Film Program: STUDENT FILMS
Student Films from Canada:
Mr. Shiff’s Last Shift
by Alexandre Turcotte, Charles-Étienne Gouin, Éliane Lan-Anh Nguyen, Esteban Herrera-Cordero, Louis-Alex Boismenu, Nicholas Bélanger-Jussaume, Roberto Gomes Québec (Université de Québec à Montréal)
1:36
A security guard makes a terrifying encounter during his night shift.
No artist biography.
Minor Offence (Flagrant délit)
by Thérésa Nguyen
Québec (Cégep du Vieux-Montréal)
0:47
A young girl walking her pet through a dog-prohibited park gets interrupted by an angry guard.
No artist biography.
Purrs and Ol’ Man Blues
by Susan Shulman
Québec (Concordia University, Montréal)
1:36
Cool alley cat meets old blues musician and they tour together.
Susan Shulman studied at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, and received a BFA with distinction from Concordia University. Her art has been at the forefront of many unique art projects, notably the world wide art movement “A Book About Death”. She has performed her animation and her unique Blues Bunny poems in the 2016 “100 Thousand Poets for Change”. To date, Susan has had 11 solo exhibitions locally and internationally. She is currently back studying film animation at Concordia University.
Nana
by Alexandra Kellner
Ontario (Sheridan University, Oakville)
5:05
The story of how my Hungarian grandmother survived as a Jewish prisoner during the Holocaust.
Alexandra (Ali) was raised in Montreal, Quebec and was always passionate about art. After realizing a love for animation she attended the Concordia film animation bachelors program for 3 years where she learned the fundamentals of the filmmaking process as well as a fondness for all types and genres of animated films. Feeling too far removed from the Canadian animation industry, she applied and was accepted to Sheridan’s Bachelor of Animation program where she was given endless opportunities to grow technically as an artist and meet and learn from talented students and faculty.
The Other Side
by Ching Cheng
British Columbia (Vancouver Film School)
3:50
A soldier walks across the line to search for a monster.
Ching Cheng is from Taiwan. Studied classical animation at Vancouver Film School.
A Story About a Bear Who Wanted to be a Horse
by Calvin Brett
Québec (Concordia University, Montréal)
3:18
Simultaneously a stream-of-conscious narrative and a documentation of its own production, A Story About a Bear Who Wanted to be a Horse is a film about my young friend Ryan telling me about his stuffed bear’s quest to become a horse. The fiction of the film tells the story of Ryan’s bear’s transformative journey as our real relationship is put to the test in an effort to combine Ryan’s unique vision with my filmmaking.
No artist biography.
RUN
by Robin Tremblay
Québec (Centre NAD, Montréal)
8:38
The sun is setting as dusk swallows a swaying field of corn; a tempest on the rise. Robyn, a 12 year old red-haired child, is running through claustrophobic lanes of corn stalk. Breathless, she carries on, motivated by a desperate need to evade the growing darkness behind her. But despite resolute diligence, nightfall carries with it a new order which she must survive.
Robin Tremblay is an accomplished 3D animator, working for over 25 years in the field of education and within Montreal VFX facilities.
He completed is Master in Digital Arts and he is now a freelance consultant for various VFX companies both local and abroad . He is an active member of the Visual Effects Society of California.
He is one of the founding teachers of the NAD school in Montreal and still participates in the school’s success by working on its class curriculum and by teaching highly sought after CGI courses. His latest foray into the movie field is to act as director where he use his experience and eclectic imagination to push his bright students to act as an efficient team and go beyond what could be done in a normal education paradigm.
Lilly Hits the Road
by The Bum Family
Alberta (Alberta Foundation for the Arts)
4:51
Lilly, a 10 foot tall orange monster, and her adorable friend Fluffle are abducted by aliens. An epic adventure ensues as they try desperately to return home in the nick of time.
