OPEN CALL - SET I: ROTAMINA – THE CHEMISTRY IN US

Pills and capsules are choreographed into a cacophony of shape, color and size, resulting in a satirical commentary about our cultural, recreational, and economic infatuation with prescription drugs. 

A person wakes up. Due to a constant and symbolic metamorphosis, they gets the head of different animals. Through these metamorphoses, they is led intuitively to the search for a secret. This secret is generated in water and a fish is the only trace that can reveal to Them the consciousness of Their own origin. From the water shows the relationship between intuition and memory of living beings. In his search, the protagonist becomes half human, half animal. They is guided by animal instincts, but also by what They thinks They remembers. 

Diana Menestrey completed her studies of fine arts in Colombia and in the following years she worked with experimental animation. Afterwards she completed postgraduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts. In 2015 she was awarded the Spiridon Dumont Prize for her artistic work and in January 2016 she co-founded the Cologne animation studio VAMOS Animation. She works as an illustrator, animator, animationtrainer and filmmaker in Cologne. 

Sleep in the same state as before. A wonderful and magical economic experiment where one's head changes and one's head falls. Finally, the appearance of the image is reduced. 

Yingjie Zhou – I studied in Japan and pursued my passion for directing. 

Aboard their cart, Doctor Rabarbaro and his assistant Tosse travel from house to house to cure absurd illnesses with their ingenious remedies. 

Stefano Tambellini is an illustrator and independent filmmaker. After graduating in Traditional Animation at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Torino with the film "La Reliquia Rivoltosa", he lived for six years in London where he started working as an illustrator for children's books. In 2005, he co-founded the production label SenzaTesta with his sister Alice and wrote and directed several live-action and animated short films. He also teaches puppet animation in workshops and schools.  

Alice Tambellini is an independent filmmaker and animator. After graduating in Multimedia Arts at Carrara Fine Arts Academy, she attended animation courses in Poitiers, and in Bristol, specializing in stop-motion animation. Since 2005 she directed and animated stop-motion short films with her brother Stefano under the label "SenZa TesTa Productions". In 2011 she worked as a puppet animator on the short film "Oh Willy!", by Emma De Swaef and Marc J. Roels. 

Deluge is an ever-evolving landscape where the present inevitably coexists with the past. Memories are formed, reshaped, and obliterated, relentlessly competing for space. Control is surrendered, and mistakes and second chances are embraced. It is the slow stampede of a vulnerable mind. 

Meejin Hong is an experimental animator deeply rooted in the fine arts. She holds an MFA in Experimental Animation from California Institute of the Arts and a BFA in Printmaking from Cornell University. She is part of a team of post-disciplinary artists at Electronic Countermeasures, LLC based in Los Angeles. She was born in Spartanburg, SC and currently resides with a creep of tortoises and other unruly creatures in Winnetka, CA. 

"Granny’s Treat" is inspired by the TV series "How It’s Made", where assembly lines and mass production take center stage. This is a nod to the repetitive actions and routines often associated with dependence on chemical substances. A variety of treats have been laid out on the table — can you guess which one is Granny’s creation? As a culinary specialist, much like a chemist in a lab, she meticulously crafts every recipe she undertakes. What’s her secret to success? It’s simple! Great fun and… excellent company! That’s why, during her chemical experiments, Granny is assisted by her faithful companion — a pig! Together, they explore how Granny’s signature treat takes her on a flavorful journey through the culture of spices. The intense taste sensations bring our heroine to a state of bliss. Granny deems her chemical experiment a success and thinks, Maybe it’s time to whip up another one. And you? What’s your take on Granny’s addictive treat?

Rooted in wetlands, páramos and centennial forests at the verge of disappearing, memories and a speculated future collide. 500 years of exploitation, exile and resilience are nourished by a collective pain and a desire to crack through it all.  

