This film program invites viewers to see the whole through subtle details: to catch a rebellion in the gentle movement of a curtain behind a dictator, a shift in ideologies in the layers of paint on a wall, the grandeur of ancient forests in the flickering of pixels. In some works, the artists seem to be testing the strength of materials — paper, wax, film — by erasing, scratching, painting over, and cutting. With minimal means, they create striking, often hypnotic visual sequences. This selection invites contemplation and discovery of freedom and the rich diversity of contemporary experimental animation.
Curated by Yuliia Kuznietsova
Running time 74 min.
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Japan | 12:33 | 2025
The moment the first gleam of sunlight trickled in gently stirring the folds of a shallow sleep—that was when the graffiti appeared... Installment #2 in the “Bungaku Bideo” series fusing Japanese literature and animation, Ryo Orikasa’s hypnotic animated short “The Graffiti” brings to life a prose poem by Makoto Takayanagi, read here by the poet himself.
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Austria | 07:00 | 2024
A 40-year old graffiti wall becomes an archaeological site and a sgraffito sculpture as long-gone layers of paint are uncovered and transformed into fireworks of color and shape. The combination of stop motion animation with visceral sounds compresses decades of artistic, political, and cultural expression into a new audio-visual dimension. Driven by frustration with the global rise of toxic ideologies, the artists created this street art metaphor in an earnest attempt to know and understand the past and the present.
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Belgium | 05:09 | 2024
In this animated miniature a drawing gradually comes to life before our eyes, telling a story not only of a wild boar on the run, but also of the ways in which people occupy the places that used to belong to nature. Based on memories of a walk in the Belgian Ardennes. This film was drawn and animated alone on a single sheet of paper as a performance.
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USA | 08:00 | 2025
If we could witness the Earth across deep time, the ground beneath our feet would oscillate, revealing the dynamic nature of our planet—what feels permanent to us is actually in constant flux when viewed on the geological timescale.
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Colombia | 12:53 | 2025
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.
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Canada | 03:18 | 2024
Investigating interplay between sound and picture as visual music. An experimental animation experience produced by drawing both sound and picture onto 35mm film. A film without words. No camera or musical instrument was used.
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Netherlands | 07:00 | 2024
States of Matter is an experimental strata-cut animation crafted entirely from wax and paper. Drawing inspiration from Oskar Fischinger's pioneering wax experiments of the 1920s, the film emerged from the director's creative explorations during his postgraduate studies. In the process, solid sculptures were shaped from liquid wax, only to be systematically broken down and reanimated. The resulting highly magnified "macro animations" are complemented by a tactile soundscape highlighting the materials' intricate details, textures, and movements.
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Myanmar | 16:36 | 2024
In the houses, after parting, Mothers were made up of tears. Sons were transformed into empty glass cups. And the lullabies became a curse. The film examines the suffering and resilience of the Burmese people by using the distinct political elements that have floated for several years on the ocean of political opera under repetitive military dictatorships in Myanmar.
