Decide which film will join the International and Polish Short Film Competitions! This year’s Animator unscreened will take place June 5-8.
We recently published the selections for the International and Polish Short Film Competitions. However, there is one film missing in each of them, and its selection is... up to you! Animator unscreened will take place at the Muza Cinema in June 5-8. During the screenings, the audience will select films that will go into the competition with a “wild card” and will have the opportunity to compete for a shortened path to the Oscar®.
On June 5, with your help, a candidate for the Polish Short Film Competition will be selected, and from June 6 to 8 we will see films that have a chance to join the fight for the Grand Prix of the International Competition.
Polish Short Film Competition | 5.06 | Muza Cinema | 7pm
Valentine's Day / Walentynki, Sonia Mossoczy, Poland 2025
What does it feel like to be single on Valentine’s Day? A story about how irritating people in love are.
A conversation about faces / Rozmowa o twarzy, Helena Jabłonowska, Poland 2024
The film presents an animated discussion on the concept of the face. It explores the theory of Professor Semir Zeki, a pioneer in the field of neuroaesthetics. The second part analyzes how viewers interpret the deformed faces portrayed in the works of British painter Francis Bacon, within the framework of the previously mentioned theory. The animation boldly combines a variety of techniques, from stop-motion animation (employing crayon, plasticine, monotype, and collage) to 3D methods. The film exists also in english version.
Vesnianka / Vesnianka, Dmutro Borsuk, Poland 2024
Vesnianky is the name of Slavic ritual songs associated with the beginning of spring and the approach of spring fieldwork. But after the spring of 2022, it took on a completely different meaning. I look at early spring, and she looks so sad and depressed, as if she wants to end her life.
Made in China, Franciszka Stańczyk, Poland 2024
While browsing on the internet, a fashionable fox spots a stunning blouse that immediately catches his eye. Without hesitation, he places an order. Days go by as he waits impatiently for the package to arrive. Alongside the protagonist, we follow the package's journey-a voyage that feels like it lasts an eternity. Will the package reach its destination, and if it does, what awaits at the end of its journey?
A Journey Through The Backrooms – Tape 1, Leon Ziemianowicz, Poland 2024
A young man is inexplicably trapped in "The Backrooms", an endless labyrinth of eerily liminal spaces. As he searches for an exit, he encounters unsettling environments and surreal occurrences that blur the line between reality and nightmare. With every step, the sense of isolation and dread deepens, raising the question: is there truly a way out, or is he doomed to wander forever?
The Last Hope / Ostatnia Nadzieja, Patryk Iwan, Poland 2024
As the sole survivor of a zombie apocalypse, John, haunted by a terrifying past involving his family, wanders through a ruined city in search of food. Hungry and exhausted, he enters an abandoned grocery store. However, as he begins to gather supplies, he hears suspicious noises coming from behind the shelves. The undead are lying in wait for him, hidden. Choking on fear, John must act quickly. Using whatever he can find, he engages in a desperate fight for his life, seizing every opportunity to evade the zombies. Will he manage to escape this trap, or will he become the apocalypse’s next victim?
Discrepancy / Rozdźwięk, Mikołaj Mirzewski, Poland 2025
A teenage girl begins an internship at a seaside hotel, where old and new relationships come into play.
Though they may forget us / A nawet gdyby o nas zapomnieli, Kacper Buratyński, Poland 2024
The Doctor, the Blonde, the Devil, Little Johnny, the Wolf, and the Bear, characters known from jokes, share their thoughts on the sense of humor and their lives.
I, Monster, Zofia Tomalska, Poland 2024
The film "I Monster" touches on the issue of fear, which, through its rapper form, becomes a separate entity, attacking all the senses of an individual who is unable to free himself from the yoke of fear. Fear paralyzes and incapacitates, not allowing any action.
Amen / Na Amen, Julia Orzoł, Poland 2025
A girl coming from a deeply religious family experiences a crisis of values after a new priest starts teaching religion classes.
