International Competition Program #6: Beyond Story

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.

The capacity for animation to be used as a platform for delivering ideas that words and traditional narratives simply cannot is infinite. Sitting in a splendidly expressive spectrum that spans a space where the most surreal narrative arcs fade out but before abstraction kicks in, these types of films represent some of the best angels of the artform. And some of the best angels of those best angels get a chance to spread their wings in this program.

Cocoon
Alexander Dupuis
USA, 10’15, 2025
An expedition exploring the lifeforms and zoology of an imaginary world through a series of indecipherable ecological exhibits.

Busy Bodies
Kate Renshaw-Lewis
USA, 5’45, 2025
An intriguing, relentless demonstration of the hidden production processes of disposable objects, inspired by Rube Goldberg’s machines.

Structures_Textures 2
Luis Carlos Rodríguez
Spain, 6’24, 2025
A gently roiling reconstruction of the minutiae of everyday things that we take for granted revealing the invisible latent energy that surrounds us.

Time
Robert Lobel, Max Mörtl
Germany, 5’42, 2025
A dystopian yet darkly whimsical visual ballet danced through a space in which characters collide, each caught in their own rhythm of time.

I Told You So
Gabriele Favaretto
UK, 6’05, 2025
Everyone relaxes when you give madness a number.

Formless Love
Lingfeng Hao
China, 3’33, 2025
A girl’s journey in the fantasy realm may or may not be a noble metaphor for the love dilemmas of our modern age.

-10.994
Simone A. Tognarelli
Italy, 3’52, 2025
In 1913 a fisherman mysteriously resurfaces from beneath Lake Garda and finds himself trapped between life and death.

I Am Fine
Osi Wald
Israel, 4’20, 2025
Entries from an animated diary created between 2022-25, a time marked by protest and the horrors of an ongoing war.

The Girl And The Pot
Valentina Homem, Tati Bond
Brazil, 12’00, 2024
In a fractured world the Girl breaks a ceramic pot that held a secret within it, opening a portal to a world only animation can conceive.

Meteoric
Paul Ó Muiris
Ireland, 6’38, 2025
When an artist is hit by a meteor, the result is a ‘painting’ that captivates the world. But the people want more.

Still Time
Baptiste Ratajski
France, 4’00, 2025
Time is the ultimate currency, the most vivid fluid that flows through our realm; it cannot be caught, captured, or held, but it can be marshalled to shape the way we live.

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

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.