The Bum Family are a group of Calgarian cousins, Maezy, Medina and Zaiyah Dennie (ages 14, 12 and 10), and Berlin, Ocean and Sol Demuth (ages 14, 11 and 7) who create anarchy, hilarity and art.Known for their cut-out animated films “Lilly Gets a Pet,” “Lilly’s Big Day,” “Friendship,” “When I Met Dottie” and “The Birthday”, The Bum Family’s films have screened at more than 100 festivals, and have won awards for “Audience Favourite” and “Best Animation”. Festival screenings include CIFF, POW Fest, Cine Las Americas, Dawson City Short Film Festival, GAMA, Atlantic Film Festival, Da Vinci Days, Prairie Tales, Williamsburg, Naperville, River’s Edge Film Festival and others. The Bum Family recently completed “S is for Storytelling,” an animated short for Sesame Street.
World Ski & Snowboard Festival – 2017 Promo
by Kelly Kurtz
British Columbia (Vancouver Film School)
0:35
The World Ski & Snowboard Festival is hosted annually by Whistler Blackcomb in beautiful British Columbia. It is a ten-day event that celebrates Ski & Snowboard Mountain Culture through snow sports, film & photography, Apres Ski & night life, and the largest free outdoor concert series in North America. I chose to do a promo for the 2017 festival for my Graduate project at Vancouver Film School’s Digital Design program. Cel Animation and rotoscoping was used to create dynamic high energy 3D rotating ski & snowboard tricks. The fluorescent colour palette has a glow in the dark party feel and appeals to the snow culture within Watermark’s target audience. An organic animated illustrative style of line quality represents the grassroots mountain culture and arts scene that the festival celebrates.
Kelly is a local Vancouver Motion Designer, Animator & Photographer and a recent graduate from Vancouver Film School’s Digital Design Program. Her 12 year background in the ski & adventure tourism industry provided the inspiration for the piece.
Student Films – International:
In a Heartbeat
by Beth David & Esteban Bravo
USA (Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota)
4:05
A closeted boy runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams.
David and Bravo both felt a deeply personal connection to the idea. “It was very important for both of us,” David said. “It resonated with us very personally. We always say to each other that it’s the kind of thing we wish we had when we were kids, something positive we wish we could have seen on screen.” Throughout the year-and-a-half-long production on In a Heartbeat, David and Bravo split the work evenly, each taking the lead on animating individual sequences. They launched an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign late last year, raising over $14,000, using the money to hire composer Arturo Cardelús.
The Human Rights Campaign even encouraged followers to watch the short, tweeting a link to the film with the caption, “We can all relate to this.” The film is also a semi-finalist for the 2017 Student Academy Awards.
Immersion
by Connor Bland
USA (University of California Los Angeles)
2:30
Set in the not-so-distant future, a gamer’s mind gets lost inside a unique virtual reality.
Born and raised in Sacramento, CA, I moved to Chicago for my undergraduate degree in Animation with a concentration in cinema. To further pursue my passion for filmmaking, I moved to Los Angeles, and am currently at the UCLA Animation Workshop!
Seine’s Breath
by Bethanie Montano
Australia (University of Technology, Sydney)
3:19
The face of an unknown young woman influences history after her death.
Bethanie Montano is a visual artist, animator and freelance illustrator. She graduated in 2015 with Honours in the Bachelor of Design in Animation, and in 2016 with a Master of Design (Advanced Animation), both at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Layers of Fear
by Hsin-Ying Liu
United Kingdom (Central Saint Martins University of the Arts, London)
3:29
Layers of fear is a short animation that explores the boundary between real world and dreams in the mind of a child as he’s experiencing a typical childhood trauma and how his dreams are influenced by it.
I am a Taiwanese illustrator, passionate about all fields of the creative industry in general. I am a recent graduate from Central Saint Martin’s MA Character Animation course. My experience spans over a wide range of fields as I worked for multiple design companies, such as games, packaging and of course animation.
Blackout
by Shauna Cullen
Ireland (Ballyfermont College, Dublin)
5:39
A hopeful artist who attends an academy in a glistening Utopia to practice art finds, that in this society, there are strict rules deciding what forms of art are acceptable. After being thrown out of the academy being considered problematic, the protagonist uses a marker to express their artistic curiosity on the streets, leading to riots, insanity and the total collapse of society.
No artist biography.
Fox and Bear
by Madeleine Arundale
USA
1:05
Two creatures have an encounter in the woods and discover the value of forgiveness.
Made Arundale enjoys painting and drawing, pokemon and video games. This fall, she will be entering 9th grade at Saint Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California.
