Proof that female filmmakers are a creative force to be reckoned with, this year’s collection of international shorts from female creators highlights the diversity of female animators. These brilliant self-contained creative feats beautifully capture all the fun and foibles of human nature.

Growing up isn’t easy, and it’s no exception for 12-year-old Ashley whose well-meaning mom has her own ideas about who Ashley should be. Finding herself in an impossible situation, Ashley must decide whether to wear a gaudy dress she hates or find the courage to stand up for herself and fight the inner monster that is holding her back. The animated short film Pivot is a defining moment in Ashley’s quest to be herself at the risk of disappointing the person she loves the most, her mom.

Pivot

Based on a short story by Jen Webb, Terra is a short film about restoration and reconnection with the earth in the age of a climate crisis.

Terra

'The Girl Who Cried Sick' follows a child hypochondriac as her escalating attention-seeking lies lead her parents to dismiss her complaints when she becomes genuinely ill. Inspired by the cautionary tale 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf', this hand-crafted animation gives humour and heart to a grim true story. The intention for this production was to create a film that accentuates the tactile nature of stop-motion animation technology to immerse the audience in the colourful narrative world. The intricate sets, dynamic lighting and complex sound design enrich the visual experience, and encourage audiences to reflect upon their own childhood stories.

The Girl Who Cried Sick

A loving grandmother gets everything ready for dinner with her big family, but this is so much work that she literally has to grow extra limbs. As everything goes wrong in the kitchen, the grandmother gets more and more stressed. She turns into a monster, but with the help of her family, she can turn back into herself.

Bami

A WW2 story focusing on hair, not heroes. Five siblings and their hair parlour offer women of the small Norwegian town Narvik a sense of normality in the midst of madness and despair.

Frydenlund Hair Parlour

Life is always as light as a butterfly dance, meeting, separating, birth and death, seem to be just the gentle flapping in the wing.But even if the life is light like this , is it really impossible to leave any traces?

Trace of a Butterfly (蝴蝶飞落的痕迹)

An exaggeration of the wasteful process that goes into production of single used plastics inside factories.

End of the Line

Marius is a meticulous barista. One day, following his meeting with Valentine, strange symptoms start to manifest, preventing him from doing his work. It’s hard to serve coffee when you see everything in pink and when butterflies are coming out your mouth.

Butterflies in the Stomach

During a very hot summer, Emma (15) is doomed to boredom at her grandparents’s house. She's dying for something to happen. At the edge of a pond, she hides to observe The Young Man. She develops a brief but intense obsession for this fantasized stranger.

Eyes Wide Open

Four people and the time they spend in an elevator. Inspired by everyday life and by the difference in people's behavior when they are alone, in contrast to the socially acceptable behavior that individuals adopt when in public space and especially in the confined and always awkward setting of an elevator. Director Biography -&nbsp;Anastasia Papadopoulou Anastasia is a director, stop motion model maker and animator based in the UK and Greece. She has recently completed her first personal work “Elevator Alone”, a graduation short stop motion film which she wrote, directed, animated and constructed the sets and puppets.Her work includes Cat Steven’s “Wild World” music clip, Locomondo’s “Star” music clip, “I’m here” tv commercial for Klinex as either a set/puppet maker or animator.This year she worked as art director/model maker for Effie Papa’s “In between” short stop motion animation movie, expected to be completed late October 2021.

Elevator Alone

An old man lives in a film library made up of memories captured in celluloid that he carefully preserves. When these tapes begin to deteriorate, he will do everything possible to save his memory.

House of Memory

Mayan Backstrap Weaving is a complex and symbolic art form, and is often undervalued or bargained for in the marketplace. For indigenous non-organized weavers, making money can become very strenuous, especially when their huipiles must go undervalued and trivialized.

My Weaving Hands (Mis Manos Tejedoras)

This film is based on concepts of panic attacks and ornithophobia. The girl suffers from a feeling of great discomfort that comes without warning, like an uncontrollable disaster. When the panic is accompanied by a flapping of wings, a chaotic, dissociated journey into her unconsciousness begins.

