ALL WINNERS OF THE CATEGORIES - OFFICIAL SELECTION TO THE LIVE SCREENING
The festival will screen films from Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America and North America. Congratulations to all selected films !!!
Mavka: The Forest Song (Ukraine)
Director: Oleg Malamuzh & Oleksandra Ruban
– Best Best Animation Feature Film (over 30 minutes)
Mavka – a soul of the Forest – faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest, when she falls in love with a human – the talented young musician Lukash. Our story is about the magical power of love. That kind of love that enables human nature to find the magic within and reveals abilities and qualities that empower a person to reach beyond possible and to hold against evil and human vice.
REALIGN (Taiwan)
Director: Ruei-Feng Huang
– Best Animation Short Film (under 30 minutes)
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“REALIGN” is an animation film about space and time dimension. It depicts a boy who reverberate confusedly around the room, street and the lake outside the gigantic wall, which he decided to take the step toward the line that behold the gravity of whole after thunderstorms corroded the time.
Yellow Dove Aftermath (United States)
Director: Rony A. Abovitz
– Best Animation Experimental Film
– Best Producer: Richard Taylor & Martin Baynton
The surreal experiences of Yellow Dove in his bunker within the world of Hour Blue
THE SPRAYER (Iran)
Director: Farnoosh Abedi
– Best Animation Student Film
– Best Student Animator
In the land occupied with the sprayers army, no one has the right to grow any kind of plants either in public or private.
So many of the people and soldiers do not even know how dose a plant grows or look like, until one day one of the soldiers finds a seed buried deep down in the dust and his curiosity is just the beginning of something extraordinary, something big, something revolutionary.
Blue (United States)
Director: Robert Petrie
– Best Animation Film Cinematography
The film leans into the sci-fi genre in creating a space of wonder and heroism for young people amidst a time where the world can be a scary place with a lot of fear and uncertainty. Our protagonist Jules looks up to the stars and wonders if we will ever get to explore the worlds and galaxies we are yet to see, or even begin to imagine. Love and exploration are the central themes that bind the story together. And, of course, there are some intergalactic villains along the way.
Gene's 6th Symphony (United States)
Director: Jordi Garcia
– Best Animation US Short Film
The original animated short “Gene’s 6th Symphony” is based on a true story and was born with only six notes of music that became a symphonic magical story that defines true love and a life-long journey ending with a hope that lives forever.
Leo da Vinci (Italy)
Director: Sergio Manfio
– Best Director
The series revolves around the exciting adventures of 15 year-old Leonardo da Vinci, during the thrilling phase of his life he spent in Florence under the rule of the Medici family.
It’s a time where there is a great surge in the arts, in finance, and in creativity, and Leo can’t help but thrive in this environment.
He pursues painting and sculpture at Andrea del Verrocchio’s workshop, and in the Maestro’s atelier he meets the young painters who will make Renaissance history.
La Calesita (Argentina)
Director: Augusto Schillaci
– Best Character Rigging
A heartfelt story of the beloved Argentinian merry-go-round operators who have dedicated their lives to providing fun and happiness to children and their neighborhoods.
This is a story of perseverance and community above the individual.
Lipstick of the Brave (United States)
Director: Bill Plympton
– Best Animation Music Video
– Best Orginal Score in Animation Film: & Madstone Rowan
Lipstick of the Brave represents the animated journey of Madstone Rowan, composer and performer, as they find inspiration in the rock and pop music which inspired them to move beyond the gender binary and embrace their non-binary self. Through Bill Plympton’s poignant animation, homage is paid to the songs and artists that lifted Madstone on their journey as the film seeks to connect with the audience in a way that inspires the viewer to see their own sense of personal power as a part of a world that collectively embraces all expressions of gender and sexuality. The animation is set to the music written and sung by Madstone Rowan.
One Last Wish (Israel)
Director: Galia Osmo
– Best Stop Motion Animation
The Fisherman and the Fish folk tale comes to life, in a bitter-sweet animation. A lonely fisherman has a magical goldfish, who granted him three wishes. He already used two wishes to help others in need. Now he is facing a grave decision; after accidentally killing a stranger, he has to choose whether to keep his last wish and stay a murderer. Or to use it to save a stranger’s life, but in doing so he will lose the only thing that truly matters, his friend.
Moirai, Thread of Life (Singapore)
Director: Ina Conradi & Mark Joseph Chavez
– Best Animation 3D Film
Set in the distant future, a female astronaut in search of untouched lands finds herself gravitating toward a mysterious force in a strange cave. The viewer follows her through a journey of discovery and understanding as she gets pulled into another dimension, her ‘self’ entwined and connected with the larger fabric of the universe.
The antiquary (Portugal)
Director: Manuel Matos Barbosa
– Best Animator: Manuel Matos Barbosa & João Oliveira
Every town has its collector or antique dealer, a mole who walks around in the ruin of things looking for stories or treasures. Vicente was a stingy old man, sparing with words. In his collection, the pixie of mercy that he admired so much was missing. The despair of not seeing his desire fulfilled drove him to illness. On the town’s feast day, the procession visited the sick. Vincent received a visit from the priest, seeing, as if in a prodigy, the prior in great robes, holding the marvelous pyxid in his hands.
Frontier (China)
Director: Xiaopeng Zhu
– BBest First Time Director
The intern Li Wei, as a test subject of artificial intelligence, faces the temptation and persecution of the central system in an experiment where the boundaries of morality and humanity seem to be unfortunately out of control, and still chooses to sacrifice herself to preserve humankind.
10:35 (Mexico)
Director: Alan Sánchez
– Best Sound in Animation Film: Rodolfo Romero, Martín García & Gerardo Miranda
“10:35” is the third short film made at Spaceboy, using Motion Capture technology (Vicon & Faceware) and full of learning, telling a touching story that makes us reflect about life.
Tomorrow We continue (Syria)
Director: Abdullah Ghanem
– Best Animation Documentary Film
During the course of the Syrian conflict, more than 100,000 people have disappeared or have been illegally detained. The families they leave behind may move on to safer places as refugees, but the search for what happened to their loved ones persists wherever they go. Tomorrow We Continue is an animated short film that follows the story of a young mother of two whose husband was detained and disappeared by security forces in Syria some years ago. The film takes us on her journey as a refugee searching for safety in Berlin and, once settled, the daily struggles she encounters as she tries to find balance earning a living and caring for her children with continuing to search for her husband. The film is based on real interviews with families of the missing, collected by a group of Syrian organizations working on the ground. The film aims to shed light on the limbo in which many Syrian families live, as they struggle to learn the fate of their loved ones. They are stuck between moving on and holding on to hope.
JUMBO (Hong Kong)
Director: Lily Hoi Man Lai
– Best Student Director
A staving girl is trying to create a growth potion to make a jumbo soup dumpling meanwhile her cat is not happy with his foods
Life of a Mayfly (United States)
Director: David Du
– Best Animation Film By Young Filmmaker (under 18 years old)
Life of a Mayfly” is a bittersweet story about a mayfly with a deep desire to pluck a berry from a vine. However, the brevity of his life and unexpected obstacles prevent him from achieving this goal. The berry symbolizes unattainable aspirations due to one’s limitations. In the end, the mayfly discovers contentment not because it successfully plucks the berry but rather because the berry enriches its life with purpose and possibility.
