OPEN CALL ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEOS COMPETITION

A man, solemnly traversing empty city streets; a woman, wandering alone through fields and forests; a black hole, rising, expanding, reducing everything in its path to dust – shaping a new, chaotic reality. A Place of Perfect Stillness is a bleak, expressionistic story of two people’s worlds gradually coming undone – both outside and within. Directed and animated by Mikołaj Birek (“The Mountain”), the short serves as a music video introducing the debut album of the UK progressive metal project Xeelee. Led by Matt Bearne and Inese Verebe, with haunting spoken word narration by Harrison White (Novena, Leprous), the band focuses on taking the listener on a thematic journey.  

A small bird in captivity curiously observes the outside world through his window. Suddenly, a strange musical bird appears in the reflection of the glass, taking him on a hypnotic and liberating journey. "Where freedom is a melody waiting to be heard" .

A man struggles alone in a vast empty office. Something is definitely wrong with this place. Maybe it's the horse...  

From lament to a new day: an elegy for the transformative journey of grief.  

Our video reflects the song's theme of grappling with the overwhelming influence of technology and feeling adrift in its wake.  

Composed of 300 hand-crafted ceramic tiles, the analogue stop-motion music video for “Dirt” by Emory constructs a fragile universe from dirt itself. As tiles shift and landscapes slowly transform, the animation reflects the quiet progression of time: revealing moments of growth, stillness, and subtle change. Each frame holds visible traces of labor and care, inviting viewers to witness a sense of movement and emotional presence within material that is traditionally still.  

As the singer laments not being listened to, the video’s frenetic imagery underscores the idea that if only people truly paid attention, they might hear that he has something to say.  

Stop-frame, handmade animated music video for the band Hello Bear. Collaboration between director Matt Robinson and illustrator Kim Rebecca. This was made in a very lo-fi way, spreading endless drawings around my studio floor... it was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Thanks again and sorry to Kim, for asking you to draw so many hands on so many envelopes.  

 I'm a filmmaker and artist based in Glasgow, active far and wide. I love to collaborate, working with illustrators, musicians, artists and anyone with an interesting project in mind. I have a BA in New Media fine art from Norwich School of Art and Design, and an MA in film making from Edinburgh College of Art.  

What are you going to do when I am no longer here? A question that is thrown into the air as a message that flies over a photographic nostalgia of what has been lived and still to live. 

He studied graphic design at the UBA (National University of Buenos Aires) while developing his working career, working in pre-press, design, and art direction in different studios in Argentina, he developed graphics and campaigns for local and international brands. In 2015, together with Eze Torres, he founded the Rudo Company. Since then, he has collaborated as Director and Art Director in multi-awarded videoclips and advertisements that participated in more than 150 Official Selections in festivals around the world.  

“There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.” – Ronald Reagan  

Zak Margolis is an artist and animator from Portland, OR. He studies the sacred relationship between animation, sound, music, and darkness.  

Mara, a young teenager, attends a league match where she unexpectedly crosses paths with Vera, her childhood best friend. As the game unfolds, she’s flooded with memories of the bright bond they once shared, and of the day Vera left the club, leaving behind an ache Mara never fully understood. Now, standing across from her and with a single decisive play ahead, Mara must confront the echo of that old wound and choose whether to return the hurt she once carried.  

 Ezequiel Torres is a director with expertise in 2D cell animation, specializing in pieces with an emotional and intense approach. Over the past decade, he has directed and co-directed numerous multi-award-winning music videos featured in festivals worldwide. He is one of the founders of the animation studio Rudo Company, where he has been able to expand his artistic vision and leadership.  

 “Lark In A Sky Shop” is a music video inspired by Jacob Collier’s song, exploring inner tension between light and darkness, oppression and freedom. It follows a journey through struggle and transformation-being pressed, found, and led into openness. A story of conflict and discovery, it ultimately points toward life, freedom, and enduring love.   