Mary & Marsha in the Manor of Madness
by Kris & Kurtis Theorin
USA
3:00
Sinister secrets await as Mary helps her girlfriend Marsha escape from her parent’s gothic mansion one dark and eldritch night. This hand drawn and digitally animated ‘one shot’ film takes us on a Lovecraftian escapade through the Manor of Madness. Our goal with this film was to combine the creeping horror of H.P. Lovecraft with the wacky action of classic Saturday morning cartoons.
Kris is a director, animator, editor, and VFX artist. He has created content for several national brands including LEGO, Tube Heroes, Tongal, Zooppa, StikBot and SOAP Creative. Stop motion animation is one of his specialties but he is equally as talented creating 2D animations, live action short films and commercials.
The Gift of the Woods
by Kris & Kurtis Theorin
USA
3:44
An oddly touching dark animated fairy tale about a girl who finds a doll in the woods.
Kris is a director, animator, editor, and VFX artist. He has created content for several national brands including LEGO, Tube Heroes, Tongal, Zooppa, StikBot and SOAP Creative. Stop motion animation is one of his specialties but he is equally as talented creating 2D animations, live action short films and commercials.
Tom in Couchland
by James Just
USA (Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota)
2:19
No film description.
James is a 24 year old animator who grew up in New Jersey. In addition to his computer animation studies at Ringling, he has attended on-line courses in storyboarding and concept art from Computer Graphics Master Academy and studied Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University for one year. Awards received include the 2017 Bronze Jurors Award and 2017 Best of Ringling Award for his film “Tom In Couchland,” Best of Ringling Award 2015-2016 for numerous class projects, and the New Jersey Governor’s Award for Playwriting. He has also participated in an internship at The Studio NYC where he contributed to professional projects, and continued to develop his professional network.
Old Bones
by Daniel Stankler
United Kingdom (Royal College of Art, London)
2:32
The skeleton of Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant, remains to this day in London’s Hunterian Museum. This documentary animation follows Charles as he plans his final journey to the sea – far away from London, and those who want his remains for medical experimentation.
Daniel Stankler is a first year animation student in the Animation MA program at the Royal College of Art, London.
Salary Serf
by Baya Bae
USA (School of Visual Arts, New York)
2:46
“Salary Serf” is a short, 3D motion graphics animation about a chameleon named BAYA who works at a huge pharmaceutical company called “PAIN”. What looks like a model corporation on the outside, is pretty much an employee’s’ torture chamber on the inside. Here the more misery you can withstand, the more money and honor you’ll receive. BAYA eventually makes his exit into a sometimes mystical, moral, psychological landscape before he reaches the end of his anti-hero’s journey.
Baya Bae is a Korean-born artist working as a 2D and 3D motion graphics designer, illustrator, brand designer and typographer since 2006. She received her BFA degree in Visual & Media Design from Sookmyung Women’s University in 2011. Her animation “Look Around” won the Water Prize of “2008 Seoul Design Olympiad”. Her thesis project “Deer in Red Tear” won the MEST (Ministry of Education and Science Technology) Prize. She received her MFA in Computer Art with a concentration in motion graphics from the School of Visual Arts in New York city in 2017.
Journey
by Mulan Fu
USA (Tisch School of the Arts, New York)
1:58
A three-eyed boy takes a lost young ghost on a celestial journey on their way to heaven.
No artist biography.
Helpless Void
by Keigo Ito
Japan (Tokyo University of the Arts)
3:20
At night, a man holds out his own leash into the void. He has to explode in order to escape.
Born in Ibaraki, Japan in 1992. Graduated from Osaka University of Arts, Character Creative Arts Department in 2015. In 2017, received master’s degree from the Department of Animation at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media.
poodlepolarbear
by Katarina Silverman
USA (Pratt Institute, New York)
3:58
poodlepolarbear explores the ebb and flow of close relationships, and, ultimately, the intense bond of platonic love that can tie two people together. The semi-autobiographical film follows two sisters, Poodle and Polar Bear, as they grow up as best friends, yet grow apart as they begin to pursue their own interests and find new friends. When they do reunite, their bond is as strong as ever.
