born in Xuchang, Henan, now lives in Hangzhou. He graduated from China Academy of Art and Gobelins, L'école de L'image. Founder and director of Momiqimio Production.

China
2022
12:55
2D
Yuanqing Cai
Yuanqing Cai
Xiaodi, Tianyu Li, Xingbang Qi
Yuanqing Cai, Charlotte Duanmu
Soundman Hangzhou
Charlotte Zijin Duanmu

Dotan Goldwaser, Yoav Brill
Temporarily Removed
Deep inside a municipal art museum, a single guard is the sole queen of a small exhibition. When being forced to leave the room, her exile becomes a journey in search of a new home.
Yoav Brill and Dotan Goldwaser are directors and animators, graduates of the Animation Department in the Bezalel school of Arts and Design. They served as art directors for several documentary films and series, including the 2021 Emmy award winning Advocate and There Are No Lions in Tel Aviv. Their short films won awards in animation festivals around the world, including Hiroshima, Stuttgart and Busan. Temporarily Removed is their first collaborative film.

Israel
2023
14:00
2D
Dotan Goldwaser, Yoav Brill
Dotan Goldwaser, Yoav Brill
Dotan Goldwaser, Yoav Brill
Dotan Goldwaser, Yoav Brill

Tara Attarzadeh
End of Summer
A little girl is playing on a swing on the roof of the house, but suddenly the swing’s rope tears apart. Now little girl is bored so she starts daydreaming with a flock of pigeons flying over the roof.
Tara Atarzadeh was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1993. She holds a Masters in Animation and has worked as a character designer, accessory maker, 2D and stop-motion animator and director.

Iran
2022
3:13
2D
Tara Attarzadeh
Tara Attarzadeh
Tara Attarzadeh
University of Tehran

Levi Stoops
Drijf
Two people adrift at sea are fighting a bloody battle for both their survival and their relationship.
Levi Stoops (1990) lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. After graduating from the RITCS (Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound) as an animation director he worked as a cook to provide for himself while writing his first animation short. During this time his graduation short D:729 was selected on a number of festivals wordwide. Now he made Drijf, his debut short film as a professional director.

Belgium
2023
14:59
2D
Levi Stoops
Levi Stoops
Levi Stoops
Levi Stoops
Paulo Rietjens
Lunanime

Ricardo Kump
The Cactus
A man, troubled by a severe nervous system disease, finds himself paralyzed in a remote and hostile environment after an accident. His situation takes new directions as he surrenders and accepts his new reality. An horror film inspired by Santiago Dabove (1889-1951) short story "Ser polvo".
Ricardo Kump from São Paulo, Brazil has been working as a designer and set designer for music videos, documentaries and commercials since 2005. Cactus is his first short film.

Brasil
2022
10:25
2D
Ricardo Kump
Ricardo Kump
Ricardo Kump
wAVA Gard
Kump Produções

Colin Ludvic Racicot
Where Rabbits Come From
In a cold dystopian world, a widowed father defies the authorities trying to instill a sense of wonder into his daughter’s life.
With a bachelor's degree in film production, Colin Racicot has been directing short fiction since 2010. His passion for drawing and animation has led him to produce motion design content at Outpost and Haus, where he holds the position of artistic director. In 2020, he began developing his very first animated short, Where Rabbits Come From, under the supervision of Sylvain Chomet.

Canada
2023
15:00
2D
D’où viennent les lapins
Colin Ludvic Racicot
Colin Ludvic Racicot
Colin Ludvic Racicot
Colin Ludvic Racicot
Pierre Yves Drapeau, Alejandro Magaña
Studio Niloc
Competition Program 02

Clémence Bouchereau
The Purple Season
On the edge of a mangrove, a group of girls lives to the rhythm of the climate and the wild geese around them. They see each other live and grow up at different ages. As time passes, tensions arise and rivalries develop.
Clémence Bouchereau (1989) is a designer and director specialised in direct animation and traditional techniques. She studied at the Emile Cohl School in Lyon where she learned animation and illustration. She continued her studies at La Poudrière school in Valence from 2012 to 2014. Clémence's films are objects in motion, made where cinema meets craftsmanship.

