14 May 2016, Monthly Screening & Discussion, ANIMATED SHORTS: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!

1. THE OPTIMIST
dir. John Mervin | 4′ | USA | 2015

Synopsis:
A visual poetry about contentment, a young book lover tries desperately to get the book everyone else has.

About The Director
John Mervin (17 y.o.) THE OPTIMIST is his first work and it gets Vimeo Staff Pick Award.

2. AN ELEPHANT ON THE MOON
dir. Benjamin Barthélémy | 8′ 56" | France | 2016

Synopsis:
Because everything in this giant raining world is dangerous, he decided to go to the moon using stolen balloon.

About The Director
Benjamin Barthélémy (b. Paris, 1986) is a French director. He lives in China since 6 years, where he works with international teams. His artistic style is very unic and he keep improving it every day by being curious about the asian culture.

3. KITBASH KID
dir. Wu Jun’An | 4’25" | Singapore | 2014

Synopsis:
A friendship between a boy and a robot

About The Director
Wu Jun’An is graduated from BA(Hons)
Animation Art programme at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. He was then working as an Animator for a local production company.

4. PAWO
dir. Antje Heyn | 7’38" | Germany | 2015

Synopsis:
PAWO (Tibetan for "being brave") is a magical adventure of a little toy figure, who finds herself in a curious world.

About The Director
Antje Heyn (b. 1979, Bergen auf Rügen, Germany) is a Berlin based animation director and illustrator. Her work is inspired by daily observations of urban living and culture as well as nature and animals. She also teaches animation at Art Academy and running the Protoplanet Studio.

5. REMINISCENCE
dir. J. Tardieu, E. Renard, C. Car, P. Marcantonio, J. Nguyen, A. Blanc | 3’55" | France | 2015

Synopsis:
Among many dancers, one of them is falling prey to a sudden malaise and gets into her memories and trauma exhibited by a being who symbolizes her conscience.

6. DESERT CHILD
Luna Steven | 3’45" | Switzerland | 2015

Synopsis:
A dreamlike adventure, about a child and her mission to restore order of the universe. She must find the bright star that went missing in the desert.

About The Director
Luna Steven (b. the Island of Malta, 1991), was in Film school F&F Schule für Kunst und Mediendesign ZH (2008 – 2012) and continue her study on 2D animation at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (2012 – 2015)

7. DREAM OF SPIDER
dir. Ario Saffarzadegan | 1’23" | Islamic Republic of Iran | 2015

Synopsis:
A story about a spider and a caterpillar.

About The Director
Ario Saffarzadegan (31 y.o, Tehran, Iran) work profesionally as an animator and illustrator.

8. HEDGEHOG IN LOVE
dir. Alexander Sparinsky | 3’13" | Ukraine | 2015

Synopsis:
Musical animation about friendship, love and how love looks not with eyes but with one’s heart. HEDGEHOG IN LOVE is an experimental cartoon created using mix-techniques; using puppet and the sand & water (Ebru) animations.

About The Director
Alexander Sparinsky (b. 22 Feb 1954 in Lutsk, Ukraine) is an Ukrainian musicologist, composer and producer. A member of Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers. He also produced wide range of the Best Ukrainian acts, shows, and artists.

9. AWESOME BEETLE’S COLORS
dir. Indra Sproge | 2’57" | Latvia | 2016

Synopsis:
a fun and educative plasticine animation to learn alphabet.

About The Director
Indra Sproge went to College of Applied Arts in 1980-1984, and continue to Latvian Academy of Arts, Graphic Design 1989-1999, gets her Magister Degree of Arts in 1999, and then further at Latvian Academy of Culture, Culture Management in 2003-2005. She devoted her work for children’s education, to turn a boring process of learning into the most exciting adventure for the kids all over the world.

10. BIRU
dir. Maria Rosiana Sedjahtera | 9’34" | Indonesia | 2015

Synopsis:
Biru always finds way to procrastinating his homework.

About The Director
Maria Rosiana Sedjahtera (b. 1998, Tangerang, Indonesia) she made “Biru” during her high school final exam. Now, she’s taking Psychology Major in Sanata Dharma College in Yogyakarta