Katarina Silverman recently received her BFA in Digital Arts (2D Animation) with highest honors from Pratt Institute. She is an animator, illustrator, and designer with a fondness for narrative storytelling and blending digital and traditional techniques. She especially likes working with children and concentrating on work geared towards them. Originally from Boston, Katarina now lives in Brooklyn.
chair
by Cristal Buemi & Ludwig Camarillo
Spain (Bau Design College, Barcelona)
2:14
A chair evolves through the means of imagination.
Cristal Buemi (Canada/ Puerto Rico) and Ludwig Camarillo (Mexico) have come together at Bau, Design College of Barcelona to create a short stop motion animated film. Their goal to create a stylized, unique, and poetic stop motion animation came to life through “chair
Mr.Y
by Yuanyuan Qiu
China (Beijing Film Academy)
8:32
Troubled in love, Mr. Y embarks on a fantastical journey — will he succeed on this quest in search of love?
No artist biography.
Return to Sender
by Catherine Bailey
USA (Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota)
2:35
Charlie is happily in love with Rose, his girlfriend, and sends her a series of love letters through the mail to convey his affection. One evening, however, while the two are at dinner, they have a fight. Charlie returns home and rashly writes a breakup letter. But when he goes to mail the letter, the mailbox will not accept it.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon. Prior to attending Ringling College of Art and Design, Cat Bailey earned a degree in communication and journalism from the University of Portland, and studied graphic design and illustration at Portland State University and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. she decided to attend Ringling based on its reputation for producing students ready to work as professionals in the competitive world of animation. She was awarded the DreamWorks scholarship. After four years at Ringling, Cat is still surprised by the level of concentration and technical precision required in a profession many perceive as little more than “fun and games.”
CHROMOSOME SWEETHEART
by Honami Yano
Japan (Tokyo University of the Arts)
4:55
An ex-couple in a café, a girl sucking on her girlfriend’s hair, a running woman, a fleeing town, a little girl walking along the river. In this world, there are as many forms of love as there are people.
Born in Ehime, Japan in 1991. Studied abroad as an exchange student at Rhode Island School of Design in 2013. Graduated from Kyoto Seika University, Department of Animation in 2015. Received master’s degree from Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation in 2017.
In One Drag
by Alireza Hashempour
Germany (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Ludwigsburg)
3:05
It’s late in the evening. A man leaves a building, lights a cigarette and smokes it in one drag. He casually flicks the stub away – everything as always. Only this time… all the cigarette butts in the city become alive
Alireza Hashempour born in Tehran. He got his bachelor of (Visual communication) from the Art University of Tehran, and he followed that with a Master degree in Animation. Since the winter semester of 2013 he started his Diploma studies in (Animation) in the Filmakademie Baden-württemberg in Ludwigsburg/ Germany.
Fundamental
by ShihChieh Chiu
Taiwan (National Taiwan University of Arts)
7:10
This is the story of a teenager who discovers the strange and terrifying reality behind fundamentalism. His life is consumed by guilt while devouring every crumb of false hope thrown at him from his religious community. One day he gathers the courage to leave his faith behind, and sees that human existence is actually a more nuanced experience than the black and white reality in which he grew up in.
Director ShihChieh Chiu was born in Taipei. He has a MFA degree from the Department of Multimedia and Animation Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts. He had also attended the University of Southern California a year for further studies. The style of his animation is varied: his works include the stop-motion “Tomato Adventure” and the 3D computer animation “PSYPATH”, among other creations produced via diverse techniques. Chiu had won the second place in Brazil’s Anim!Arte Film Festival in the category of “world cultures – professionals”.
Between Sand and Tides
by Rui Fan Wang
United Kingdom (Royal College of Art, London)
4:17
When all life is drained and vacuumed, all that’s left is sand. For a very long time, I was sand and I was drowned. An exhausted girl travels across an endless desert to look for new hope, while trying to deal with her erratic tempered anteater.
Rui Fan Wang is a Singaporean animation filmmaker who has recently graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Masters in animation. She has a firm technical background in both traditional and digital animation mediums. During her studies, Rui Fan worked as an artist in storyboarding, character design and animation at the Earth Observatory of Singapore. The animated short, “Shadows” which she has worked on, won various awards worldwide.