France
2023
9:07
Pin screen
La saison pourpre
Clémence Bouchereau
Clémence Bouchereau
Clémence Bouchereau
Catherine Aladenise
Pierre Sauze, Régis Diebold
Bandini Films

Géza M. Tóth
Introduction to Film Studies
Film genre examples displayed with a few animated matchsticks for taking serious theoretical approaches by exploring the narrative implications of the cinema and develop skills and knowledge of in-depth analysis of film texts. Or just for fun.
Geza M. Toth is Oscar nominated filmmaker, university professor and head of KEDD Animation Studio. He works in several artistic fields: producer and director of short films (Icar, Maestro, Ergo, Mama) and animation tv series (Berry and Dolly, The Kuflis). He also works as a director and visual designer for theater and operas (Nibelungen, The Miraculous Mandarin, The Bluebeard’s Castle), illustrating books, lecturing, scriptwriting.

Hungary
2023
10:36
Stop motion
Introduction aux études cinématographiques
Géza M. Tóth
Géza M. Tóth
Roland Kazi
Bertalan Baglyas
KEDD Animation

Erik van Schaaik
The Smile
When a world-famous film star is accused of eating his female co-stars, his career goes down the drain. That wipes the smile off his face!
During his study graphic design, Dutch filmmaker Erik van Schaaik started working for Dutch television, creating a series of animated films, live action drama and documentaries, in a variety of styles and techniques. For the big screen he created award-winning animated short films Vent, The Phantom Of The Cinema and the stop-motion horror comedy Under The Apple Tree.

Netherlands
2022
16:00
Puppets
Erik van Schaaik
Erik van Schaaik
Sergio Lara Jimenez, Timothée Crabbé, Erik van Schaaik
Erik van Schaaik
Rinus Aarts
Pedri Animation, Erik Van Schaaik Productions, Beast Animation

Carlos Montoya
Bird
A man carries heavy stones. In the sky, a bird flies.
Carlos Montoya has trained as an audiovisual producer and stop motion animator. He has made small documentary works and three stop motion short films, independently produced, which have participated in different national and international festivals. His works can be found as 'Del entretecho'.

Argentina
2023
4:08
Sand animation
Pajaro
Carlos Montoya
Carlos Montoya
Carlos Montoya
Gonzalo del Castillo
Carlos Montoya

Max Kulikov
Dear Passengers
Dear passengers! Train number 72 is now departing from platform two of track one. The train has moved…
Max Kulikov (1992) graduated from Ural State Art Academy, Yekaterinburg, Department of Graphics and Animation, 2016. Director of advertising and creative projects of the studio Light Stories. He directed season 2 of TV series Leo and Tig by Parovoz animation studio, Moscow. Creative producer and production director of the animated series Zebra in the Cell by animation studio Soyuzmultfilm, Moscow, as well as advertising projects for brands Levi's, Kaspersky lab, Sberbank, Central Bank, HSE, Soyuzmultfilm, KINDER, Raiffeisen Bank, and others.

Russia
2023
11:00
2D
Uvazhaemlyi Pasazhiryi
Max Kulikov
Max Kulikov
Max Kulikov, Danil Strizhov, Ana Isakova, Sasha Garais
Igor Yakovel, Denis Dushin
Svetly Story

Simone Massi
An End to War Enough
A world without war is another utopia that we cannot wait any longer.
Simone Massi was born in Pergola (Italy) on May 23rd, 1970. After getting his degree in Animated Cinema from the State Institute of Fine Arts of Urbino, he began to work as a free-lance animator.

Italy
2022
5:00
2D
A guerra finita
Simone Massi
Simone Massi
Simone Massi
Alberto Girotto
Lorenzo Danesin
Emergency

Pernille Kjaer
Spring
In a farmhouse a woman tries to lure the resident house spirit – a mischievous Nisse – with offerings of food. Spring is just around the corner, but a winter's chill still lingers…
Pernille Kjaer (1989) is a Danish independent animation filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. Former student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Aarhus, she completed her studies with a BA in character animation from The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark. Her work includes short animated films, but also prints, painting and sculptures.

Denmark
2023
12:28
2D computer
Forår
Pernille Kjaer
Pernille Kjaer
Pernille Kjaer
Pernille Kjaer
Sofie Birch
Martina Scarpelli Studio

Lea Vidaković
Family Portrait
As Austro-Hungary teeters on collapse, Andras and his daughter are taken aback by the visit from Andras' brother, Zoltan, who comes accompanied by his large family.
Lea Vidakovic is an artist and animation film director who works with animated installations, expanded media practices and puppet animation. She holds a BA/MA of graphic art and painting (Academy of Arts, Zagreb); BA in animation (Norway); MA of audio-visual arts (KASK, Belgium) and a PhD in animation studies (NTU/ADM Singapore). She is a winner of several art and film awards. She teaches animation at Lusofona University, Lisbon.