International Short Film Competition | 6.06 | Muza Cinema | 7pm
Ganz weit weg, Anna-Sophia Rosa Strittmatter, Germany 2024
Maditha plays with a toy airplane. She reveals her wish to fly to Grandpa on vacation. But Elsa doesn't have time for that because she goes down a hole every day where Maditha can only walk on. Unfortunately, Elsa doesn't say anything about what's down there but she starts to feel worse, she pays less attention to Maditha, stops eating, stays out longer and has less and less space in the room due to the hole getting bigger. When Maditha even has to help Elsa in her everyday life, she wants to remove what seems to be a burden to her in the hole. She climbs into the sack that Elsa always takes with her and finds her dying grandfather.
Éiru, Giovanna Ferrari, Ireland 2024
Éiru is the smallest child of an Iron-Age clan. All she wants is to be a mighty warrior who is taken seriously by her kinfolk. But when the village’s well mysteriously dries up, only she is small enough to descend into the belly of the earth to investigate and bring the water of life back to her people. Éiru is the story of a child in search of a quest, and a goddess in search of a champion.
Saudade, Danaë Zegers, Belgium 2024
This stop-motion short film explores the emotional journey of wandering through diverse landscapes in search of a home that remains elusive. Through evocative visuals and a reflective atmosphere, the protagonist grapples with feelings of displacement and yearning. Inspired by the words of Christopher Tapp – "I am homesick for a home that I have yet to create" – The film captures the deep longing for a place of belonging that has yet to be found, symbolizing the universal quest for identity and purpose.
Detlev, Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Germany 2024
A constantly freezing man in his forties drives to a lonely petrol station every evening and orders a microwaved Toast Hawaii. Detlev indulges in this in a 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.
The View from the Plane, Daniele Grosso, Portugal 2024
On the 24th of June, 1958 the philosopher and anti-nuclear activist Günther Anders was flying to Japan to take part in the Fourth World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs and for Disarmament. He recollected this experience in his book "The Man on the Bridge: Diary from Hiroshima and Nagasaki".
Exspiro, Sigrit Villido, Estonia 2024
In a barren dystopian landscape, a remnant of a human searches for sources of oxygen. In it's journey it finds mind altering experience.
PRIKOSYMPHONO, Elena Gazi, Dolan Bailey, Alejandra Diaz, Leonardo Dal Fabbro, Greece 2024
Placed in Lefkada, an island in the Ionian Sea, a little girl finds a paper from 1955, that contains a list of objects that belonged to her great aunt and proceeds to ask her grandfather about it. He explains to her that this is the list of her dowry, an old Greek tradition, in which the bride's possessions were concede to the groom as a formal marriage agreement. Moved by this finding, he starts recalling memories of his childhood, witnessing his older sister Armenia, having an arranged marriage and leaving behind her family and the island for a better future.
my mom's favorite recipe, Jolana Kampfová, Czech Republic 2024
an intimate confession of coming to terms with one’s teenage years
JAN, Febe Van Avermaet Belgium, 2023
Jan, a 48 year old, neurotic, socially incapable man is trying to find peace, during a chaotic train journey. He escapes into a dream about geese.
Sweet Like Lemons, Jenny Jokela, United Kingdom 2023
Sweet Like Lemons is a visual reflection on getting out of a harmful relationship and moving on. The title is a play on the saying “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”, only in this case there is no lemonade to be made but the lemons still taste sweeter than what you left behind.
The mud under my window, Violette DELVOYE, Belgium 2025
One of Emma’s mother is too busy, the other one is too far away: a presence she rejects, an absence she sublimates. Out of a trivial tension, an intimate and unsettling face-to-face confrontation suddenly arises.
Unusual Mind, Savvas Ampatzidis, Greece 2024
"Unusual Mind" is an animated short film that narrates a journey inside an unusual mind. From the dark and tense depths of the mind inhabited by creatures and demons to the places where the coveted calmness exists.
International Short Film Competition | 7.06 | Muza Cinema | 7pm
OCCHIO, Giulia Falciani, Germany 2024
An important sensory organ, the eye, is damaged. The exhausting healing process takes us on an inner journey full of pain, fragility and mental unrest, in which even superstition and witchcraft seem to have an influence on recovery.