Eat, Pray, Bird
by Jeremy Teo
Singapore (Nanyang Technological University)
6:01
In a test for enlightenment, an apprentice monk is tasked to endure 7 grueling days without food or rest in a secluded bamboo forest amongst the mountain peaks. The monk came fully prepared to cheat, but just as he overcomes his conscience, his plan is foiled by a hungry bird. In the delicate balance between the master’s watchful gaze and the feathered annoyance, the monk finds enlightenment in the most unexpected way.
Hailing from the School of Art, Design and Media in NTU, Singapore, Jeremy is a fresh graduate from the Digital Animation major. He is currently working as a story artist for television animation in One Animation, Singapore. “Eat, Pray, Bird” has won two awards from 2016’s Digicon6 Asia, and has been showcased in a number of international film festivals
Luscious
by Xuecheng Xu
USA (School of Visual Arts, New York)
1:30
“Luscious” is a 2D motion graphics video looks at human nature, human instinct and the power of imagination. Minimally styled illustrations tell the story of a beautiful woman who achieves satisfaction by having a psychedelic, metaphoric, sensual journey during dinner in 1930s Shanghai. We have all felt suffocated under the confines of modern life at some point, but every so often, uniformity forces our minds to drift to a faraway place; sensual, peaceful and content where we feel there is a quiet calm tenderness, nothing else existing but the world we have conceived.
No artist biography.
Perfect Town
by Anaïs Voirol
Germany (Filmuniversity Babelsberg, Potsdam)
4:25
In search of perfection a whole city obeys to selection. A constant struggle. Trying and trying again. Where is the difference between endurance and madness?
Anaïs grew up in Zurich. After a one year art foundation course at Zurich University of the Arts she studied traditional Animation at Lucerne University of Applied Arts and Sciences. During her studies, she spent a semester abroad at Filmuniversity Babelsberg in Germany. In 2016 she started an internship at Playables, a studio for audiovisual content based in Zurich.
Icky
by Parastoo Cardgar
Islamic Republic of Iran
5:55
In the world of people with Rubik’s Cube heads, there is a kid who is different from the others…
No artist biography.
Homegrown
by Quentin Haberham
United Kingdom (National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield)
9:20
Francis raises his son Kip in isolation. When the boy outgrows his father’s protective confines, Francis learns that what is right for himself may not be best for his son.
Quentin Haberham is a director and animator with a love for characters, materials and stop motion. After studying Animation at the Utrecht School of the Arts he moved to the United Kingdom to pursue his passion for animated storytelling at the National Film and Television School. Here he directed and animated On the Rocks (2015), Keep it Together (2015) and his graduation film Homegrown (2017).
RIPrivacy
by Aycan Basar
USA (Academy of Art University, San Francisco)
4:24
A slice from our -very much addicted- everyday life.
Aycan Basar (1990) Turkish freelance character designer and animator, recently graduated from Academy of Art University, San Francisco, and received her masters degree in Animation with a Fulbright grant. She likes to experiment and try new styles a lot. RIPrivacy is her second short animated film where she likes to question issues of modern people and create self awareness with satire. She also likes to get inspired by traveling and highly interested in capturing moments with photography.
Adija
by Apollonia
USA (DigiPen Institute of Technology, Redmond)
4:08
A young girl in the Bronx finds escape from an unhappy family life through her graffiti art.
Apollonia and her team created this film as their senior capstone project at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.
3 Min. 33 Before the End
by Chenghua Yang
France (Ecole des Métiers du Cinéma d’Animation, Angoulême)
4:19
A Maya child goes through space and time to save the world. « 3Min33 Before the End » breaks the rules whilst mixing religious ceremony, psychedelic sciences from an absurd future and dreadful scenes from Chinese everyday life.
No artist biography.
Bare King
by Hannah Mullen
USA (Parsons School of Design, New York)
2:53
Confined to his lab, a mad scientist works on his greatest creation yet: a worthy chess opponent.
Currently a student studying film and animation at Parsons The New School. I started off studying illustration and then moved into the world of 3D where i fell in love with sculpting and creating small sets and characters that I could animate. In my first film “Bare King” I made every prop and set piece by hand. It was a super immersive and fulfilling experience to see the world I had created come to life on screen.