Croatia, France, Serbia
2023
14:35
Puppet animation
Obiteljski portret
Lea Vidaković
Lea Vidaković
Marion le Guillou, Bilitis Levillain, Violette Delvoye
Iva Kraljević
Zoran Maksimović
Adriatic Animation; Vivement Lundi!; Biberche Productions
Competition Program 03

Bar Vaknine, Tamar Sharvit, Matan Levi
The Buliding at 9 Etzel St.
In a residential apartment building amidst heavy renovation required by the National Outline Plan #38, three neighbors are losing control of their lives. A series of meetings between the residents and a Palestinian construction worker raise the need to be saved from the Israeli temporary reality that has become constant.
Bar Vaknine, Tamar Sharvit and Matan Levi are script writers, designers, and animation film makers. They are graduates of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.

Israel
2023
8:52
Stop motion
Bar Vaknine, Tamar Sharvit, Matan Levi
Bar Vaknine, Tamar Sharvit, Matan Levi
Bar Vaknine, Tamar Sharvit, Matan Levi
Itay Tamarov, Dor Ben Lulu
Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design

Aleksandr Vasilyev
The Music of the Summer Night
Life is tough but beautiful. And the film`s heroes, who drives along the night highway, will understand this through their accidental companion – Death.
Aleksandr Vasilyev was born in 1979 in Troitsk town (Moscow region), Russia. In 2017 graduated from School-Studio of animation film SHAR as a animation film director.

Russia
2023
13:45
2D computer
Aleksandr Vasilyev
Aleksandr Vasilyev
Aleksandr Vasilyev, Anna Dostoevskaya, Tatiana Yatsyna, Aleksander Panov
Aleksandr Vasilyev
Sound designer
School-studio SHAR

Vuk Jevremović
11
Three masterful footballers. They can perform wonders during a match and score impossible goals, but what goes on in their heads when they are about to take a penalty kick?
Vuk Jevremovic (1959, Frankfurt on Main) graduated in Architecture at the Technical Faculty in Belgrade in 1984, and in 2002 he graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich as a masters’ student in the class of Joseph Kosuth. His films have been screened and awarded at film festivals around the world.

Croatia
2022
5:28
Drawing on paper, diverse techniques
Vuk Jevremović
Vuk Jevremović
Vuk Jevremović
Iva Kraljević
Filip Vidović
Vuk Jevremović

Junyi Xiao
Tomato Kitchen
An accident interrupted Lee’s dinner with his colleagues. The dark truth of the Tomato Kitchen along with Lee’s hidden past were revealed by this unexpected incident…
Junyi Xiao is an award-winning filmmaker and animation artist. His films have been selected and screened at many international animation festivals all over the word including Annecy and Hiroshima. In 2015 and 2017, his films After School and Elsewhere were nominated for two Annie Awards.

China
2022
8:42
2D computer
Junyi Xiao
Junyi Xiao
Junyi Xiao, Christian Villacañas, Mathias Cuciniello, Bruno Cohen
Sam Fan
Studo Reflection

Joachim Hérissé
Skinned
In an old building, lost in the middle of the swamp, live two strange women, Siamese twins by one leg. At night, the "Flayed" has terrifying nightmares in which she sees her sister's flesh covering her own body...
Joachim Hérissé is an animator, author and director of animated films. Self-taught, he first worked as a 3D animator in Parisian special effects and animation studios. He then produced his first cut-out animation series for Canal+ jeunesse, such as Moko enfant du monde, Un funny d'animal or Bama le caïman. Passionate about puppet animation, he devoted himself to writing and producing stop motion animation and created the company Komadoli Studio in 2015. His latest short film Écorchée was multi-awarded and selected for the César 2023.

France
2022
15:00
Puppet, stop motion
Écorchée
Joachim Hérissé
Joachim Hérissé
Goulwen Merret, Ignacio De Marco, Julia Peguet
Catherine Aladenise, Joachim Hérissé
Nicolas Besse
Komadoli studio

Claudius Gentinetta
Think something nice
At the mercy of the dentist's chair, the protagonist cannot escape the confrontation with pain and the dregs of the miserable human condition. To distract himself, he takes refuge in a fantasised story of fishermen and the sea.
Claudius Gentinetta was 1968 born in Lucerne. Studies in graphic design and animation in Lucerne, Liverpool and Kassel. 1995 scholarship year in Cracow. Working as freelance graphic artist and animator in Zurich. He is one of the most acclaimed animation filmmakers in Switzerland. He is especially known for his award-winning short films The Cable Car, Sleep and Selfies.

