An online selection of some of the best animated short films from around the globe playing in competition at MAF. Whether you’re an animation aficionado or this is your first experience beyond the mainstream, let MAF welcome you to the world of animation with our selection of some of the international short films playing in competition. This screening carries the following trigger warnings for content:Pregnancy and childbirth, Miscarriage, Child abuseTrigger warning content categories used are courtesy of the Film and TV Charity's advice: https://bit.ly/3VUsEF4

A haunting fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls

A haunting fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.

Eleven-year-old Berci spends an afternoon alone with his dog, struggling with the emotions left behind after witnessing his parents' violent fight the day before. As his suppressed feelings surface, he releases his anger and aggression in tense and emotional interactions with his dog. These raw expressions eventually help Berci find relief and discover the quiet, transformative strength of forgiveness.

Dog Ear

After witnessing his parents' violent fight, eleven-year-old Berci struggles with his anger and emotions; finding a way to release them through his interactions with his dog.

A devoted sister flees with her brother: a benevolent, loaf of bread-turned zombie. A mob pursues, mouths agape. Streets twist into mazes, reason dissolves, hunger reigns. Can love defy appetite?

Bread Will Walk

A devoted sister flees with her brother: a benevolent, loaf of bread-turned zombie. A mob pursues, mouths agape. Streets twist into mazes, reason dissolves, hunger reigns. Can love defy appetite?

Dan is a young man who spends most of his time in his flat, always listening to electronic music. Outside, he feels disconnected and only finds solace in nightclubs, where techno music and drugs make him feel free. One day, a baby’s gaze changes his world perception.

Voiceless

A young raver faces a fundamental change in his life — swapping EDM-fueled oblivion for connection to the world, prompted by the simple gaze of a baby.

"Dédé (Ancestor)" delves into diasporic female identity through an exploration of the Director/Animator's Bété ancestry, a tribe in central Ivory Coast. The film is a journey into the region’s feminine cosmology and folkloric traditions, guided by feminine icons such as tribal fertility carvings, masks, sculptures, mythological fables and deities. With a deliberately non-linear and abstract narrative, the film prominently features copper motifs, reflecting the traditional metalwork culture of the Ivory Coast, along with it’s other textural and material histories.
By drawing upon the spiritual iconography of the Bété people and other tribal groups in the Ivory Coast, "Dédé" examines the divine female figure in West African sculpture. The film translates these forms, traditionally found in wooden and bronze sculptures, into animation through charcoal drawings and frame-by-frame relief engraving on copper.

Dédé

The filmmaker delves into diasporic female identity through an exploration of her Bété ancestry, a tribe in central Ivory Coast. Dédé examines the divine female figure in West African sculpture, translating them into animation through charcoal drawings and frame-by-frame relief engraving on copper.

Starting at the atomic scale, we discover how earth was formed, its mis-spent youth, its adventures in parenting and its feelings towards us.

The Ballad of Pale Blue Dot

Starting at the atomic scale, we discover how earth was formed, its mis-spent youth, its adventures in parenting and its feelings towards us.

Adapted from the short story by Franck Pavloff, a world of colour is gradually invaded by bland, brown animals. From small compromises to major cowardice, the brown animals gradually replace all colour — invading homes and taking control. An authoritarian power with absurd laws is established. To avoid trouble, Charly complies with the rules of this colourless world and discovers the horrors of fascism at his own expense.

Brown Morning

A world of colour is gradually invaded by bland, brown animals. From small compromises to major cowardice, the brown animals gradually invade homes and take control. An authoritarian power with absurd laws is established. To avoid trouble, Charly complies with the rules of this colourless world and discovers the horrors of fascism at his own expense.

At apathy with his life, Ray (Domhnall Gleeson) dreams of the beauty and joy he will find in retirement.

Retirement Plan

At apathy with his life, Ray (Domhnall Gleeson) dreams of the beauty and joy he will find in retirement.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

MAF 2025 Animation Mixtape Online (15)

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