International Competition Program #7: Abstract
The International Competition Programs are the backbone of the entire MIAF mission. Drawn from more than 2,300 submissions they showcase the best, most imaginative animating talent on the planet in a series of programs in which the only rule is diversity. MIAF’s annual deep-dive into the world of abstract animation and ‘visual music’. The properties that underpin great abstract animation go to the very heart of what it is to create beautiful, frame by frame animated imagery; a form of animated artmaking with a history that reaches back to the earliest days of the animation.
SKRFF
Corrie Francis Parks, Daniel Nuderscher
Austria, 7’03, 2024
A graffiti wall becomes an archaeological site and a sgraffito sculpture, as skrffologists dig into the past.
Fusion
Richard Reeves
Canada, 3’18, 2023
A captivating cameraless moving artwork celebrating the joyful interplay of image and sound that only ‘direct-to-film’ animation can muster.
A Granular Palimpsest
Paul Fletcher
Australia, 8’36, 2025
An abstracted, re-visualised time capsule ultimately portraying a multi-layered re-construction of time and place.
O/S
Max Hattler
Hong Kong, 5’00, 2023
Channelling inspiration from 20th-century avant-garde experiments, abstract motion becomes sound. What you hear is exactly what you see.
Glass House
Boris Labbe
France, 5’16, 2024
An immersive video-sonic spectacle invading a glass Tower of Babel inhabited by a human anthill.
In Threes
Natalia Ryss
UK, 6’50, 2023
The Tree as an embodiment of the Three Principles unites the manifestations of forms, following the rhythm of the heart. Big, bold, and bright.
L’insecte Reve Dans Le Noir
Tina Hochkogler
Austria, 4’00, 2023
Broken, distorted type and text dissolve and reassemble into ornamental textures that set about exploring visual representations of digital spaces.
Play
Sabrina Schmid
Australia, 2’00, 2025
Hand-painted film combined with digital animation explores abstraction and concepts of ‘play’ as intrinsic to creative practice.
Invenzione dell’Invenzione 2 (v. 2)
Jean Detheux
Canada, 2’46, 2024
An abstract animated visualisation of a stunning concert of J.S. Bach compositions performed at Italy’s Teatro Instabile Miela.
Schlimmige Kreise – Input : Reason
Tina Frank & General Magic
Austria, 5’00, 2023
An explosion of ‘terrible circles,’ created as an extravagant visual corollary to a piece by self-proclaimed ‘accidental electronica’ duo General Magic.
Coda
Thor Sivertsen
Norway, 4’50, 2024
An elegant, paced explosion of organic shapes drifting, changing and evolving into constantly new forms.
Traceless Traces
Dirk de Bruyn
Australia, 5’01, 2024
An ageless visual tango bridging the gap between analogue and digital media emerging as a trace-less trauma embedded in the surface of materialist film.
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.