The selection of animated shorts for the 25th edition of RIFF brings together eight films from Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Latvia, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, and the Czech Republic, offering a journey through some of the most compelling directions in contemporary animation.
Diverse in sensibility and technique – ranging from stop-motion and 3D to anime, live-action hybrids, and experimental forms – each short film shares a common drive: using animation as a tool to view reality from a fresh perspective. The selection explores universal and contemporary themes, including loneliness and the desire for connection, grief and acceptance, memory, war, the increasingly complex relationship between body and technology, creativity, and the search for identity.
This year’s program features works that have already garnered acclaim at prestigious international animation festivals, such as Animafest Zagreb, the Fantasia International Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival. The lineup is further enriched by the diverse backgrounds of the filmmakers: from Shaun Seong-young Kim (After Ash), a Pixar veteran, to Takeru Shinozuka (Foxing), a character designer and animator known for One Piece and Digimon, alongside emerging talents from renowned film schools like FAMU in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London.
Ultimately, this selection fosters a dialogue between established filmmakers and new voices, bridging distant cinematic cultures and distinct artistic languages, while confirming animation as one of the freest and most fertile territories in contemporary cinema.
