Type: In competition

The best animated short films from this year, all in one place!

The animated short film is a unique format – neither feature film nor tv series episode, but an intense and concise mini story offering maximum impact per minute. All the films in the program are nominated for VAF Best Short Film at the VAF Award show.

The films in this program are humorous, absurd, sad, poignant. Often, you’ll find yourself wondering “can animation really look like that?”, because the filmmaker has had free hands to experiment with hand-drawn animation, 3D animation, cutout, puppet animation and any conceivable combination of techniques.

VAF Best Short program offers a glimpse into the stunning diversity of the world of animation – and into its future: This is where the directors of tomorrow come up with the ideas and concepts that will define feature films and tv series going forward.

For more information on the films in competition, click here.

Films in the program:

• Slow Light – Katarzyna Kijek, Przemysław Adamski – 2022 – Poland
• Sweet Like Lemons – Jenny Jokela – 2023 – United Kingdom
• Her Dress for the Final – Martina Mestrovic – 2023 – Croatia
• Eeva -Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov – 2022 – Estonia, Croatia
• Ice Merchants –  João Gonzalez – 2022 – Portugal
• ‘Think Something Nice – Claudius Gentinetta – 2022 – Swizterland
• Menagerie – Jack Gray – 2022 – United States
• Y -Matea Kovač – 2023 – Croatia
• Misaligned – Marta Magnuska – 2022 – Poland, Latvia

Country: International
Duration: 1 hour 25 min
Language: Multiple languages
Subtitles: English
Age limit: 15+

An exciting program with a selection of films received from art and animation schools around the world

VAF Best Graduation Film celebrates young filmmakers from animation schools around the world. All the films in the program are nominated for the Best Graduation Film at the VAF Award show.
The program is full of playful ideas, profound themes, delirious energy and a lot of courage and desire to create and tell stories. The films show a wide range of styles and techniques, where storytelling and ingenuity create unique ideas and visions from young filmmakers who are ready to go out into the world and bend it to their will.

For more information on the films in competition, click here. 

Films in the program:

• 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

Country: International
Duration: 1 hour 27 min.
Language: No dialogue
Subtitles: None
Age limit: 15+

All bets are off when animators experiment with techniques, formats and materials. 

Experimental films are about testing the limits of what animation can and should do. All the films in the program are nominated for the Best Experimental Short Film at the VAF Award show. 

It is a field defined by filmmakers bold enough to turn classic genres and conventions on their head. To startle the viewer with absurd, abstract, and trippy tales. All while paying due respect to the aesthetics, the technique, the medium and the narrative – not necessarily in a classic chronological sense, but by pushing the boundaries of visual, sensory expression. These films deal with beautiful images, sensual roller coaster rides, and provocations, offering plenty of surprises and food for thought along the way. 

For more information on the films in competition, click here. 

Films in the program:

• Internet Gaga – Reinhold Bidner – 2023 – Austria
• 101 Days of Lockdown – Jelena Sinik – 2022 – Australia
• Dissolution – Sujin Kim – 2023 – United States
• This is not a bath – Pola Lotta Włodarczyk – 2022 – Poland
• The Beatles Vs The Stones – Andrew Kelleher (Dog&Rabbit) – 2022 – UK
• Juice – Mona Keil – 2022 – Germany
• All my scars vanish in the wind – María Angélica Restrepo, Carlos David Velandia – 2022 – Colombia
• EO DE ME – Viktorie Štěpánová – 2023 – Czech Republic
• Help Desk – Edwin Rostron – 2023 – UK
• The Fifth Floor – Tereza Burianová – 2023 – Czech Republic
• Soaked In – Shiyu Tang – 2022 – China
• Floating city – Chit Ng – 2022 – Hong Kong
• Hugging – Adam Wells – 2023 – Sweden

Country: International
Duration: 1 hour 7 min.
Language: No dialogue
Subtitles: None
Age limit: 15+

Discover a playful toy-like world of invention featuring flying machines, kings, queens and sneaky spies, where nothing seems to go right for the world’s greatest inventor, and he is always running out of time. At the centre of it all is the audacious and ever questioning Princess Marguerite  who is the key to solving Leonardo’s quest for the meaning of life. 

