International Competition Program #1 – REPEAT
The International Competition Programs are the backbone of the entire MIAF mission. Drawn from more than 2,000 submissions they showcase the best, most imaginative animating talent on the planet in a series of programs in which the only rule is diversity.
The program opens with the stunningly original new film “Way Better” by Skirmanta Jakaite, a Lithuanian master animator with an awe-inspiring capacity to stretch the expressive capacities of animation to breaking point and beyond. Coincidentally the program also finishes with a Lithuanian film; the beautifully realised “Memories In The Clouds” by Kristina and Albert Laine, a tour-de-force pointing the way in which AI might be taking auteur animation.
Way Better
Skirmanta Jakaitė
Lithuania, 13’47, 2022
A journey traversing the complex, always changing limbo of a mind trapped inside a man awaiting the biggest news of his life.
Fragments
Andreas Dürr
Germany, 6’56, 2024
At its most extreme, climbing can be a truly transcendental experience, reaching into the deepest recesses of the imagination.
D’une Peinture… à l’autre
Georges Schwizgebel
Switzerland, 3’10, 2023
An exquisitely hand painted immersion into a world crafted from two classic paintings on the same subject but created half a century apart.
Swimming Pool – Fushigi Man
Natalia Ryss
US/Israel/Japan/Canada, 1’30, 2023
The incredible underwater journey of Fushigi Man flung at us in maniacal, eye-popping, digi-collage-on-steroids wonder.
Giraffe
Natalya Mirzoyan
Russia, 2’35, 2022
The winding, sometimes contradictory journey of one lover’s attempt to help another – drawn from the emotional core of a Nikolay Gumilev poem.
Spark Of Hope
Yu-Rou Wun
Taiwan, 3’12, 2023
After the tumbling mishaps and ritual humiliations of his everyday experiences our little hero takes a moment to remind himself of what makes it all worthwhile.
Rind
Romy Matar
Lebanon, 5’15, 2022
A beautifully subtle but piercing journey following a woman who must navigate a world shaped by her own perceptions of body and self.
The Boy And The Crow
Tudor Om
Romania, 2’49, 2023
Realising that if he keeps running from the crow he may never stop, the boy confronts his fears as they sweep in upon him.
Sabeel
Ghada Bazaim, Abdulla Aldohlan, Samaher Bantan
Saudi Arabia, 1’53, 2023
Sure…. follow that secure path set for you, unless you have enough faith to create your own. Every journey starts with a first glimpse over the edge.
To The Brink
Hugo Docking
UK, 4’00, 2023
Channelling an inner Švankmajer, this cabaret of the macabre charts the moment a disintegrating man is brought to his moment of personal apocalypse.
Crush
Michal Socha, Jakub Socha
Poland, 6’30, 2022
An ambitious thief wants to steal a precious diamond from a heavily guarded vault but pulling this off will take all of the unique powers of animation.
Memories In The Clouds
Kristina Laine, Albert Laine
Lithuania, 7’38, 2023
An absolutely stunning visual ballet of non-stop, gently boiling cumulous clouds repurposed to render the filmmaker’s memories of a collapsing Soviet Union.
This session is classified: Unclassified (M) Mature, not recommended for viewers under 15 years.