VAF Best Graduation Film

Celebrating young filmmakers from art and animation schools around the world, the VAF Best Graduation Film program delights in playful ideas, thoughtful themes, raucous energy, and the courage and desire to create and tell new stories. 

The films showcase a wide range of styles and techniques, as young filmmakers share their ideas and visions in animated short films designed to announce the arrival of exciting new talents poised to rock the world of animation. 

VAF Best Graduation Film receives films from art and animation schools around the world. Mixed media, including live action, is accepted. The length of the film must be a maximum of 15 minutes including credits. The winner will receive €700.  

The award is sponsored by BoligViborg. 

Ida Melum is an EE BAFTA nominated and Annie Award winning animation director based in Sweden.
After receiving her acting diploma in Norway, Ida earned her BA in Animation at Middlesex University, London. She worked as a stop motion animator on films such as the BAFTA winning “Poles Apart’: and ” Facing It’, before deciding to get her Master’s degree in Directing Animation at the National Film and Television School. During her time at the NFTS she made several films, including her graduation film “Night of the Living Dread”, which went on to win over 25 awards and screened at over 80 festivals.

Some of her most recent works include “Attenborough’s Wonder of Song”, a nature documentary for the BBC, and the trailer for Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2022, which she directed and animated. She is currently developing her new short film.

Anastasiya Verlinska has worked as a project manager of one of the biggest Eastern European film companies FILM.UA Group, implementing projects to promote both film and animation in Ukraine. In 2014 she joined the team of LINOLEUM animation festival as a program coordinator and in 2016 became its director. Apart from the festival, Anastasiya organizes screenings of both International and Ukrainian animation as well as educational projects that help to develop the local animation industry.

Henrik Højer is an associate professor and program coordinator at VIA University College, Department of Film & Transmedia in Aarhus. He is also a writer, video- essayist and former editor of the film journal 16:9 (www.16-9.dk) and have co-written and co-edited several anthologies on topics like the American drama series (Fjernsyn for viderekomne, Turbine 2011), serial fiction in the age of streaming (Streaming for viderekomne, 16:9 Books 2020) and XR (Storytelling Beyond the Screen, VIA Film and Transmedia, 2019). Henrik Højer has 25 years of teaching experience in film and media and has given numerous lectures on film, television and transmedia at universities and in public. He acts as an interviewer and moderator at media conferences, festivals and as a film, TV and media commentator and expert on TV and radio and in newspapers. Henrik holds a MA in Scandinavian Literature and Film Studies.

VAF Best Graduation Film – Program 1

Dede is dead – Philippe Kastner– 2023 – Czech Republic

Fox Tossing – Zénó Mira– 2023 – Hungary

Mano – Toke Ringmann – 2022- Denmark

The Eastern Rain – Milly Yencken – 2023 – Estonia

La Vita Nuova – Arthur Sevestre – 2022 – France

Fires – Mohammad Babakoohi – 2023 – France

The Florist – Joachim Perino-Pegalajar – 2022 – France

Hercinia – Sameliina Paurson – 2022 – Estonia

Broken – Léa Pulini – 2022 – France

Hope – Kanto Randresy, Oualid Laouer, Lucie Jean, Henry Mbouem Mbeck, Maxime Pitrou – 2022 – France

Doubt – Adela Križovenská – 2023 – Czech republic

Pussy Love – Linda Krauss – 2023 – Germany

A Bone To Pick With – Nika Karner – 2022- Slovenia

Shroomsday – Daniel Denzer, Marius Oelsch, Rita Weiss, Alessa Wolfram – 2022 – Austria

VAF Best Graduation Film – Program 2

Follow My Steps – Nils Balleydier – 2022 – France

Funeral at Nine – Mamadou Barry, Rodrigo Veras, Ziyu Wang, Junhao Xiang, Wang Yu, Linfeng Zhou – 2022 – France

Unscarfed – Anita Bruneburg – 2022 – Germany

Horse – Jass Kaselan – 2022 – Estonia

A World in Chaos – 2023 – Hungary

Cow! Woof! Splash! – Lamprini Loukaidi – 2022 – UK

Furrie – Lucie Grannec – 2022 – France

Primitive Times – Hao Yu – 2023 – Germany

Above The Clouds – Vivien Hárshegyi – 2022 – Hungary

Memories of Monsoon – Dolker Angotsang, ManFei Li, Pimonwan Poli – 2023 – Switzerland

Anscht – Matthias Huber – 2022 – Switzerland

The Harbourmaster – Mia Ludvigsen Henriksen, Konrad Hjemli – 2022 – Norway