International Competition Program #10: Friday Extreme (18+)

This session is classified: Unclassified (18+), restricted to people 18 years and over.

The International Competition Programs are the backbone of the entire MIAF mission. Drawn from more than 2,450 submissions they showcase the best, most imaginative animating talent on the planet. For Programs 1 to 5 the only rule is diversity: you’ll get a bit of everything! For Programs 6 to 10 we take the opportunity to highlight interesting themes and styles that felt prominent in the year’s submissions.

It didn’t take us too long to work out that more than a few animators had turned the juice up to 15 this year. Maybe it was in terms of a tres tres bizarrio story, a desire to not just hit but slam the pace button or perhaps an ambition to just propel their particular technique-de-etre into the stratosphere. Whatever it was or wherever it came from, we thought about maybe spreading the load across the festival program and then we went… n’aaaaah, this is what Fridays are for!!!

Overture
Jakub Hronsky
Czech Republic, 7’05, 2025
A humanoid insect wreaks havoc on a Bratislava housing estate, but what will emerge in its wake?

Insecticide
Paula Gallego Gonzalez
Spain, 5’42, 2026
A grotesque insect tries to satisfy his most onanistic instincts through a prism that displays a lustful and chaotic world.

Sublime
Marie Heribel, Candice Yernaux, Juliette Buysschaert, Camille Leroy, Joséphine Vendeville, Martin Laurent, Lucas Foutrier
France, 8’02, 2024
In a society where beauty is revered like a deity, a doll seeks to find her place but the rules – nor the consequences – are well signposted.

Our Lady Of Rot
Bibi Erjavec
Slovenia, 5’08, 2025
Should a bone that can move, not move? The answer is a lot more complicated than you might think.

System Of Faith
Timothy Koo
Singapore, 4’50, 2025
A lone alien drifts into an empty cathedral to seek salvation, but finds only inner demons that force it to face itself or be consumed.

Hide And Seek
Junjie (Dinggo) Xu
UK, 6’08, 2024
A deep dive into the farthest realms of an imagination that simultaneously plays out and hides their true queer identity.

The Synthetic Age
Dimitris Armenakis
Greece, 7’39, 2025
In a city where people consume cartoons, a dog reconciles with its old friends; together they set out to escape the humans.

Mother Clay
Armin Rangani, Raha Amirfazli
USA, 5’53, 2025
In a society made of clay that worships a Hand statue as their God, a temple servant discovers a severed finger and learns their deity is dead.

The Exploding Girl
Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel
France, 19’00, 2025
Life can never ever be normal when you explode several times a day, losing parts of yourself along the way.

This session is classified: Unclassified (18+), restricted to people 18 years and over.
Please note that Backlot is NOT fully accessible. There are stairs with handrails, but no lift to the second floor where the cinema is located.