The Journey Never Starts. The Journey Never Ends.
by Michelle Brand
United Kingdom (University for the Creative Arts, Farnham)
2:53
An endless train journey through the mysteries of time. Always moving, always changing, one thought leads to another. The animation is drawn digitally in black and white, a times with detailed images and animations. I tried to keep the images as simple, but expressive as possible, enabling me to concentrate on morphing the scenes and taking the viewer from one moment to the nex
Michelle Brand: 2005 – 2013 Grammar School, Germany
2013 – 2014 Animation and Assistant Teacher at a Junior School, Germany
2013 – onwards, Animator and Illustrator on various projects
2014 – 2017 Animation BA (Hons) University for the Creative Arts, Farnham
2017 – onwards, Animation MA Royal College of Arts
Tornado
by Victoria Dinh, Sun-Min Lee & Richard Chhoa
Australia (University of Technology, Sydney)
3:38
In a world suspended within the unending gale forces of a tornado, Sunny’s burning desire to play outside at the disapproval of her Grandma spirals rapidly out of control.
Victoria Dinh, Sun-Min Lee and Richard Chhoa are all animators and creators from Sydney, Australia. Having spent a significant amount of time growing up watching rentals from Video Ezy, Victoria Dinh has always had other worlds in mind. Growing up in Sydney, Sun-Min Lee’s exposure to diverse cultures as well as her family’s Korean traditions culminated in an eagerness for telling unique stories that were still available to everyone. Richard Chhoa was a four-time winner of Sydney LoopdeLoop, a bimonthly international animation challenge, and had a keen interest in character animation. Driven by a desire to push the limits of their abilities, it was only natural for the three to gravitate towards working with one another for their final year at the University of Technology Sydney, graduating in 2016 with an Honours short film, “Tornado.”
Roohangiz
by Elmira Bagherzadeh
Islamic Republic of Iran (Tehran University of Art)
6:17
A short film about a séance which goes wrong because of the medium’s mistake ,and triggers a humorous disaster.
Elmira Bagherzadeh is a freelance animator and animation director. She gets her BS in biomedical engineering and her MA in animation at Tehran University of Art 2016. She likes to work on action, thriller and humorous animations which use fantasy as a way to interest the audience.
Ascribed Achievements
by Samaneh Shojaei
Islamic Republic of Iran (Documentary & Experimental Film Center, Tehran)
4:18
The old boy, who is dissatisfied with their appearance and hereditary, decides to end his life. But his failed suicide creates a new situation in his life.
Samaneh Shojaei: B.A of fine arts, Alzahra University. M.A of moving image, the Art University of Tehran
Lime Green As
by Helen Chun
Australia (University of Technology, Sydney)
1:20
You didn’t just pick up milk and bread from quirky Seu-Ling’s iconic lime-green cornershop. Nope. And despite the 100% jack up in her prices, the customers always return because they know they are buying a piece of her
With over 10 years experience running her own Graphic Design studio, Creative Director, Helen Chun retrained and completed a BDesign in Animation and a BArts in International Studies at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her debut film, Lime Green As’, had its world premiere screening Opening Night at the 2017 St Kilda Film Festival. Helen now heads up as Creative Director, Sublime Green Films in Sydney.
Stars
by Han Zhang
USA (Academy of Art University, San Francisco)
5:06
Grandpa and grandson street sellers sell stars in a town near the shore. One night, they run out of the stars…
Han Zhang was born and raised in Shenzhen, China. He started learning drawing since high school. He finished his BFA in China Academy of Art as a 2D animator, and MFA in Academy of Art University in traditional animation major.
L’AVIATRICE
by Jacques Leyreloup, Victor Tolila, Perrine Renard, Laura Viver Canal, Gaël Chauvet
France (Ecole Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques, Montpellier)
6:00
1953, Jacqueline Auriol, a French pilot, is about to go down in history along with her jet aircraft.
No artist biography.
SWIFF
by Alexis Agliata, Théo Bonora, Arnaud Bellour, Thibaud Gambler, Juliana Berckmans, Romain Lavoine
France (Ecole Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques, Montpellier)
6:30
An alien spaceship breaks down and crashes on earth in the countryside. Its pilot, an alien who hates dirt goes through this terra incognita looking for his fuel, constantly disturbed by an hyperactive little boy…
No artist biography.