TO ERR IS HUMAN, Tristan Bouillon-Perron, France 2024
Two computers exchange data all day long, until one of them has a quirky idea: it sends a joke! Is it a short circuit, a software bug? This anomaly gradually transforms their wired connection into a spiritual connection, creating a spark of humanity between the two robots, sweet and heady, which could potentially destroy their programming.
To the Mars and Back, Chanya Hetayothin, Thailand 2024
To the Mars and Back interweaves events from the present, past, and future—ranging from Space project to the discovery of planets and the atomic bomb experiment. The microcosmos of tardigrades mingled with nuclear particles. The film reflects the human effort and hope for survival in the midst of scientific progress and silent conflict.
Dissociation, Hugo Livet, France 2024
In a world devoid of humans, ordinary objects come alive, borrowing the forces of nature to transcend their static existence. The boundaries between the real and the virtual dissolve, as if the artificial world itself seeks a new kind of authenticity. Blending real footage, 3D scans, and special effects, Dissociation explores the fragile tension between truth and illusion, technology and nature. It questions our unease with the synthetic, while uncovering the beauty that emerges when the artificial becomes a means of connection. Through surreal and contemplative imagery, the film reimagines the familiar, inviting viewers to embrace the ambiguity of a world where the boundaries we take for granted have quietly disappeared.
Recordari, Carolina Cruz Chile 2024
Santiago, Chile, 1985. Camila and Paula, both 7 years old, are neighbors and best friends. Living amidst sweetness and bitterness, their lives, along with those of their families and their neighborhood, are shaped by the horrors of Pinochet's military dictatorship.
Whose Woods Are These, Kate Nartker, United States 2024
Created frame by frame from over 500 feet of woven fabric, this animated short reimagines the mysterious disappearance of the filmmaker's great-great-great-great-grandmother, Julianna Hofrichter. In 1841, Julianna left her home in northwest Ohio’s Great Black Swamp to gather hickory nuts, never to be seen again. In this film, she follows signs woven through the landscape to find solace and a deep connection to the wild. Through textured imagery and poetic visuals, the film invites viewers to explore themes of memory, transformation, and the threads that connect family and place.
Impossible Maladies, Stefano Tambellini, Alice Tambellini, Italy 2023
Aboard their cart, Doctor Rabarbaro and his assistant Tosse travel from house to house to cure absurd illnesses with their ingenious remedies.
Aquatic, Shiva Sadegh, Asadi, IR Iran 2024
A woman's ability to give birth to marine creatures, is exploited for commercial purposes.
Fish River Anthology, Veera Lamminpää, Finland 2024
The supermarket is nearing its closing time, and the last customers are queuing for their turn at the fish counter. The agonizing wait offers a chance for existential reflection and a little song.
BREED, Yiyang Sun, Estonia 2024
The sky is vast, the wilderness is boundless. While the lonely maple tree stands at the corner of the world. It bears thousands of seeds,Transforming into butterflies. Flirting and dancing over the water bubbles. They fall in love. “It‘s a story about butterfly Mom fall in love with a water bubble and give birth to babies”.
How A River Is Born, Luma Flôres, Brazil 2025
Ayla wakes up in a mountainous landscape, surrounded only by vegetation and a river. Driven by curiosity and a desire to get to know the place, she goes on a journey of discovery and diving. As she discovers where she is, she also discovers herself.
La Eterna Búsqueda del Quién, Raquel Salome Velasquez, Colombia 2024
"La eterna búsqueda del quién" explores identity and grief through a fusion of techniques such as digital animation, oil on glass and mixed media. Through the monologue an introspective journey is made, reflecting on loss and personal transformation.
Yasuke the African Samurai, Scott Palazzo, United States 2024
Yasuke The African Samurai tells the story of history's first foreign samurai, who lived and fought in 16th Century Japan. Uprooted from his home of Africa, Yasuke rose through the ranks of feudal Japan to become an elite soldier, and dear friend of a warlord. Using tactile and traditional animation, Yasuke uncovers a forgotten story. This film interprets one version of documented history in the 1500s, others exist that both contradict or support this depiction.