Carlos Velandia, Angélica Restrepo – Colombian filmmakers with background in Film Programming and New Media, whose work focuses on anti-hegemonic representation and expanded animation. Their work has qualified for the 96th Academy Awards, BAFTA and Goya Awards – winning the Uppsala Award in Memory of Ingmar Bergman, as well as other awards such as the ZINEBI Grand Award and the ENCOUNTERS Animation Grand Prix. Their films have premiered several times at the Annecy International Animation Festival. 

A child recognizes the erotic relationship between the parents. Curious but overwhelmed, the child takes control.  

Jung Hyun Kim is an independent filmmaker based in South Korea. With her background in fine arts, Kim works with expressive colours and textures in her hand-drawn animations. Her award-winning first film, "Hootchu" (2015), screened at the closing ceremony at Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2016 and at many other film and animation festivals around the world. Kim is a BFA recipient from Tufts University/SMFA in USA and graduated with Cum Laude in Masters in Animation at Estonian Academy of Arts. Her master’s thesis film, ‘sweet sweat’ (2018) received "Prize for First Flight" at Indie-Anifest and the jury special prize “Special Mention” in the student competition at Balkanima festival, and continues to travel around the globe. 

Własna śmierć jest bez wątpienia najmocniejszym przeżyciem. Śmierć umysłu jest straszniejsza od śmierci ciała. Człowiek zmienia się w mechanizm podtrzymujący funkcje życiowe, aż „maszyna” się zatnie. Śmierć w skali mikro nie różni się zbytnio od tej w makro. Śmierć – to śmierć. Patrzenie na denaturację własnych białek, ich rozkład, nierówną walkę z wpuszczonym intruzem jest czymś przejmującym.

Inspired by the filmmaker’s family history of "foie gras" making, the film is a surreal journey through the unsettling ways family traditions take root in our bodies and our lives. 

Margot Fabre is a French artist, animator and writer. She is currently based in Toronto and was part of the LungA School 24 program ART: A composition for untrained voices, Iceland.  Her drawing practice experiments with oral histories, poetic narration and magical realism using frame by frame animation, illustration and comics. Her research has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and her work has been shown at Zine Dreams (Toronto) and Heima Arts Collective (Iceland). She is the founder of Spy Press, a platform that publishes experimental writing, artist books and hosts Reading Night, a monthly literary event in Toronto. Margot’s writing has been published in Footnotes and Vermin Magazine. She recently directed her first short animation Family Dinner (2024). 

A film about men. And hugs. And kisses.

A new film by Marc Richter aka Neue Deutsche Kunst who's been working tirelessly on arcane new films since winning the MuVi-Award at renowned Shortfilmfestival Oberhausen, turning so-called artificial intelligence on its head.  

Marc Richter – Under the Neue Deutsche Kunst alias Marc Richter (also known for his musical project Black To Comm) is testing the boundaries of AI software by overloading it with surreal and confusing tasks and information (all within a visual framework of his own making). The AI is trying to make sense of these almost poetic texts by hallucinating lysergic artworks and films. Richter's visual works are as much influenced by German folklore and fairytales as well as actionist performance, psychedelic art and the writings of Angela Carter and JG Ballard. In 2024 he has won the MuVi Award at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. 

Ordinary life repeats itself every day. The succession of moments that we repeat over and over again is never the same, and everything changes and wavers. The moment we touch something, our consciousness can go to a place that does not exist anywhere in the past, nor in the future. In an uncertain and fluctuating world, only the feeling of the body touching something, which exists only in this present reality, can be recognised as “now”. That moment is lovely. 

Yoriko Mizushiri – Born in 1984. She creates animations that use body parts and everyday objects as motifs for tactile expression. In addition to making short films, she is also involved in the production of music videos, advertisements, and movies for installations. Her short films have been screened and awarded at festivals worldwide, including Anxious Body, completed in 2021, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight Competition at the 74th Cannes Film Festival and has won 15 international awards.