Jim Capobianco is bringing the world of Leonardo Da Vinci to life in a new stylized, stop motion puppet and 2D hand drawn animated film for families & children of all ages. Voiced by Stephen Fry (Leonardo), Daisy Ridley (Marguerite), and Marion Cotillard (Louise de Savoy). 

The screening is in English with no subtiltes

Suitable from age 7+

An exciting program with a selection of films received from art and animation schools around the world

VAF Best Graduation Film celebrates young filmmakers from animation schools around the world. All the films in the program are nominated for the Best Graduation Film at the VAF Award show.

The program is full of playful ideas, profound themes, delirious energy and a lot of courage and desire to create and tell stories. The films show a wide range of styles and techniques, where storytelling and ingenuity create unique ideas and visions from young filmmakers who are ready to go out into the world and bend it to their will.

For more information on the films in competition, click here. 

Films in the program:

• 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 – David Crisp – 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

Q&A with Directors: 

• David Crisp (A World In Chaos)
• Lamprini Loukaidi (Caw! Woof! Splash!)

Country: International
Duration: 1 hour 35 min.
Language: No dialogue
Subtitles: None
Age limit: 15+

VAF Best Commissioned Work celebrates the best in animated communication and education from Denmark and abroad. Beautiful imagery, compelling narratives and useful information – or sweet temptation – to boot.

The competition and award are organized in collaboration with Creative Viborg, focusing on how animation can be used within professions such as service, learning, advertising and more. All the films in the program are nominated for the Best Commissioned Work at the VAF Award show.

For more information on the films in competition, click here. 

Films in the program:

• Røgfri Fremtid – Sunit Parekh, Tonni Zinck – 2022 – Denmark
• The Dependency Trap – Henrik Malmgren – 2022 – Denmark
• Sou a Tigresa – Jairo Neto – 2021 – Brazil
• Design & Transformation: TON – Barbora Halířová – 2022 – Czech Republic
• Viborg Varme – Susanne Bækby Gerges – 2022 – Denmark
• Pulse At The Centre Of Being – Tsz-wing Ho – 2022 – Hong Kong
• Design & Transformation: Bomma – Magdalena Hejzlarová – 2022 – Czech Republic
• Hidden Heroes – Anna Levinson – 2022 – Germany
• Stare – Impérieux – Nikola Radulovikj – 2023 – Bulgaria
• What causes yeast infections, and how do you get rid of them? – Mette Ilene Holmriis – 2022 – Denmark
• Potato Falls – Janina Putzker – 2022 – Austria
• Ride on Joyfulness – Lei Lei – 2022 – China
• Screen Time Guidelines – Nicolaj Larsson – 2022 – Denmark
• Paul Roux – Bapteme – Alessandro Amaducci – 2022 – Italy

Country: International
Duration: 49 min.
Language: Multiple languages
Subtitles: English
Age limit: 15+

At only 14 years old, Aurora lost everything during the horror of the Armenian genocide. Two years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she escaped to New York, where her story became a media sensation. Starring as herself in Auction of Souls, an early Hollywood blockbuster, Aurora became the face of one of the largest charity campaigns in American history.

With a blend of vivid animation, interviews with Aurora herself, and 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic, Aurora’s Sunrise revives a forgotten story of survival.

Directed by: Inna Sahakyan

Country: Armenia, Lithuania, Germany
Duration: 1 hour 36 min.
Language: Armenian/English
Subtitles: English
Age limit: 15+

Open Workshop focuses its talent development efforts in animation film and games talents. All the films in the program are nominated for the Open Workshop Danish Animation Talent Award at the VAF Award show.

