SET 3 – NIGHTMARE

A thrill-seeking customer of the Bar Croquette begins to question the appeal of the ordinary routine of her everyday life after watching a Bollywood film.

Maria Dakszewicz, born June 3, 2002, in Gdańsk, is a director, writer, and illustrator. In 2022 she began her studies at the National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. Her first student film, “Rosół z kaczki,” had its world premiere at Animafest Zagreb in 2024. Her film “Bar Croquette freestyle” was included, among others, in the selection of the DOK Leipzig festival and on the shortlist of the New Horizons festival.

ECHOES is a brief animated journey, conceived as a personal diary of the past two years. Drawing inspiration from real places I've visited, it unfolds as an unscripted, non-narrative sequence of animated sketches. 

A man finally decides to go and get a haircut. He has no idea that he is about to experience the most peculiar visit to a hairdresser of his life.

Justyna Bielawa is a student of Animation and Special Effects at the Łódź Film School and a graduate of the State Secondary School of Fine Arts in Katowice. She works in animated film and illustration.

Toni, an orange grower, sees his life go by, caught up in an industrialized world that surpasses him, of which only a tender memory could save him.

Toni grows oranges. He loves them, they are his treasure. Until one day, strange cargo ships dock in the valley. Cargos loaded with… GREEN oranges!

Alexandre Athané is a self-taught illustrator and filmmaker based in Paris. He works in animation and creates title sequences for cinema. His animated short “Jus d’orange” (2024), a French-Polish co-production, has received awards at international festivals including the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Beverly Hills Film Festival. He is currently developing his next film.

A memory through the eyes of a child raised in a small Polish town. Cartoons on VHS tapes, Jesus, and the nearby slaughterhouse all become threatened when a blinding light of the future appears on the horizon.

A filmmaker and an audiovisual artist, born in 1999. Since 2020, he has been studying at the Lodz Film School. He has worked on numerous short films, feature films and TV productions. His practice spans interdisciplinary art combining film and 3D animation. He is inspired by Poland and old internet blogs.

A pioneer of animation discovers a mysterious slide in his collection. To examine it more closely, he projects it using a magic lantern. The devil depicted on the slide takes advantage of a moment of inattention and escapes into the real world. An innovative mapping technique is used to combine classical animation with stop-motion. The film pays homage to the origins of animation, using a magic lantern and slides that are authentic historical artifacts.

Poznań-based artist and animator. In his work, he experiments with a variety of techniques, combining traditional forms of expression with modern solutions. For his diploma film, he developed an original method of combining digital mapping with classic puppet animation. His films have been presented at, among others, the One-Minute Film Festival in Gdańsk and the Animator Festival in Poznań. He is a graduate of Animation at the University of the Arts in Poznań.

A fair-haired knight, craving for another victory, delves into a mysterious maze. The deeper he ventures, the more he discovers the meaninglessness of his quest. In the depths, the hero gets involved in an absurd fight losing sight of the real danger. To triumph, he must rid himself of everything that has defined him so far.  

Mateusz Jarmulski is a director and writer of animated films and an animator. He graduated from the Film School in Łódź with a degree in animation. He is also the author of music videos and concert visuals. His films have been broadcast on television and screened and awarded at festivals including Stuttgart, Seoul and Hiroshima. His previous short films “The Hunt” and “The Visit” went to more than 40 festivals around the world. He seeks variety in various 2d forms and is interested in the possibilities of the animation language. 

Ladies and Gentlemen! There it is – the brain! With a touch of humor, the film shows what really happens inside a human brain when incomprehensible or intrusive thoughts appear – a phenomenon well known to everyone. Even though these thoughts sometimes border on the absurd, they are moments many people can relate to.

Natalia Modrzewska, a student of the Animated Film and Special Effects at the Polish National Film School in Łódź. She is an animated film director, visual artist and a devoted voice actress at heart. She creates visual effects as well as short films.

“Autumn 2026” is a visually and musically rich metaphorical film essay on human nature, transience, emotions, and the place of man in the world. Set against the backdrop of a vast autumnal landscape, the film traces successive stages of human existence, becoming a visual meditation on life, nature, and loss. It is a poetic study of inner emotional states and a continuation of the auteur cycle begun with the films “Spring 1999” and “Summer 2014”.

Wojciech Sobczyk – animated film director, screenwriter, graphic designer and illustrator. He graduated from the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He is currently a teaching fellow at the Animated Film Studio of the same academy. He makes animated films, graphics, art projects. Author of solo exhibitions, participant in museum shows, curator of exhibitions.