International Short Film Competition | 8.06 | Muza Cinema | 7pm
Poppy Flowers, Evridiki Papaiakovou, Estonia 2024
Remembering is a fluid affair. A daughter tries to reconcile with her mother through memories of their shared rituals, exposing the intricate aspects of their relationship. As the daughter matures, she begins to contemplate conventional notions of divinity. The blank frames of the 35mm strip regain their function as memorabilia in the process of engraving her past onto its surface.
come to light, Marco Ceccolini, Italy 2024
A man, trapped in a white sheet, struggles on a bed as if drowning in a nightmare. In front of a similar sheet, in an empty cinema, a mother breastfeeds her child, immersed in deep silence. A silent film tells the story of a cow, marked with the number "432," wandering on a beach in desperate search of her missing calf. When the cow finds the calf dead, marked with the number "433," the film dies with it: the sheet on which the movie is projected falls onto the stage, enveloping the entire hall in an even deeper silence. The number "433" evokes John Cage's famous silence, but here silence takes on a tragic meaning, representing the stillness of death. The same fate befalls the man on the bed, embodying life within the film, whose movements cease simultaneously with the end of the film.
Paper Dream, Laura Boráros, Czech Republic 2025
Man can not sleep becouse of his noisy neighbors, so he desides to take a look on their night lives.
POLIO, Klára Kubenková, Czech Republic 2025
Polio, or polio, is a viral infectious disease that can cause paralysis. The disease is almost eradicated today, but there are still people among us who suffer lifelong consequences after a polio epidemic.
Black Tide, Kim Yip Tong, France 2024
On July 25, 2020, the bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on the reef on the east coast of Mauritius. 12 days later, oil began to spill, causing the worst ecological disaster ever to occur in the region.
STAMPFER DREAMS, Thomas Renoldner, Austria 2024
STAMPFER DREAMS is a homage to the scientist Simon von Stampfer, who presented his invention of the Stroboscopic Discs in Vienna in 1833. These discs show all kinds of animated loops from abstract to figurative and from (literally) experimental to documentary, and in this way forsee the variety of genres in animated film. All characters and animated sequences in STAMPFER DREAMS are taken from / based on these “optical magic discs”. The film starts in the alpine region of Simon's childhood and vaguely follows his biography. Three 'dreams' depict his imagination of the further evolution mankind might make, with a watermill as the starting point for an industrial revolution that will ultimately lead to our present.
The Elevator, Oliver Mottram, United Kingdom 2024
A stranded pilot discovers an elevator in a tree and is pulled into a world above space by fishing giants.
A Blue Summer, Juliette Ragot, France 2024
It's the summer holidays at the local swimming pool and it's hot. Louane, 14, is lying by the pool, enjoying a moment of peace and quiet, when she is approached by Aïssa. Sheltered from the world around them, the two friends share a tender moment.
The Future, Hanna Margolis, Poland 2025
The main character of the film is Alina - a modern big city working woman, a heart transplant surgeon, totally dedicated to her work. The film opens on her 35th birthday with a scene of her having an erotic dream with Beard, a colleague from work. In the scenes taking place in the hospital, we see the great talent and career status of Alina; moreover, she is promoted by the Ordinary as his successor. The turning point is the Ordinary's collapse during an operation, which causes him to leave his job.
The Salami Sandwich, Clarisa Silvia Lea Place, Argentina 2024
1970, Argentina under military dictatorship. A guerrilla warfare militant is captured by government authorities. After being tortured, he attempts to escape his fatal destiny using a salami sandwich.
The Great Annual Party of the Creatures of the Moon, Francis Desharnais, Canada 2024
Humans have finally left the moon! LET'S PARTY! A cheerful film created on a pinscreen.
How will you be able to vote? Before and after the screenings there will be ballots waiting for you. Among those of you who write your e-mail on them, we will draw people who will receive accreditation for the 18th edition of Animator.
