Oscar – Animated Shorts

The ANIMATED SHORT FILM programme on the day of this year's OSCAR awards brings together five outstanding OSCAR-nominated animated films that could hardly be more diverse in style and narrative.

At the centre are characters who wrestle with their own insecurities, fears and desires as they try to find their place in an often absurd and challenging world. Whether it's three brothers who are confronted with a wounded self-image and fragile masculinity in BEAUTIFUL MEN or a traumatised captain in IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS who vacillates between caring and his own inner turmoil - the films deal with existential themes with impressive visual depth. MAGIC CANDIES unfolds a sensitive coming-of-age story in which childhood loneliness is broken up by fantasy and new perspectives, while WANDER TO WONDER stages a surreal reflection on transience and being left behind in a world without an audience. Finally, with IGITT! the programme offers a humorous but precise observation of children's feelings of disgust and the bizarre absurdity of everyday situations. Together, these films create an equally poetic and multi-layered panorama that impressively showcases the breadth of contemporary animation art.

BEAUTIFUL MEN
Directed by Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
FRA/BEL 2024
18 min

IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS
Directed by Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
IRI 2024
20 min

MAGIC CANDIES
Director: Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
JPN 2023
21 min

WANDER TO WONDER
Directed by Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
NED/BEL/FRA/UK 2023
13 min

IGITT! / Beurk! / Yuck! /
Directed by Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
FRA 2024
13 min

Curated by shorts attack. more info at www.shortsattack.com