2025 FESTIVALApril 2-12, 2025Lansing, MI

Animated Shorts

*FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE*
Straight from the mind! Unlike live action filmmaking, which is limited by the physical laws of our universe, the world of animation knows no such limitations. Come be amazed and bewildered by this eclectic mix of international animation.

Note: While the films in this program are animated, they are not family friendly 

  • Odyssey express
  • Core
  • Road of Lux
  • Thinkle
  • Make Money
  • Damp
  • Shaped
  • Weave a dream
  • Afterthought
  • Around U
  • Sweetsamsara
  • Who am I?
  • Nono
  • Detlev

Odyssey express

Lei, who was about to transfer to a new school, felt lost about the future. By a stroke of fate, he boarded the Odyssey Express, a symbol of the unknown, and embarked on an adventure beyond imagination.

  • DIRECTOR
    Wei-Hsiang Hsieh, Chia-Tzu Sun
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    5 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Core

“CORE” is a 3D animation that tells the story of a factory robot who, through an unexpected event, seeks to break free and attempt to change its past. However, it encounters numerous obstacles along the way. This animation aims to inspire viewers to muster the courage to break out of their comfort zones. In the daily grind of life, making small changes can lead to unforeseen challenges. Yet, in confronting these limitations, the question arises: can we break free from the constraints that bind us?

  • DIRECTOR
    Yu-Hsiang Chen
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    7 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Road of Lux

Inspired by the concept of “the road,” we have created a protagonist who is a personified coal spirit. The coal spirit is motivated by the “shining light,” which serves as a contrast and an attraction. Although there is a pre-planned path, the protagonist is drawn to the light encountered along the way and makes different choices compared to other coals, taking a completely different path. Despite being a dark and unremarkable entity, it has the courage to pursue its own journey. Through trials and tribulations along this journey, the dark coal transforms into a sparkling diamond, becoming its own light.

  • DIRECTOR
    Chia-Hsun Wu
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    7 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Thinkle

An ordinary man’s journey in search of his inner well-being.

  • DIRECTOR
    Chiara Amenta, Claudia Antonioli, Enrica Carpentieri, Giorgia D'Aleo, Fabio La Gattuta, Gabriele Minotti, Bianca Santarelli
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    6 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Italy

Make Money

“Make Money” is a three-minute 2D short animation. The story revolves around a family of three living on a grassland. The playful young boy discovers accidentally that pulling up weeds causes them to transform into various objects. Unaware of his actions, he eventually pulls up all the grass on the entire plain. As a consequence, everything familiar from the past is gone, leaving a changed landscape and circumstances.

  • DIRECTOR
    I-Chieh Teng, Tzu-Chin Chou, Yu-Fen Chen
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    3 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Damp

The protagonist abandoned their dreams in the past due to an accident, and the trauma made them long afraid to confront the things they once loved. It wasn’t until middle age that a chance occurrence allowed them to face their true feelings once again.

  • DIRECTOR
    Xuan Liu, Ru-Sin Chang
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    6 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Shaped

“SHAPED” is an animation about modern life phenomena. The protagonist, Shanshan, enters a glass cup, experiencing various degrees of influence and uncontrollable changes. After a brief escape, he still chooses to return to this cycle

  • DIRECTOR
    Hsin-Ju Wu
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    4 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Weave a dream

A human girl lives with a furry doll, enjoying happy and warm times until she accidentally loses a button from the doll’s body. Despite her efforts to repair it, the doll’s cotton keeps leaking out, and its body gradually becomes tattered. Eventually, the doll’s cotton runs out, disappearing from the girl’s world. Our daily lives are made up of various emotions, but the tiny feelings are often easily forgotten. Therefore, we want to use the concept of capturing these tiny emotions in daily life as the animation’s theme, highlighting the core issue: “When a beautiful memory comes to an end, leaving only loss and confusion, how do we face it?”

  • DIRECTOR
    Bing-Han Chen
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    6 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Afterthought

Bun crashes Cat and Dog’s wedding!? Prepare yourself for JUICY DRAMA, NON-STOP ACTION, AND HEARTCLENCHING ROMANCE; surely the makings of what could possibly be the PERFECT WEDDING!

  • DIRECTOR
    Joslyn Jude Yabut
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    3 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Around U

In the Candy Kingdom, many candy residents live, but there are rumors of residents disappearing at night. Among them, three close friends decide to find their missing friend. However, on this adventure, they will face many challenges. Will these candies overcome the difficulties and find their friend? Let’s wait and see!

  • DIRECTOR
    Li-Wei Chou, Yong-Qing Zhang
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    5 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Sweetsamsara

Every little piece of dough has the mission of becoming a donut from the moment it is born. Only donuts are good adults and a symbol of greatness! Under the influence of this kind of education, little dough Dobby and his classmates followed the teacher full of longing to participate in the “coming of age ceremony”. However, by accident, Dobby discovered the unknown inside story behind the donut factory…

  • DIRECTOR
    Pei-Chi Tsai
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    8 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    Chinese, English
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Who am I?

The protagonist, a popular actress, unexpectedly encounters a strange stray cat in an alley, leading to a magical journey.

  • DIRECTOR
    Wei-Jhen Huang
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    4 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Taiwan

Nono

After the birthday party, Nono waves goodbye to his friends. He suddenly feels very empty and disoriented. Growing up is a weird, bittersweet thing. It’s worth celebrating, but it also brings so much discomfort and confusion. Nono is about those moments of surreal terror that come with growing up.

  • DIRECTOR
    Aerin Wu
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    4 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Detlev

A constantly freezing man in his forties drives to a lonely petrol station every evening and orders a microwaved Toast Hawaii. Detlev indulges in this in a bizarre ritual, because it’s the only thing that warms him in his daily life. But when he is observed by a stranger one night, his world begins to crumble into shameful pieces.

  • DIRECTOR
    Ferdinand Ehrhardt
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    13 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Germany

Shadows

At an over crowded airport, Ahlam, a 14-year old runaway mother, fights the lurking shadows that attempt to steal the only dream that will set her free.

  • DIRECTOR
    Rand Beiruty
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    12 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    Arabic
  • COUNTRY
    German

HOLY HEAVÊNESS

The unbearable lightness of the death of loved ones… There are wounds in life that eat away at you like leprosy… The weight of the death of loved ones sometimes becomes so overwhelming that to get rid of this weight another birth is inevitable.

  • DIRECTOR
    Farnoosh Abedi Renani, Negah Khezre Fardyardad
  • YEAR
    2025
  • RUNTIME
    10 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
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  • Sat, April 5 1:00 PM
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  • Sat, April 5 6:00 PM
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  • Sat, April 5 3:30 PM
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  • Sat, April 5 8:30 PM
  • Stage One
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  • Sat, April 5 3:30 PM
  • Stage One
More Info
  • Sat, April 5 1:00 PM
  • Impression 5 Expansion
More Info
  • Sat, April 5 8:30 PM
  • Central United Methodist Church
More Info
  • Sat, April 5 10:30 PM
  • Central United Methodist Church
More Info
  • Sat, April 5 6:00 PM
  • Impression 5 Expansion
More Info
  • Sat, April 5 8:30 PM
  • Impression 5 Expansion
More Info