Switzerland
2023
6:00
2D computer, stop motion
Claudius Gentinetta
Claudius Gentinetta
Simon Eltz
Claudius Gentinetta
Peter Bräker
Claudius Gentinetta

Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov
Eeva
It's pouring down with rain at the funeral. There's a lot of crying, too much wine, several woodpeckers and a couple of dreams that fill in the gaps.
Lucija Mrzljak (1990) completed her master’s in animation as a student of Priit and Olga Pärn in Estonia. Her student films Shuma and Corner screened at festivals around the world. In 2019, she made a music video for the Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard. She has worked with Morten Tšinakov on short films for the Estonian animation studio Eesti Joonisfilm and the Adriatic Animation Studio in Zagreb. Alongside her work as an animation filmmaker, she is also an illustrator and a guest lecturer in animation and illustration at the Estonian Academy of Fine Arts.
Morten Tšinakov studied animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn where he made two films. Since graduating, he has been working at the Estonian animation studio Joonisfilm where, in collaboration with Lucija Mrzljak, he has co-created A Demonstration of Brilliance in Four Acts, The Stork and Eeva.

Estonia
2022
15:57
2D computer
Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov
Morten Tšinakov
Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov
Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov
Sander Põldsaar
Adriatic Animation

Franck Dion
Astoria
An astronomer is overwhelmed by the ramifications of her research and goes into exile.
Franck Dion has worked in several fields. He collaborates with publishing houses, magazines, creates sets for the theater and also designs animations for documentaries. With a few friends, he founded the production company PAPY3D in 2006. Frank’s films The Phantom Inventory (2003), Monsieur COK (2008) Edmond was a donkey (2012), A Head Disappears (2016) received numerous awards at festivals around world. Franck also produced the graphic universe of the digital fiction Alienare (Seuil editions) in collaboration with Chloé Delaume as well as the Illustrations of the board game Dixit Daydreams (Libelud editions).

France
2022
9:00
2D/3D computer
Franck Dion
Franck Dion
Franck Dion
Lady Amundscott
Pictanovo, Images en haute de France
Competition Program 04

Flóra Anna Buda
27
Alice is 27 years old today. Although she feels oppressed because she still lives with her parents, she spends her time daydreaming to escape her dreary everyday life.
Flóra Anna Buda graduated as an animation film director at MOME in Budapest. She is deeply interested in dreams and science, but she likes to feed her stories with personal content. In 2018, she directed the short film Entropia selected in many festivals (including the competition at the Berlinale).

France, Hungary
2023
10:38
2D
Flóra Anna Buda
Flóra Anna Buda
Natália Andrade, Melinda Kádár, Zoltán Koska, Gábor Mariai, Luca Tóth, Borbala Zétényi, Flóra Anna Buda
Albane du Plessix
Péter Benjámin Lukács
Boddah, MIYU Productions

Vuk Palibrk
Lupus in fabula
Based on poem for children "Once Upon a Time there was a Lion", by a famous Serbian poet Dusko Radovic. Our hero, Wolf, is faced with existential problems of the modern age, dreaming of being more adapted, more secure and protected.
Vuk Palibrk was born in 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia. He graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade in 2011 in the course of Illustration and Book design. In 2016 he finished his master studies at Berlin University of the Arts in the department of Visual Communications. He works on illustrations for various papers and publications, short comics, animated films and different kind of short animated formats.
Tanja Brzakovic was born in Belgrade. She received a master‘s degree in Directing from the University of Belgrade in Serbia, as well as from the University of Hamburg, in Germany. She writes and directs shorts, documentaries and video art. Her films have been screened at festivals all over the world and garnered numerous awards. Tanja is a member of European Film Academy.

Serbia
2023
7:18
2D
Vuk Palibrk
Tanja Brzaković
Vuk Palibrk
Vuk Palibrk
Miloš Drobnjaković
Talas Film

Mattias Mälk
Operation Larp
Missile lost in the forest. Adulteress. Furious husband. Costumed larpers (LARP = live-acting role playing) in a bloody clash with regular military units. All the ingredients for a hilarious black comedy are here!
Mattias Mälk (born 1987) made his directing debut at Eesti Joonisfilm studio back in 2014 with the film noir monster movie Northern Starfish. Horror and comedy further crept into his second animated short film Strawberry Eaters (2018). Mattias' most comedic animated short film to date Operation LARP (2023) is a silly mix-up leads soldiers to clash with larpers. Besides writing screenplays and directing, Mattias has worked at the studio as an inbetweener, animator, compositor and 3D artist.