Marie Lavis is a visual artist and designer working across illustration, animation and graphic design. Her work explores life, introspection, and emotions through expressive black-and-white linework. A graduate of HEAD-Genève, she discovered animation by chance and developed a passion for its emotional depth. Her films have been recognized at international festivals including Anima, Cardiff Animation Festival and LIAF and she has collaborated with artists and institutions such as Bobby McFerrin, Jacob Collier and Universal Music.  

Created to accompany Mary Coughlan’s haunting rendition of “Is That All There Is?” from her most ambitious project to date - Mirrors, a reimagining of Peggy Lee’s 1975 album written by Leiber & Stoller. Capturing its subjects in quiet moments of introspection, the music video explores themes of despair, loneliness, and the search for meaning in the 20th century.  

 Josh O'Caoimh is an Irish animation filmmaker. His previous work received a world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, qualified for the 2023 Academy Awards and won an IFTA.  

Regina makes her way to the ritual of initiation into magic. Makeup, glitter, and a blood pact define a new attitude in Regina who is now ready for anything.  

Jess Bianchi - digital artist and art director specializing in illustration and animation. Since 2018 she has worked independently in the field of 2D traditional animation. She focuses her work on fantasy and surrealism with a strong female approach. 

A music video about a woman named Paulinha. 

Ana Marta Mendes (Entroncamento, 1999) began her career as an animator in 2021 in the series “Mr. Passenger” while developing her master's film, “Alberto” (2022). She is currently working with the studio Os Filmes do Pinguim, where she has taken part in projects such as “O Natal do Bruno Aleixo” (2022), the short film “Um Mirtilo Canta Uma Música Sobre Azul” (2024), the series “As 7 Caixas” (2024) and most recently directed the music video for the song “Paulinha” by Raul Manarte.  

A convenience store in a rural town. Everyone in the town likes to drink the same bottled drink. One day, strange incidents start occurring one after another in the town, where people disappear leaving only their clothes behind. The sheriff investigating the case finds a suspicious man on a full moon night. A music video for "PRIME" by Tomoaki Baba, created by combining live-action footage of a paper doll and cut-out animation.  

The new videoclip of French band Stuck in the sound is a journey animated video clip: How should one react when the path they follow suddenly comes to an abrupt end? Sensational tells the story of a woman's transformative journey as she faces the unknown, confronting her fears to continue moving forward. 

François-Marc Baillet - French artist born in 1983 in Bourges. After studying science in Paris, he joined the Emile Cohl animation school in Lyon, graduating in 2007. His career began on commercial projects and films. Since 2014, his passion has blossomed in the creation of animated films and series, or in his studio where he creates illustrations for his own pleasure.  

There's trouble in the monkey house. 

Christy Karacas is the co-creator of the Adult Swim series Superjail! and creator of Ballmastrz:9009, and of cult favorites Spacewar and Barfight. His work has been shown at OIAF, Annecy, GLAS, BIAF, New Chitose Airport Animation Festival, MOMA P.S.1, and the Tribeca Film Festival. 

Luca Depardon is an animator from NYC. His films have been shown at the Centré Pompidou, OIAF, BIAF, and the Animation Block Party at BAM. His work has been featured on VICE, the NYC Children’s Museum and Adult Swim.

A girl's path of discovery through an unknown landscape. 

St. Louis producer-director spktra (Josh Fagin) spent five years reconstructing 1990s cel animation for his debut music video, “Spirit Jumper.” Designed to feel like a lost reel restored to 4K, Fagin meticulously recreated the analog imperfections that defined that period. With character designs by Batman Beyond veteran Glenn Wong, Fagin directed, edited, and composited the film, also coding the custom audio plugins to produce the song via his company, Noir Labs. 

The animated short was made as a music video for the song “Stupid Rock'n Roll” by Larsen Lombriki, an underground band from Rome. The video, following the song's lyrics in its own way, exaggerates the misadventures of returning from a concert: Now you're going home. You came to see our gig. You drank two beers. This stupid rock 'n' roll is bringing you to death. Why don't you stay at home? Driving your car is all you get.

