Vacht(2022)

Do Something(de)

BC12, a red blood cell, lives and works in a body that is currently struggling with dehydration. He is given the task of traveling to Brian, the brain, and convincing him to drink some water. BC12 sets off on the journey and encounters various organs along the way, all of which have an opinion (sometimes more, sometimes less helpful) about Brian and his passivity.

Anomalisa(en)

An inspirational speaker becomes reinvigorated after meeting a lively woman who shakes up his mundane existence.

Rocks in My Pockets(en)

The personal story of a woman struggling with an inherited illness, as told by Signe Baumane, the Latvian director-animator living in New York City. With humour and courage, the director sets out on a challenging journey to discover her family’s best-kept secret. Featuring five stories about the courageous women in Signe’s family and their battles with madness, visual metaphors, surreal images and director’s narration.

Memoir of a Snail(en)

Forcibly separated from her twin brother when they are orphaned, a melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself amid the clutter of misfortunes and everyday life.

Escaflowne: The Movie(ja)

Gaea is a mythical realm ruled by sword and sorcery and immersed in blood and violence. Thrust into a conflict she doesn't quite understand, Hitomi Kanzaki helps aid the young Prince Van as they embark upon a journey to fight the Black Dragon Clan. The battle over a legendary suit of dragon armor, Escaflowne, has begun.

Fawn(en)

Following the sudden passing of her parents, Fawn is forced to return to a house she hasn't called home in a very long time. As painful memories begin to seep through, Fawn is thrown onto the difficult path of reconnecting with a past she thought she had left behind.

Charlotte(fr)

The true story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she escapes to the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again, and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only an extraordinary act will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

LES MIKAILS(fr)

Thanadoula(en)

Layering real-life details with an otherworldly magic, Thanadoula recounts the story of an end-of-life doula brought to her calling through the loss of her beloved sister.

Hisser(en)

The story told in Hisser was inspired by a true occurrence. In 2013, a young man in Florida was literally "swallowed up by the earth" when a cesspool suddenly opened up under his bedroom. The film's main setting is a bedroom by night. From the way it was shot, the viewer has the feeling of peering into an abandoned life-size dollhouse. Other sequences show close-up views of a young man lying on a bed with a tormented look on his face or cowering in a corner. The scene is accompanied by an exaggeratedly romantic song whose refrain – "It took me so long to get my feet back off the ground" – alludes to the loss of a loved one and a sense of abysmal loneliness. The song's emotionality contrasts starkly with the artificiality of the scene. The boundary between reproduction and reality grows fluid, and the virtuality – which the artist has carried to a near- perfect extreme – begins to crumble in view of the protagonist's physical and emotional frailty.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo(ja)

Fourteen years after Third Impact, Shinji Ikari awakens to a world he does not remember. He hasn't aged. Much of Earth is laid in ruins, NERV has been dismantled, and people who he once protected have turned against him. Befriending the enigmatic Kaworu Nagisa, Shinji continues the fight against the angels and realizes the fighting is far from over, even when it could be against his former allies. The characters' struggles continue amidst the battles against the angels and each other, spiraling down to what could inevitably be the end of the world.

Small Hours(en)

Struggling with alcohol addiction and mental illness, a once-proud artist (Robert Bathurst) reaches out to an old friend.

Ovary-Acting(en)

A harried thirty-something woman is forced to decide whether she wants to be a mother after unexpectedly giving birth to her reproductive organs at her sister’s baby shower.

Bug Therapy(en)

Citronella, a mosquito who faints at the sight of blood, nervously waits outside her first group therapy session, while the Pill Bug therapist, Dr. Pill tries to calm a neurotic group of bugs, each suffering from a mental-health issue: An OCD germaphobic Fly freaks when he runs out of hand sanitizer. A Dragonfly couple struggle with co-dependency; she's literally on top of him. A Grasshopper, addicted to coffee, is so jumpy, he launches himself in mid-sentence. A Praying Mantis who doesn't pray because she thinks she is God. A terrified Spider is deathly afraid of -- spiders. And, a perfectly-camouflaged Stick Bug complains that no one ever "sees" him. Throughout all this, Citronella battles her urge to flee - while Dr. Pill implores her to share her "embarrassing" problem.

Black★Rock Shooter(ja)

The story of two girls bound in friendship, as well as Black Rock Star's struggle unfolding in another world. But when the two worlds come together... what will happen?

Tiger(en)

“I want to be a tiger. I am an atheist from Iraq and I am seeking asylum. About my hallucinations… It’s difficult. Horrible monsters. I hope I can help those who need help.” An episode of the animation series Mental images by Antonia Ringbom. The aim of these animated documentary short films is to reduce the stigma toward mental health problems and psychological disorders.

Scars(fr)

Alex Anna’s body is a canvas: her scars come to life to tell a new story of self-harming.

Flowing Home(fr)

The intertwining fates of two Vietnamese sisters who sustain a wartime relationship through written correspondence.

Phantom Requiem(en)

“Phantom Requiem" unfolds in the desolate expanse of an abandoned factory, where shadows and silence are the only remnants of a once-thrumming industrial heartbeat. In this spectral setting, a coterie of puppets emerges—ethereal figures, each step and gesture echoing the dissonant unraveling of a viewer ensnared in a psychotic fugue. Rendered in austere black-and-white, this stop-motion film marries the macabre grace of desolation with the intimate terror of mental dissolution, crafting a visual poem that is both stark and sublime

Manly Feelings(nl)

Manly Feelings is a short film by Chris Blom, about the difficulty that many men face while experiencing, expressing, and sharing the difficult emotion of sadness. The film lingers in this place of difficulty through interviews with men, supported by metaphorical imagery.