The two Best of International Short Film programmes have been hand-picked from other international animation festivals, by the festival's administration. The total of 12 films represents some of the highlights of the international animation scene in the last couple of years.Somehow the Best of International Short Film programme 1 reads like a fairy-tale in itself, self-proclaimed kings, smugglers, drugged authors and fighting forest spirits are all crucial elements of this programme. What more could you want?The techniques stretch from good old stop-mo and multiplane to new and creepy ways to use 2D animation and it all ends up in a flashy and at the same time grotesque 3D animation. But it’s not as frightening as it all sounds, the programme has a good portion of humour, often very dark. Age limit: 15

That night, a lady met a group of lovely beasts, gigantic slimy cheesy ones. Äggie Lee Pak Yee is an audio-visual artist from Hong Kong, who studied in Estonia. Her works draw inspiration from the playful relationship between the flow of sound and of images, with a tint of stupidity. Some of her experimental and narrative shorts were showcased in several festivals such as Sundance, Annecy, Filmfest Dresden, and Insomnia.

Beauty & the Beasts

A desire to have a family becomes a nightmare. The man becomes more and more violent and crazy. The woman leaves the relationship but has to live with the consequences of the breakup long after the separation. A film about physical, sexual, psychological, and financial violence and how it affects an entire family. Irene Lopez (b. 1980 in San Salvador, El Salvador) is a Swedish animator, director, and illustrator. Lopez came to Sweden with her family as a political refugee and resides in Stockholm where she works as a documentary filmmaker. Irene studied animation at Konstfack and graduated from the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts with a B.A. in documentary filmmaking.

I wanted a family

🏆 Grand Prix! Jury´s motivation:&nbsp;It’s not often that we experience such a supersonic and bombastic film about family dynamics. This short is told with clarity, visual nerve, and energy. Thank you for the ride Sander. The Fredrikstad Animation Festival Grand prix goes to&nbsp;Sierra&nbsp;by Sander Joon.&nbsp; Father and his son are losing the folk race. In order to win, a boy turns himself into a car tire. Loosely inspired by the director's childhood, Sierra pulls us into the surreal car racing world. Sander Joon uses animation to create surreal worlds with a dash of humour. His films have previously travelled to festivals such as Annecy, DOK Leipzig, Stuttgart, Fredrikstad, Kaboom, Supertoon, and GLAS. He has attended the Open Workshop artist residency in Viborg twice and is now teaching animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts, where he has received an M.A. in animation. Besides films, he has animated a music video for Tommy Cash, participated in a popular commercial for Rick and Morty, and has been a VJ at numerous events.

Sierra

The movement of slime mold is combined with pattern subjects selected from Karelian thread blankets. Slime molds are primitive Amoebozoa organisms that can move even though they do not have a brain or nervous system. The poem heard in the background expresses themes of time, circulation, and decomposing.﻿ Leena Pukki (b.1984) is a visual artist interested in cultural hegemonies, interspecies relations, history, utopias, emotions, and power relations. Pukki's techniques range from media art to large-scale wall paintings and installations. Pukki graduated with an M.A. in art from Aalto University's School of Arts and Design in 2015 and a visual arts degree from Lahti Art Institute in 2007.

Time of a Slime Mold

Special Mention Nordic-Baltic Young Audience Film Jury´s motivation: Another good film on the program is&nbsp;Bear Hug. Very good animation with an unexpectedly good plot twist. An eager little bear is waiting for his birthday guests to arrive. Slowly he realizes that he has been rejected. But the determination to celebrate his birthday is still strong, and, free as a bird, his hunt for company begins. Margrethe Danielsen has a B.A. in animation from Volda University College and is currently enrolled for her Master’s degree in media practices. She has worked as a stop motion artist in Estonia and Ireland, and was part of making Eternal Hunting Grounds, Captain Morten and the Spider Queen, and Help! We have a blind patient. Bear Hug is her professional directorial debut, after the multi-awarded student film Pearl Diver.

Bear Hug

🏆 Best Nordic-Baltic Short Film Jury´s Motivation:&nbsp;You will appreciate this film if you are compulsively trying to fix your relationships by becoming an electrical appliance. The jury enjoyed this lighthearted and surreal short about the serious struggles of codependency. The whimsical design fits the tone of the film perfectly. The award for best Nordic Baltic short goes to&nbsp;I’ll be your kettle&nbsp;by Tobias Rud A woman desperately tries to keep up with her partner's unusual desires. Tobias Rud is an animator and filmmaker from Copenhagen with a background in live-action filmmaking. He is a storyteller at heart, and with simple and sentimental aesthetics, he likes to explore human relations and the emotions connected to them in all their chaos and complexities. His short films have been screened at various film festivals throughout the world.

I'll Be Your Kettle

Terra Incognita follows life on a mysterious island, inhabited by immortal beings that live in an unbroken chain of eternity, but eternity is a simple illusion broken only by death, nothing changes until it does. Pernille Kjaer (b. 1989) is a Danish independent animation filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. A former student at the Academy of Fine Arts, Århus, she completed her studies with a B.A. in character animation from The Animation Workshop, Denmark. Adrian Dexter is an American/Danish filmmaker and illustrator. He attended the European Film College and The Animation Workshop, Denmark. He directed the short film Væsen before spending two years working in VFX in Stockholm.