Films in the programme:

The TOBOS – Tobias Rud – 2023

The Great Connection – Christen Bach – 2023

Tales of Zale – Flickering Lights – Sif Savery – 2022

Let Them Eat Cake – Mathias Rodrigues Bjerre – 2023

Spring – Pernille Kjaer – 2023

The Swineherd – Magnus Igland Møller, Peter Smith – 2022

Dream – Snobar Avani – 2023

Mano – Toke Ringmann – 2022

Beanboy – Emily Hanning, Dora Grents, Anastazja Konczakowska, Ines Riquelme, Isabel Kohlmann, Nabil Afnan-Samandari, Alex Goncalves – 2022

Country: Multiple nationalities
Duration: 1 hour 33 min.
Lanuage: Different languages
Subtitles: English
Age limit: 15+

In the near future, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner are hired by a wealthy businessman to track down a notorious hacker. On Mars, they descend deep into the underbelly of the planet’s capital city where they uncover a darker story of brain farms, corruption, and a missing girl who holds a secret about the robots that threaten to change the face of the universe. 

Combining 2D and 3D animation, this stylish, smart and futuristic film noir is an adrenaline-fuelled, cinematic adventure, packed with humor and exhilarating action sequences. 

The screening is in French with English subtitles

Suitable from age 15+

The best animated short films from this year, all in one place!

The animated short film is a unique format – neither feature film nor tv series episode, but an intense and concise mini story offering maximum impact per minute. All the films in the program are nominated for VAF Best Short Film at the VAF Award show.

The films in this program are humorous, absurd, sad, poignant. Often, you’ll find yourself wondering “can animation really look like that?”, because the filmmaker has had free hands to experiment with hand-drawn animation, 3D animation, cutout, puppet animation and any conceivable combination of techniques.

VAF Best Short program offers a glimpse into the stunning diversity of the world of animation – and into its future: This is where the directors of tomorrow come up with the ideas and concepts that will define feature films and tv series going forward.

For more information on the films in competition, click here.

Films in the program:

• Letter to a Pig – Tal Kantor – 2022 – France
• 11 – Vuk Jevremovic – 2022 – Croatia
• The Skatebook – Sofia Negri – 2022 – UK
• The Borderline – Christian Arredondo Narváez – 2022 – Mexico
• Money and Happiness – Ana Nedeljković, Nikola Majdak Jr – 2022 – Serbia
• Blush – An Extraordinary Voyage – Iiti Yli-Harja – 2022 – Finland
• The Lost Courier – 子东 马 – 2022 – China
• Spring – Pernille Kjaer – 2023 – Denmark

Country: International
Duration: 1 hour 20 min
Language: Multiple languages
Subtitles: English
Age limit: 15+

All bets are off when animators experiment with techniques, formats and materials. 

Experimental films are about testing the limits of what animation can and should do. All the films in the program are nominated for the Best Experimental Short Film at the VAF Award show. 

It is a field defined by filmmakers bold enough to turn classic genres and conventions on their head. To startle the viewer with absurd, abstract, and trippy tales. All while paying due respect to the aesthetics, the technique, the medium and the narrative – not necessarily in a classic chronological sense, but by pushing the boundaries of visual, sensory expression. These films deal with beautiful images, sensual roller coaster rides, and provocations, offering plenty of surprises and food for thought along the way. 

For more information on the films in competition, click here. 

Hopsättning (Assembly) – Kyle Brooks– 2022 – US

Architects’ Cruise – Simon Hamlyn – 2022 – UK

Realitude – Théophile Farant – 2022 – France

Frozen Frog – Yiyang Sun – 2023 – China

Hungry Ghost – Guido Devadder, Kaitlin McSweeney – 2022 – Belgium

Dog, Ball, Park – Renana Palmor – 2022 – Israel

Vicious Circle – tianyun lyu – 2022 – US

Unnamed Road – Songkai Zhou – 2022 – UK

Saltwater – Declan McKenna – 2022 – US

From the Past – Hanna Palamarchuk – 2023 – Czech Republic

artifacts of you, artifacts of me. – Brecht De Cock – 2022 – Belgium

Blumentanz – Raito Low – 2022 – Taiwan

Country: International
Duration: 1 hour 10 min.
Language: No dialogue
Subtitles: None
Age limit: 15+