Bird

Where 'Paris is Burning' meets Hieronymous Bosch. A dip, a shablam, a death drop is when a dancer strikes a pose and dramatically falls on their back. The higher the fall, the spicier the dip. The story follows Shesa Quinn dipping from the top of a skyscraper. Gagged by her stunt, the townsfolk bellow spiral into chaos. Will Shesa land a perfect dip?

The Dip

In Shapes is an emotive and poignant mixed-media animation exploring the insecurities of a girl at the swimming pool. Created in portrait mode specifically for social media, the aim of the film is to empower young people who feel insecure about their appearance.

In Shapes

Meet Atlas: a two-tonne hunk of metal programmed solely to chop trees. The year is 2090: most labour-intensive jobs have been efficiently mechanized by robots, and in Atlas’ case, wood logging. However, being a robot tasked solely as a lumberjack is no easy feat. Being one of the first of its kind, there are a few bumps in the system; despite his seemingly large build and powerful tools, he still finds himself in unfortunate scenarios that lead to his death. Never fear though as luckily for Atlas, his programming is uploaded to The Cloud, snapping back to normal in an instant. Until there is a problem with the system... This heartfelt and comedic animation explores themes of identity and realisation as we follow Atlas through his ventures in a future society making use of cloud-based consciences; whilst Atlas may be able to reboot back to life, the environment around him cannot.

Atlas

The story of a single parent and her only daughter, who after migrating to another country, is forced into creating a new sense of affection with her mother back home.

I Miss Hugs

No Leaders Please is an animated film based on a poem by Charles Bukowski. Works inspired by artists Basquiat, Banksy, Haring and A Weiwei represent the poem's theme of self-invention.

No Leaders Please

After the death of her mom several years ago, Su feels estranged from her father. In honouring their traditional family camping trip on his birthday, she hopes to reconnect with him. But when her father cancels it in deference to his new girlfriend, Su is forced to deal with her unresolved grief.

There You Are

Mrs. Mantis is seated at a table in a dimly lit bar contemplating the events of the prior evening. She thinks back to how she and her husband stood poised across the room from each other, their bodies tense with expectation and lust. Mrs. Mantis is surprised to realize that she is experiencing a sense of guilt when recalling that after making love, she crushed Mr. Mantis's skull and consumed his corpse. While Mrs. Mantis attempts to process her apparently uncalled for emotions, she observes the interactions between the bartender, a male mantis, and one other customer, a large female mantis. The lecherous customer teases and taunts the male bartender, eventually pinching the bartender's behind with a raptorial foreleg. Mrs. Mantis pays little heed to the bartender's great discomfort and shame, accepting the events unfolding across the room from her, as a regular everyday occurrence. Resolute, she finally decides that her guilt was entirely unfounded, considering the biological necessity of eating one’s mate during copulation. She reassures herself that, "It is simply a man's role." as doubt creeps into her tone "Isn't it?".

Mr. & Mrs. Mantis

A girl and Tiger ride their bicycle through a springtime town to get fresh buns. They are best friends, growing up together, playing together, enjoying their lives till one day, one of them finds the city too small.

My Friend Tiger

The steak has been marinating for a few days now. The pan is heated. Franc’s stomach is rumbling. But Liza’s co-workers surprise her with a birthday party. Will she be home on time?

Steakhouse

What is the most important thing on the last day of school before summer break? Well, if you’re Mia, Natalie and Jabari you frantically search for a date for Ms. Cheryl, the most beloved bus driver of all time! As they race against time before their stop, these eight-year-olds burst into action&nbsp;to find a match-up with the people that have made the biggest impact on their lives. From the Bodega man with “all the meats” to their Principal, nobody is off limits as a possible courtship. This love letter to New York's essential workers captures the whimsy comedy of a child’s imagination as they try to save Ms. Cheryl from a lonely summer void of school children, destined to a life on the sofa surrounded by cats.&nbsp;

Cupids

Mothers of a Medium

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