Tag: spotlight (Page 1 of 312)

Short Film Spotlight: The Cactus

June 22, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Troubled by a severe nervous system disorder, a man finds himself paralyzed in a remote and hostile environment after an accident. His situation takes new directions as he surrenders and accepts his new reality.

Directed by Ricardo Kump.

Inspired by the short story “Ser Polvo” by Santiago Dabove.

The Cactus screened at festivals worldwide and won Best Latin American Short Film at Anima Latina, Best Fantasy Short Film at Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de La Plata and Best Horror Short Film at World Festival of Animated Film Varna.

Short Film Spotlight: La Perra

June 21, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Intended for mature audiences.

Written and directed by Carla Melo Gampert.

La Perra premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won numerous awards at many others, including Best Animated Short at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Best Animation at the Sao Paulo Film Festival and Best Latin American Short Film at the BITBANG International Animation Festival.

Short Film Spotlight: Margarethe 89

June 20, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Leipzig, 1989. Margarethe, a young punk opposed to the East German regime, is committed to a psychiatric hospital.

She tries to escape to join Heinrich, a punk singer she’s in love with. But as the regime nears its end, the Stasi is spreading its informants more than ever.

Directed by Lucas Malbrun.

Short Film Spotlight: Baggage

June 19, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Three girlfriends check in their baggage at the airport, but one is carrying a little more than the others. As they travel along the conveyor belt to security, can she hide what’s inside?

Written and directed by Lucy Davidson.

Baggage won Best Animation at the Peninsula Film Festival (2025) and screened at SXSW and Sydney Film Festival, among others.

Short Film Spotlight: The Bleacher

June 14, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: The disappearance of her sock at a local laundromat sends a fragile Rita over the edge.

Hellbent on finding it, she searches deep and gets sucked into a washing machine, entering an otherworldly cycle from which she may never escape.

The Bleacher premiered at Sundance and screened at SXSW and Annecy, among others.

Written and directed by Adam Wilder and Nicole Daddona.

Starring Kate Micucci, Ben Sinclair and Sky Elobar.

Animated by Barney Abrahams.
Edited by Adam Wilder and Barney Abrahams

Original score by Josh Ascalon.
Sound design by Josh Ascalon and Sacha Ratcliff.

Short Film Spotlight: Beyond the Dust

June 13, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: A robot vacuum cleaner tries to escape his luxury building.

Directed by:
Alexia Ameline
Marin Benitez
Lucien-Paul Bigey
Marine Dupuy
Benjamin Hack
Matteo Michel
Salomé Quillien
Juliette Vignollet

Music by Grégory Allison.

Sound by Sébastien Fournier, Tristant Le Bozec, Yoann Poncet and José Vicente.

Short Film Spotlight: Death was at the Rendez-Vous

June 10, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: While trying to save a lost dog, a clumsy detective finds himself in the middle of in an assassination attempt. Will he manage to stop this murder?

Directed by:
Yeshrita Gokool
Margot Perez
Antoine Lefebvre
Edgard Trouvay
Viktoriia Shtykova
Vanille Meslin
Natacha Bergez
Manon Aguettaz

Music by Benoit Aloïs.

Sound by Mickaël Merrheim, Théo Boin, Tristan Le Bozec, José Vicente and Yoann Poncet.

Voiced by Emmanuelle Fauchet, Colin Hill and José Vicente.

Short Film Spotlight: Porous

June 8, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Written and directed by Cecilia Reeve.

Synopsis: In a dreamlike narrative, a woman takes a bath and reflects on her past experiences. Submerged in the water, she enters a space outside of time.

The film is an existential meditation on the boundaries between the body and the outside world, between water and skin.

Porous combines traditional frame-by-frame animation with paint on glass, gouache, and digital animation.

Short Film Spotlight: A Kind of Testament

June 7, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Written and directed by Stephen Vuillemin.

Synopsis: A young woman comes across animations on the internet that have clearly been created from her private selfies. An unknown female with the same name confesses to identity theft. But death is quicker than the answer to the question: “Why?”

A Kind of Testament premiered at Berlinale (2023) and went on to screen at over 150 festivals, winning 47 awards.

Short Film Spotlight: Amok

May 25, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Haunted by his obsessive need for vengeance, a hunter goes deep into the harsh tropical jungle to kill a black panther at all costs.

Directed by:
Océane Banon
Matthieu Barbaza
Léo Ceccaldi
Luce Douillon
Adrien Dussaud
Océane Faure
Jade Hoffstetter
Apolline Koehrer
Adrien Wolfert

Music by Dorian Lehmann.

Sound by Guilhem Favard, José Vicente and Yoann Poncet.

Short Film Spotlight: Cold Blood

May 24, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Oliver, a child struggling to survive the snow and cold in an icy, dark town resembling Victorian London, finally finds a solution when he uncovers the city’s mysteries — but not without danger…

Directed by:
Elisa Belmonte
Léna Boëdec
Grégoire Casella
Estelle Do Huu Tin
Capucine Fortunier
Mariachiara Palumbo
Iris Rozsnyo
Axel Vachetta

Music by Mathis Coopman.

Sound by Mickaël Merrheim, Tristan Le Bozec, José Vicente and Yoann Poncet.

Short Film Spotlight: Ruades Vers l’Or (Gold Rush)

May 22, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: A sympathetic Mexican bandit and his donkey confront a charismatic American bandit and his stallion during a train robbery.

They want to steal the gold carried by the train, but the donkey is a fan of the stallion, so all may not go according to plan.

Directed by:
Maxime Bourdeau-Herbin
Léa Brosse
Maël Charuel
Juliette Couzi
Ophélie Dupere
Aurore Dupont
Carla Fayet
Océane Seaphanh

Music by Damien Lacore.

Sound by Sébastien Fournier, Tristan Le Bozec, Yoann Poncet and José Vicente.

Voiced by Antoine Perrichon and José Vicente.

Short Film Spotlight: Claw

May 18, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Andrew, a young cinephile, mocks an iconic ’80s horror film until its killer becomes self-aware, dragging him into the movie. Trapped on screen, Andrew is challenged to outdo the killer by eliminating the remaining victims — something he arrogantly believes he can do.

Directed by:
Lucas Ferrer
Ayoub Chaibi
Marianne Dautheville
Chloe Ferrus
Thomas Petroni
Melissa Saba
Dylan Sayagh
Alizée Valenzuela
Florian Wagner

Music by David Robson.

Sound by Guilhem Favard, Tristan Lebozec and Jose Vicente.

Voiced by Roberto Joliffe, Mark Kaczmarek and Victoria Mackay.

Short Film Spotlight: Prelazak (Passage)

May 17, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Amid war and ruin, a young boy is left to die as his tribe is reduced to geometric forms under enemy fire. Grieving, he builds a totem from their remains and heads into a final confrontation—with an unexpected twist.

Written and directed by Igor Coric.

Short Film Spotlight: Eastern

May 12, 2025 / The Animation Blog / 0 Comments

Synopsis: Commissioned by the Sioux Standing Bull, the famous mercenary Glitch Westwood arrives in Eastern to kill his target and get his reward. He quickly kills it, but discovers that all the people have the same face.

Directed by:
Victor Dalmont
Mathis Dorniol
Valentine Fripier
Margaux Huvé
Marion Machelard
Maëva Mina
Lannis Oillic
Paul Pillan
Solène Poirier

Music by Jeffrey Brice, Ben Elliot, Dallas Crane, Tyler Mire and Matthew Harnage.

Sound by Baptiste Leblanc, José Vicente and Yoann Poncet.

Voiced by Antoine Perrichon.