Content warning: TBD A collection of animated short films in contention for official selection, nomination as Quarterfinalist for both genre and technical categories. One will win the Quarter Final and be named BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM of the 1st Quarter of 2026! Audience Choice balloting is open. Your vote counts!

After a disastrous fashion runway walk, Maggie, a low-cost, Tenzing model mountain droid with serious artistic aspirations, embarks on her never-ending and sometimes perilous journey into creativity. This time, she’s guided by Robert, the brilliant mind behind the Tenzing project at CIT (Cupertino Institute of Technology), and Blu, a destructive Morpho peleides butterfly. Together, they explore the works of Goethe, Kafka, Beckett, Sant'Elia, Philip K. Dick, and more, delving into the joys and pitfalls of artistic creation, the absurdist way.Will Maggie overcome her AI limitations and achieve her artistic dreams? Find out in SWiM.

SWiM

A low-cost, Tenzing model mountain droid with serious artistic aspirations, embarks on her never-ending and sometimes perilous journey into creativity.

This is a short, animated film that imagines what would happen if Jesus came back today and visited the United States. It is based on the contradiction that is being debated in modern Christianity in this country, where many of the current laws being pushed by conservative Christians seem go against Jesus’s actual philosophy and teachings.

Jesus's Last Supper in America

This is a short, animated film that imagines what would happen if Jesus came back today and visited the United States. It is based on the contradiction that is being debated in modern Christianity in this country, where many of the current laws being pushed by conservative Christians seem go against Jesus’s actual philosophy and teachings.

Saikou is a 12th grade girl, who is two months away from graduating high school. One day, as she is walking home, she is almost run over by a motorcycle gang. This leads Saikou to hunt down the biker gang until she finds them.

You Hit Like A Girl

This poignant drama follows two unlikely souls bound by despair and hope. Holly Dew, a quiet guardian living inside the letter "D" of the iconic Movieland sign, dedicates her life to saving dreamers from leaping into oblivion. Walter Melon, a washed-up actor with a name as ironic as his fate, becomes her most fragile rescue during a storm that mirrors his turmoil. As their bond deepens, Holly discovers her hidden gift for painting, drawing Walter's grief with raw honesty. Her art catches the eye of Hornita-a decadent starlet reigning from her fortress of fame-who thrusts Holly into a world of hollow glamour. Torn between duty and ambition, Holly drifts away, leaving Walter to confront his demons alone. In a heart-stopping climax, Walter climbs the sign once more, ready to fall. Holly races against time.

The Decline and Fall of Holly Dew and Walter Melon

A haunting meditation on fame, failure, and redemption asks, what does it mean to truly be seen?

An old Irish man starts to play the Bodhran in the corner of an empty pub, setting off a sequence of events through music, place, and time. Commissioned for the World Expo in Osaka, Japan to represent Ireland and its culture.

Ceol

An old Irish man plays the Bodhran, setting off a sequence of events through music, place, and time.

While laughter echoes around a bonfire, one friend isolates himself, hiding behind what they thought would help them belong. But little does he know that even a simple conversation can help him realize that he isn't as misunderstood as he seems.

Figures

A fully synthetic pop star, architected from a week of deep learning and data curation, performs her debut single in a world built by algorithms.

Mae-Mea Someone Else

A fully synthetic pop star, architected from a week of deep learning and data curation, performs her debut single in a world built by algorithms.

Enemy Heroes is a multi-level WWII version of ‘All Quiet on The Western Front’ in which the audience agonizes over the heart-wrenching choices the protagonists are forced to make – and in so doing clarifies their own values.It’s not a film about War. It is a film about Humanity.

Enemy Heroes

Enemy Heroes “Because... sometimes it is not easy to tell... Who is the Enemy?.. Who are the Heroes?”

The work explores sound as an evolving system rather than a narrative or expressive medium. Music and image operate together as a single process in which rhythm, density, and temporal change generate abstract visual structures. The visual language remains entirely non-figurative, composed of geometric forms and spatial transformations synchronized with the musical architecture.Each movement represents a distinct state of the system. Instead of telling a story, the piece advances through shifts in energy, pace, and internal organization. Micro-climaxes and transitions articulate the overall structure, emphasizing continuity, repetition, and transformation across the four movements.There are no performers on screen. By removing the visual presence of musicians, the work redirects attention from performance to process, allowing sound to function as an architectural force and image as its temporal trace.Process invites the viewer to experience sound as structure in motion — a system that unfolds, transforms, and sustains itself over time. The work can be presented both as a cinematic projection and as a sound-driven visual environment.

Process Architecture of Sound

Process is an audiovisual composition structured in four movements.

SDSFF Animated Short Films

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Celebrating the art of storytelling through short films, showcasing the work of talented filmmakers from around the world. From thought-provoking dramas to captivating animations, the festival presents a rich tapestry of storytelling, offering a platform for emerging and established filmmakers.

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