Short Film Competition 2

The Japanese film director was born in Hyōgo in 1980. He started making short animated films in 2002. He is inspired by the minimalism and music of Nô theatre.

Mamuka Tkeshelashvili is a Georgian animation director and visual artist. Working primarily in hand-crafted animation, he combines poetic visual storytelling with themes rooted in personal and collective experience. His short film Sunset was presented at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2016 (Official Selection, Out of Competition), and Fisherman and the Girl was selected for the Perspectives section at Annecy in 2018. In 2026, his short animation When The Sea Was Calm will be premiered in the Main Competition at Annecy. He lives and works in Georgia.

Jordan Minkoff is a Montreal-based 2D animator and director with extensive music video credits for both Canadian and International artists. His work is known for its comedic and surreal qualities, and is informed by his artistic beginnings in painting, music and performance. His animation process combines both traditional and modern techniques that evoke a distinct sense of nostalgia. He has directed videos for clients such as Warner Brothers, Sub Pop, JYP Entertainment, Fire Records and Topo Chico and has screened his work in film festivals throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States.

Born in 1944 in Switzerland, he studied at the School of Fine Arts and the School of Applied Arts from 1960 to 1965. In 1970, he founded Studio GDS and began producing and directing animated short films. From The Flight of Icarus (Le Vol d’Icare, 1974) to From One Painting… to Another (D’une peinture… à l’autre, 2023), he has directed around twenty films, nearly all of which have received international awards. Two of them—78 Tours (1985) and The Race to the Abyss (La Course à l’abîme, 1992)—were included in the list of the 100 Most Significant Animated Films, established at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2006.

Kyle Brooks is an animator and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. He specializes in 2D animation direction, blending naturalistic character acting with absurdist situational comedy.

Past clients include FX, Titmouse, Bento Box, Green Street Pictures, Adult Swim, and Paramount+.

Sara Priorelli is an Italian illustrator and animator. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Urbino in Italy with the shortfilm Good resolutions and she co-directed the short film Sweet Dreams which was screened in international festivals such as Pictoplasma and Ottawa Animation Festival. She attended a Master in Animation at Moholy-Nagy University in Budapest where she graduated with the film My good boy. She particularly enjoys exploring the grotesque aspects of human beings.

Don Hertzfeldt is a two-time Academy Award nominee whose animated films include It’s Such a Beautiful Day, the World of Tomorrow series, ME, The Meaning of Life, On Memory, Billy’s Balloon, and Rejected. His work has played around the world, received hundreds of awards, and in 2014 made a special appearance on The Simpsons.

CIANG is an artistic duo formed by Francesca Colombara and Matteo Dang, both animation directors and illustrators from Italy. The duo was born in Bologna in 2019 as an editorial project focused on fanzines and underground comics. Over time, their practice gradually shifted towards animation and motion design, eventually leading them to found CIANG studio in 2021. CIANG studio is an independent 2D animation studio specializing in animated shorts, video installations, music videos, and commercials, known for its distinctive underground and psychedelic style. Their work has been featured in numerous international animation film festivals and art exhibitions. In 2025, CIANG curated the exhibition Vite, Morti e Miracolo at TAM Museum in Matera, Italy. Over the years, they have collaborated with a wide range of clients and brands, including GIPHY, FXX, NBA, Ted-Ed, Adidas, Bloomberg, VICE, A Studio Digital.

Francesca Colombara (CIANCI) is an Italian animation director, illustrator, and comic artist. Co-founder of CIANG studio. Born in 1994, she graduated in Decoration from the Academy of Brera in 2017 and completed a master’s degree in Comics at the Academy of Bologna in 2021. Her first graphic novel ‘Panic!’ has been published by Centrala in 2021. She was part of the jury at the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival 2025. Francesca loves painting on wood, crocheting, and walking in nature.

Matteo Dang is an Italian-Vietnamese director, 2D animator and illustrator. Co-founder of CIANG studio. Born in 1994, he graduated in New Art Technologies from the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in 2017. He started his career as a motion designer for VICE Italy. Matteo is also the curator of Serato Animato, a screening event dedicated to indie animation. He’s passionate about experimental and underground animation, editorial illustration, and electronic music. He enjoys being in nature and hiking in the mountains.

Gina Kamentsky is an animator, kinetic sculptor and sound artist based in Providence Rhode Island. Her anxious and joyful short films blast out at twenty-four frames per second searing eyeballs and sending waves of buzz and crackle into the ether.

Over her three decade career she’s progressed through numerous forms including painting, drawing and collaging on film, Rotoscope, Musique concrète, sound collage, stop motion and Pixilation. Kamentsky’s films have screened at festivals nationally and worldwide.

Leo Černic (Čino) is a Slovenian-Italian filmmaker, graduated in Film and Television Directing at AGRFT Ljubljana and Animation at CSC Turin. He has since worked as an independent author, exploring weird, quirky characters and their vulnerabilities, crafting stories that blend humor, emotions, and absurdity.