Shorts Programs

Professional animators from around the globe showcase their storytelling artistry.

Snow Bear

Directed by Aaron Blaise
USA, 12 min.
Georgia premiere

Set in a rapidly changing world, Snow Bear tells the story of a polar bear in an unforgiving environment on his quest to find a friend. Painstakingly created over the course of three years, the film is infused with humor, relatability, and emotional depth in the tradition of classic animated films.

Writers: Aaron Blaise, Nicholas Burch

Saq Nikté and the Spirit of the Mask

Directed by Ester Weiner
Guatemala, 5 min.
Georgia premiere

In a forgotten community, an artisan girl puts an old K'iche' invocation to the test and summons a curious spirit into our world.

Producers: Pablo Leon, Bryan Dimas, Sergio Bonacci Lapalma, Aurora Nohemi Chaj Haz
Writer: Ester Weiner
Cast: Lidia Maribel Lux Leon

Murmuration

Directed by Janneke Swinkels and Tim Frijsinger
Netherlands, 13 min.
Georgia premiere

An elderly man realizes he’s suddenly turning into a bird.

Writers: Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger

Hullabaloo: The Curse of the Cheshire Cat

Directed by James Lopez
USA, 8 min.

A young aristocrat who fancies herself a super-sleuth attempts to apprehend the elusive cat-burglar “The Cheshire Cat.”

Writer: James Lopez
Cast: Claudia Lenz, Valarie Arem

ReRooted

Directed by Delphine Coudray
Ireland, 7 min.

A bored warehouse worker’s quest for an enduring legacy as an animator takes a darkly comedic turn when she signs up for an eco-friendly burial.

Writer: Delphine Coudray

Forevergreen

Directed by Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
USA, 14 min.
Georgia premiere

An orphaned bear cub finds a home with a fatherly evergreen tree, until his hunger for trash leads him to danger.

Producers: Steph Gortz, Jennifer Gandrup Sackheim
Writers: Nathan Engelhardt (B.F.A., animation, 2007), Jeremy Spears

Éiru

Directed by Giovanna Ferrari
Ireland, 13 min.
Georgia premiere

Éiru is the smallest child of an Iron Age clan. All she wants is to be a mighty warrior who is taken seriously by her kinfolk. But when the village’s well mysteriously dries up, only she is small enough to descend into the belly of the earth to investigate and bring the water of life back to her people.

Writer: Giovanna Ferrari       
Cast: Coco Teehan Roche, Michael McGrath

anyone lived in a pretty how town

Directed by Daniel Kreizberg
Lithuania/Monaco/USA, 9 min.
World premiere

Dr. Jane Goodall narrates the titular poem by E.E. Cummings, in which a man named “anyone” and a woman named “no one” develop a profound love connection within their bucolic but increasingly alienated community. The film features illustrations inspired by Cummings’ own impressionistic paintings and a soundtrack by the late maestro Yakov Kreizberg.

Producer: Sharon Chen (B.F.A., animation, 2020)

Cardboard

Directed by Jean-Philippe Vine
UK, 10 min.
Georgia premiere

When an overwhelmed, single-dad pig moves his piglets into a rundown trailer park, he fears he’s failed his family. But soon his kids create a wildly imaginative game from a simple cardboard box, and Dad has a choice: dwell on the past or join them on an intergalactic adventure.

Writer: Jean-Philippe Vine

Wednesdays with Gramps

Directed by Chris Copeland and Justin Copeland
USA, 9 min.
Georgia premiere

When a teenage boy visits his Gramps at a seemingly mundane boring assisted living facility, he comes to find that they have much more in common than he thought. Wednesdays with Gramps is a story about connection, communication, and commonality, without saying a word.

Producer: Shabrayia B. Cleaver
Writers: Chris Copeland, Justin Copeland