Shorts Programs

Professional animators from around the globe showcase their storytelling artistry in this collection of short films.

Astoria

Directed by Franck Dion
France, 2023, 9 min.

Southeast premiere

Overwhelmed by the consequences of her research, an astronomer embarks on a journey to exile herself elsewhere.

Writer: Franck Dion
Producers: Rencontres Audiovisuelles, Franck Dion
Cast: Caroline Bouchoms

Feather

Directed by Sadegh Javadi
Iran, 2023, 13 min.

Georgia premiere

A poor father lives with his son, making money by betting on their fighting rooster. An unusual old man enters their life and changes everything — just not as they expected.

Writer: Sadegh Javadi
Producer: Sadegh Javadi

Four Chambers to the Heart

Directed by Kostas Ioannidis and Johan Grimonprez
Belgium/The Netherlands, 2023, 9 min.

Georgia premiere

In 1624 Palermo, 94-year-old master painter Sofonisba Anguissola — renowned worldwide at the time but later consigned to obscurity — writes her final letters to her pupil and Flemish master-in-the-making Anton Van Dyck.

Producers: Melissa Dhondt, Annemie Degryse, Jantiene De Kroon
Writers: Kostas Ioannidis, Johan Grimonprez, Tine Van Aerschot

A Grain of Sand in the Universe

Directed by Suki
France, 2023, 8 min.

North American premiere

While the country is undergoing an unprecedented crisis, the president, who has still not talked publicly, must speak. What if, this time, the speech was different.

Writers: Suki, Stéphane Debureau
Producer: Utopi

Cast: Stéphane Debureau, Céline Dupuis, Pierre Wolf, Christelle Sabarots

Holy Men

Directed by David Lovrić
Croatia, 2023, 11 min.

Southeast premiere

A girl watches a man hunting for souls as he steals everything that is valuable to her. Their chase across the ruins of a hidden realm forever changes her destiny.

Writer: David Lovrić
Producer: David Lovrić

Menagerie 

Directed by Jack Gray
USA, 2023, 5 min.

Featuring hundreds of looping animated characters, Menagerie is a study of the daily motions and mundane tasks of contemporary city life, and how they may spiral into an endless kaleidoscope of abstraction.

Writer: Jack Gray
Producer: Jack Gray
Cast: Alicia Maye

Slow Light

Directed by Katarzyna Kijek and Przemysław Adamski
Poland, 2023, 11 min.

Georgia premiere

When a boy born blind is suddenly able to see, a medical examination reveals that his eyes are so dense that it takes seven years for light to reach his retinas and for images to reach his consciousness.

Writers: Katarzyna Kijek, Przemysław Adamski
Producers: Piotr Szczepanowicz, Grzegorz WacŁawek
Cast: Philip Lenkowsky