FAREWELL
by Chen Yang Hsu, Adeline Jacquot, Paul Jourdain, Alan Sorlo, Eléa Trahay
France (Ecole Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques, Montpellier)
7:28
After the loss of woman’s baby during pregnancy, the arrival of a hand drawn bird will open the mind of this young artist for a new start.
No artist biography.
MELI-MÉTRO
by Alexandre Blain, Lucas Germain, Christophe Gigot, Jade Guilbault, Andreas Muller, Simon Puculek
France (Ecole Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques, Montpellier)
5:04
In the evening, as a little girl and her father take a ride on the subway train, she notices a huge poster of a beautiful poney. Amazed, she calls her father and quickly starts to insist when he replies evasively, drawing other passengers’ attention.
No artist biography.
Windows
by Mina Valizadeh
USA (Savannah College of Art and Design)
1:30
Windows is a symbolic short animation about a little girl whose life changes as she grows up because of the societal restriction for women in her home country. Finally, losing all the freedom and happiness, she decides to leave her country facing the unknown. It is an autobiographical piece based on the life of the Iranian writer and animator, Mina Valizadeh.
Mina is a motion designer, art director with a strong background in graphic design and illustration. Her Passion for the intersection of design, technology and craft led me to art-direct several award-winning motion projects. She graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) with MFA in Motion Media Design. Her professional work experience includes years of working as both freelancer and full-time designer.
Hangover, Cardboard and Chacha
by Samuel Patthey & Silvain Monney
Switzerland (Lucerne School of Art and Design)
2:25
An experimental journey through imaginary landscapes from USSR inspired from Boris Mikhaïlov photographs.
Samuel Patthey was born in Berlin 1993 in a traveller family fascinated by art. He is now finishing his Bachelor in Animation in Luzern Switzerland.
Silvain Monney was born in Vevey (Switzerland) in 1993. Really passionate about film, comics and arts, he is at present studying animation in Luzern.
Karma
by Peter Zhaoyu Zhou
USA (University of Southern California, Los Angeles)
3:48
A boy meets a fish in a mysterious forest.
No artist biography
Serpentine
by Bronwyn Maloney
USA (California Institute of the Arts, Valencia)
2:30
In the midst of reflective fantasy, a young woman’s inner thoughts arouse a surreal exploration of sensuality, self-esteem, and deeply rooted fears. Her arrival is one of strength, beauty, and greater character.
Bronwyn Maloney is a New York City native with a background in fine art and theater production. A graduate of Bennington College, she has studied design and performance techniques for theater, dance, and film. She is currently a Masters candidate in Experimental Animation at CalArts.
The Psychedelic Rope
by Liu Gaoxiang
China
10:00
In ancient China,After a long cruel war, the city renewed ,a young magician back to the city and walk into GuanGon Temple which was ruined，The past emerge in his sight……
Liu Gaoxiang – Place of Birth：Harbin，Heilongjiang Province
Profession：Animation Director
Educational Background： 2006-2011 master of Centre Academy of Fine Art. 2013-2016 bachelor of Centre Academy of Fine Art
Work Experience: 2010 Original animation 《Get Left》 Animation Director. 2011 BMW China《the Child Protection Training Course of BMW 》 Animation Director 2011 the promo of the Red Bull 《the Badminton Champion》 Animation Director. 2012 Chinese Artist Xubin’s artwork《Book from the Ground》 Animator. 2013 the mascot of China Customs Designer. 2013 the promo of《the History of Moon Cake》for the Museum of Feng Town， Inner Mongolia Animation Director. 2013 Documentary《Mount Wutai》 Animation Director. 2014 CCTV6，public service advertisement《dinosaur》 Animation Director. 2015 the promo of the mobile game《the final hit of 2014 》of Gongdingshi Animation Director. 2015 the app of《the Rare Birds》，the Forbidden City Animator. 2016 The 2022 Beijing winter Olympics promote mv《北京/Beijing》 Animation Director
Retired Life
by Ethan & Thomas Verkler
USA (California College of the Arts, Oakland)
2:15
Tensions rise in the dreary life of an old woman and her cat.