Estonia
2022
9:58
2D
Operatsioon Larp
Mattias Mälk
Mattias Mälk
Mattias Mälk
Mattias Mälk
Liina Sumera
Eesti Joonisfilm

Raphaëlle Stolz
Miracasas
In the 30's, a lost village in South America wishes to perpetuate its strange traditions... The mayor has published an ad in the region: "Seeks corpse to enlarge Miracasas". Freshly murdered, Ernesto is the lucky one and participates in spite of himself to his carnival burial. The gathered villagers celebrate the event with passion, waiting with greed for the life brought by the death.
Raphaëlle Stolz was born in 1989 in Geneva, Switzerland. 2011 Graduates with a degree in Illustration and Painting from the École Emile Cohl in Lyon. 2014 Graduates from the École des Gobelins in Animation. A multidisciplinary artist, she is a director of animated shorts, an AD, a set designer, an animator and a painter.

Switzerland
2022
13:40
2D computer
Raphaëlle Stolz
Raphaëlle Stolz, Augusto Zanovello
Raphaëlle Stolz
Nazim Meslen
Nadège Feyrit
Komadoli Studio, Nadasdy Film, Folimage

Choi Min-ho
The end of a voyage
A middle-aged man is sailing while losing his memory. Not knowing that his wife's voice that he heard in his head is an auditory hallucination, he continues to talk with that voice.
Choi Min-ho was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1970. He graduated from the Korea National University of Arts majoring animation.

Korea
2023
9:40
2D
Choi Min-ho

Osman Cerfon
Aaaah!
Aaaah! is a cry of pain, surprise, fear, joy, songs, grumbling, laughter, anger… Aaaah! is the expression with which children, these primary and innocent beings, experience life in a community, framed by the whistles of adults.
After studying graphic design and training at the Beaux-Arts d'Épinal, Osman Cerfon completed his studies at the La Poudrière school where he directed three films, including Tête-à-tête, his graduation film. He worked on various projects as a scriptwriter or technician for Folimage, then for Jesuisbiencontent, the studio that produced the two parts of Chroniques de la Poisse. Since 2013, he has been working closely with Miyu Productions, an animation studio that produced his short film Je sors acheter des cigarettes.

France
2022
12:00
2D
Osman Cerfon
Osman Cerfon
Quentin Marcault, Hippolyte Cupillard, Osman Cerfon, Martin Touzé
Catherine Aladenise
Denis Vautrin
Miyu Productions

Anita Louise Lebeau
8 Rooms
In this short animated film that explores the mysterious nature of dream, a woman and her sidekick cat find themselves moving from one strange room to another in pursuit of an elusive floating pushpin in imaginative mixed-media spaces created by eight contributing visual artists.
Anita Lebeau has created several acclaimed short films with the National Film Board of Canada – Louise, Big Drive and A Change of Scenery. Anita has also produced, written and directed a number of documentary films, and taught digital animation at the University of Manitoba School of Art. In 2019 she debuted her independent animated film, Face|Time.

Canada
2023
14:11
Stop motion, 2D/3D computer
Anita Louise Lebeau
Anita Louise Lebeau
Anita Louise Lebeauv
Anita Louise Lebeau
Christine Fellows
Anita Louise Lebeau

Jorn Leeuwerink
Pig
A big group of animals makes itself dependent on a power grid, hooked onto the socket-shaped snout of a single sleeping pig... How long will that last?
Jorn Leeuwerink (1990) tells seemingly sweet fables about serious themes, with dark humor and a playful visual style. His graduation short Flower Found! was included in the prestigious Animation Show of Shows, selected for 70+ festivals (a.o. Annecy, Zagreb and Hiroshima) and won 17 prizes. Pig marks his professional debut. Besides directing animation, he co-founded and curates the annual Fluxus Animation Festival.

Netherlands
2022
8:00
2D
Varken
Jorn Leeuwerink
Jorn Leeuwerink
Jorn Leeuwerink
Jorn Leeuwerink, Dario van Vree
Bram Meindersma
Tünde Vollenbroek