International Competition Program #5 – REPEAT

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.

In MIAF-Land – in fact, in Animation-Land – where would we be without the National Film Board of Canada. The NFB is truly one of the most consummate wellsprings of authentic animated art ever! We loved everything they sent us this year so we nabbed them as soon as they turned up and, for no particular reason, we’re running them in this program. Alex Boya, who gave us the sublimely whacky Turbine in 2018, is back with a sublimelier whackier BREAD WILL WALK, a film that all but defies viable description. Cordell Barker, the maker behind the ageless classic The Cat Came Back is back with GOOD LUCK TO YOU, and Martine Frossard’s HYPERSENSITIVE reminds us that there is plenty of appetite for experimentation in the NFB. The program closes with the film everybody’s talking about though, THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, who gave us Madam Tuttli-Putli back in 2007.

Bread Will Walk
Alex Boya
Canada, 11’20, 2025
A frenetic fresco of satire skewering the hypocrisies of corporate propaganda and its incessant kneading of a stale society into devouring whatever it’s fed—literally.

Good Luck To You All
Cordell Barker
Canada, 8’15, 2025
A little girl plays with her toys, blissfully unaware that she may hold the future of humanity in her hands. A whimsical yet cautionary tale about humanity’s latest shiny new toy.

Crow, Starfish And Unicorn
Xiaoxuan Han
China, 8’00, 2025
A unicorn that loses its horn will become a crow, but the starfish doesn’t care until the barber falls in love with the fish.

My Peckham Experiment
Gerd Gockell
Switzerland, 4’17, 2025
A short visual experiment on shifting perspectives and a love letter to a south London neighbourhood all rolled into one.

Not So Public Spaces
Rares “Pepple” Andronic
Netherlands, 3’35, 2025
A group of teenagers have their worlds transformed with the arrival of an authoritarian figure.

Hypersensitive
Martine Frossard
Canada, 6’45, 2024
A young woman navigates her surreal inner landscape, resisting a world that demands she silence her feelings.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski
Canada, 17’35, 2025
In Montreal, at the dawn of the 20th century, a poor boy falls in love with a girl whose sorrowful tears turn into pearls but the ruthless pawnbroker who buys them from him only hungers for more.

This session is classified: Unclassified (M) Mature, not recommended for viewers under 15 years.