Edoardo De Falchi is a visual artist based in Rome, where studied philosophy and is working as podcast author, at RaiPlay Sound. He’s also a collage artist, illustrator and freelance displacer. In 1998 wrote a book on public diy prank art, “Non è vero!”, published by Odradek Edizioni, Roma. The book included “critical” stickers ready for use. In 2018 published a comic book with Daniele Mancini, “Dove Sono” (Shockdom, Roma). His animation work developed alongside his passion for illustration, comics, graphic experimentation and music.

Sweet Joy leads into a surreal dreamscape where whimsical scenes and echoes of old machinery intertwine. A poetic journey unfolds — whimsical, mysterious, and touched with lightness and magic.  

Bianca Caderas (b. 1990, Switzerland) is a filmmaker and animation artist. She studied Fine Arts (Film) at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), graduating in 2017. Her graduation short “Living Like Hera” (co-directed with Kerstin Zemp and Isabella Luu) screened at numerous festivals. In 2018 she moved to Hamburg to study at the University of Fine Arts. Her film “Matta and Matto” (with Kerstin Zemp) screened at 100+ festivals and won several awards. They are currently developing their new animated short, “Spicy Lasagne Banana Milkshake”.  

Trying to outrun anxiety, seeking joy and strength in landscape and movement. “Ten Degrees of Strange” is a music video based on a song by Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn, from the album Lost in the Cedar Wood, directed and animated by Lynn Tomlinson. Taking inspiration from The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient story written on clay tablets, and responding to the strangeness of the global pandemic, this story of loss and hope in nature is told through colorful, shifting, changing, morphing clay on glass animation. 

Lynn Tomlinson animates moving clay paintings that transform and shift perspectives. Her work explores environmental themes, often imagining how non-human beings might view humanity's impact.  

Amid urban alienation and constant agitation, a solitary figure plays the trumpet. Words and images loop through an upside-down reality where real and fake collapse, and identity must be endlessly proven through familiar automated rituals.  

Nespy5euro - I was born in Mexico City, surrounded by “ugliness” and gray walls, instead of trees: power poles, my mountains were buildings, wildlife: rats and street dogs. Following the brut and grotesque aesthetic with which I grew up, I try to develop the same discourses within my work. And thanks to my roots I do not make problems mixing, destroying and modifying the basis of what my culture tells me is beautiful or not. I have a little house in the middle of the uncanny valley. 

In a bizarre, neon-bright clay world, an angler monster bursts into chaotic motion, rampaging through the tangled forest of her own imagination. Trees twist into impossible shapes, colors pulse like living things, and the whole landscape breathes with playful absurdity. The monster stumbles from one surreal moment to the next. The result is a wild, grotesquely poetic ride through the subconscious, where humor and the surreal melt together into one delirious spectacle.  

We’re Lee and Eliška Oz, the creative duo behind Oz Animation. Based in the Czech Republic, we’ve been bringing stories to life through animation since 2016, working with clients around the globe from our family-run studio. Specializing in stop-motion, traditional animation, and 2D vector animation, we pour our passion into every frame, and we’re grateful to share that joy with audiences everywhere! Over the years, we've had the honor of collaborating with amazing organizations and our work has been showcased at festivals worldwide. 

Four scientists find themselves stranded on an alien planet. They try to escape, but the planet exerts a mysterious force on them. Drawn to it, they begin exploring this new world, leaving behind all hope of returning. 

My name is Léon Chamelot. I was born in the year 2000, in August (a tricky month for birthday celebrations…). After a typical school path - high school, then university – I eventually made it to EMCA, and that’s when everything really began! You CAN make animated films! So without hesitation, I grabbed a pen, composed some music, and voilà! Thanks to my twisted mind and quirky ideas, I’m thrilled to present to you a music video set in a poetic-abstract-cosmic universe, inspired by sci-fi, created in collaboration with Melting Productions.