Terra Incognita

This is a story about an elderly woman whose destiny has taken her far away from her home island. She is finally able to return, only to find out that strangers have been living in her house.Til We Meet Again talks about the tragic history of a small Ruhnu Island. Fearing for their lives, its entire population abandoned their homes while escaping the war in 1944. Decades later they had a chance to finally return, only to find out that the strangers had settled in. In addition to the twists and turns of history, Til We Meet Again looks deeper into the meaning of home. Is it merely a location or a place that gives one peace of mind? Ülo Pikkov (b. 1976) graduated from the Turku School of Art and Media and the Institue of Law at the University of Tartu. He is currently getting his Ph.D. at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Til We Meet Again

A woman is trapped in limbo between the living and the dead, between memory and reality. She was an immigrant but had never thought that even in death she would walk restlessly, without belonging. The Chinese American composer Du Yun has written the opera Zolle about the woman, and in this abstract animated short film, director Kristian Pedersen offers his graphic interpretation of her loneliness and longing. Filmmaker and designer Kristian Pedersen graduated with an M.A. in visual communication from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design. Working as an animator and designer at Mikrofilm in Oslo, he has previously produced animated poetry films in collaboration with the small press Gasspedal, publishing house Gyldendal, and the National Library. Kristian has developed a distinct visual signature and narrative style, and his films The Bøyg and Little Boy have been featured at festivals for film, animation, literature, and poetry film. He was awarded Goethe Institute's Film Prize at Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin.

The Zolle Suite: Resign

A man who has a unique way of using toilet paper after pooping. A couple who always order food because they don’t like to put on clothes. People use bags for every little thing. Just like that, the convenience of life is at your fingertips which we enjoy every single day. Too much waste? No problem, flush them all down to the toilet! Red, Hung Huei Jen is an animation filmmaker who is especially interested in stop-motion animation but also specialized in 2D animation, AfterEffect animation, and motion graphic design. Red searches for the absurdities and vexation in life and then creates weird stories and characters with a tint of sarcasm and humour.

Oh So Convenient

Lying awake, Amy comes face to face with her innermost thoughts in the form of uncountable sheep and thonged, muscly backing dancers. Steph Hope is an animator and illustrator from the most normal town in England. After studying illustration at the University of Brighton she taught herself animation and moved to Norway. She animates on a lightbox, colouring and compiling digitally. She was named one of the Young Guns 17 in 2019 by the One Club For Creativity and her work has been broadcast on FX.

Not Drifting Off

Ills of fortune have deported a ballet dancer, Sergei, to a suburban kolhoz. Here he's having his mundane fights against routine, domestic animals, and alcohol. Priit Tender is an Estonian animator, director, designer, and writer of many short animated films. His films are driven by surreal imagery, black humor, and dark existential journeys. Priit’s films have won prizes and nominations from the most important short and animation film festivals, including Annecy, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Dresden, Fredrikstad, and Utrecht.

Dog - Apartment

In a dystopian city on the verge of collapse after cockroaches have taken over, a brotherhood sends 17-year-old Tim on a mission to blow up the cockroaches’ nest to save his hometown. But a meeting with a stranger makes Tim reconsider his perception of reality. Cockroaches is an animated fable about exclusion and extremism and show how the search for acceptance can have fatal consequences. In a time when the extreme right is once again marching across many European countries, the film aims to send a warning. Adel Khan Farooq is a Norwegian director, author, and journalist known for films and texts related to alienation, radicalization, and extremism. He won wide acclaim with his documentary film The Norwegian Islamist (2017) and is currently in production with his live-action feature debut. Cockroaches is Farooq's first venture into animation.

Cockroaches

“Hello” west Europe this is east calling. Inspired by Jiddu Krishnamurti. Timeless words explore the nature of fear and its effects on our lives. Julius Zubavičius obtained a multimedia director B.A. degree. In 2011, Julius moved to London to further his film sound designer career. Julius has worked on more than 30 film projects as a sound designer, recordist, and composer.

FEAR

A Garrano horse is forced to pull a heavy load under a blazing sun. A young boy, Joel, discovers a man who is about to set a forest on fire. David Doutel and Vasco Sá started co-directing animation films 12 years ago. Since then, they have presented 4 short films and are currently working on their first animated feature film. They are co-founders of BAP Animation Studio, where they work as directors and producers.

Garrano

What would happen if we suddenly disappeared, if all human beings just vanished from the face of the earth? How would nature react if it were suddenly relieved from our constant pressure? What would the world look like without us? Julie Engaas (b.1968) was educated at the National College of the Arts, Norway, and studied animation at Volda University College where she graduated in 1998. Since then she has directed several animated shorts, as well as the animated documentaries Sound-Shadows (2008) and Blame it on the Seagull (2013), both were screened at numerous international festivals and sold to several TV networks.

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