Made at California College of the Arts as a Junior Project. This short was created Spring 2016. The Sally rig was created by Long Winter Studios.
Return Flight
by Marisa Ginger Tontaveetong
USA (Savannah College of Art and Design)
5:09
Return Flight: “A fish’s journey through the airport”. A collaboration of 5 mins animated short created by a team of 7 over 3 countries (Bangkok,Thailand/ Melbourne, Australia/ Atlanta, Georgia) over 1.5 months utilizing motion tracking with sticky notes in After Effects with characters created in Adobe Illustrator/ Photoshop. Storyboarded on a phone app whilst traveling overseas.
Ginger is an animator from Bangkok, Thailand currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also the executive director of ASIFA-SOUTH (International Animation Society www.asifa-south.com) aiming to promote diversity and inclusion in animation. She also works with SIGGRAPH S3 (student services) Committee helping to connect student members to professionals in the animation industry and is also the Atlanta Film Festival Filmmaker-in-Residence.
Close the Shutters
by Ynon Lan
Israel (Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem)
4:34
A young man tries to hold on to the image of his sick grandfather, by piecing together fragments of memories he has of him.
Ynon Lan was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. He began his career as a visual effects artist working on television commercials for big brands. Ynon later went on to study animation at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. His short experimental videos, which incorporate animation and photography, have garnered success online and appeared in leading magazines and blogs. Ynon created his latest short film, Close the Shutters, for his thesis project.
Scent of Geranium
by Naghmeh Farzaneh
USA (Rochester Institute of Technology)
4:41
Immigration is a new chapter in one’s life, a chapter with unexpected events that can take one’s life down paths different from the one imagined. This film is an autobiographical account of the director’s experience with immigration.
Naghmeh Farzaneh is an Iranian animator and filmmaker who entered the animation world after getting her bachelor’s degree in Painting. She began her first film, Trapped in Time, as an exercise to learn the medium, the work got an international recognition in many film festivals. In 2011 she immigrated to the United States to continue filmmaking while pursuing her MFA in Animation. Naghmeh’s films have been officially selected in many international festivals around the globe including Leeds International Film Festival, Savannah Film Festival, Festival Du Nouveau Cinema, Tricky Women, Tehran International Animation Festival and has won awards at Animateka Festival, 47ht ASIFA EAST Animation Festival, New Orleans Film Festival and Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival to mention the few. Naghmeh currently is an animation faculty member at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Blank, the Bird
by Yihui “Cece” Jiao
USA (School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
2:17
There is a bird named Blank. He doesn’t know who he is, what to do and where to go. So he flies around to get some suggestions… He learns that identity is about appearance, habits and characters but there’s always something more to explore…
Yihui “Cece” Jiao studied psychology and studio arts at Indiana University Bloomington 2015. During the time studying at School of Museum of Fine Arts, she practiced book art and started to learn animation. She created her first short animation “Blank, the Bird” in Spring semester 2016 at SMFA. Now she is studying Computer Art at School of Visual Arts, New York.
Equipoise
by Gung-Kai Koo
USA (Rochester Institute of Technology)
3:00
Equipoise is my graduation film about positiveness, negativity and the opposite but complementary relationship between them. The spirit of the film is how they work together to reach the harmony and balance to react to stimulation, instead of judging the dominance or tendency of the two forces.
Gung-Kai Koo is from Taipei, Taiwan. He has been working on motion design at Rochester Institute of Technology since 2013. With a huge passion of cartoon, 2D, photography and vintage games, he is also a collector of children books and toys.
MÓR
by A. Bowen Welles & Lisa Wu
USA (Chapman University, Orange County, California)
9:19
A girl and her younger brother are lost deep in the dark woods and afraid to move forward. When they stumble across the Well for Lost Souls, she is presented with a magical solution that promises to help them find their way home.
A. Bowen Welles and Lisa Wu are a filmmaking team that graduated from Chapman University in Orange County, California. Originally from Lake Bluff, Illinois, Bowen emphasized in art direction and has a particular passion for the video game industry. Lisa grew up in California and has always had a huge love for all forms of storytelling.
English 
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