Celebrating young filmmakers from art and animation schools around the world, the VAF Best Graduation Film program delights in playful ideas, thoughtful themes, raucous energy, and the courage and desire to create and tell new stories.
The films showcase a wide range of styles and techniques, as young filmmakers share their ideas and visions in animated short films designed to announce the arrival of exciting new talents poised to rock the world of animation.
VAF Best Graduation Film receives films from art and animation schools around the world. Mixed media, including live action, is accepted. The length of the film must be a maximum of 15 minutes including credits. The winner will receive €700.
The award is sponsored by BoligViborg.
The films in competition will be shown at two separate screenings: Program 1 & Program 2
Celebrating young filmmakers from art and animation schools around the world, the VAF Best Graduation Film program delights in playful ideas, thoughtful themes, raucous energy, and the courage and desire to create and tell new stories.
VAF Best Graduation Film receives films from art and animation schools around the world. Mixed media, including live action, is accepted. The length of the film must be a maximum of 15 minutes including credits. The winner will receive €700.
The award is sponsored by BoligViborg.
Best Graduation – Program 1
Best Graduation – Program 1
Try Hard
Yuha Cho, Hugo Lemonnier, Brian Lim, Audrey Chevrolle, Yuxi Zhou
It's Dance Time
Qiushu Li
Freak of Nature
Nana Kawabata
THE NAME
Alexander Aguilar
Wait for me in a dream
Natalia Durszewicz
Touching Darkness
Jamaica Kindlová
Every Other Weekend
James Naughton
Opto Optics
Pearl Seemann
I would eat it if I could
Bence Hlavay
Best Graduation – Program 2
Rising Above
Natálie Natálie
Number32. Giant Fish
Seunghyun Si
Freshwater Bees
Emma Kanouté
Swifts
Ada Napiorkowski
It's just a whole
Bianca Scali
Dead Air
Ronja Ehlers, Inês Filipa Palma Martins, Melissa Fabienne Klein, Lucía Artiles De Urioste
Sunscreen
Yufan Chen, Liu Yuan, Zixiao Yue, Xinzhi Ma
The Knots of Destiny
Déborah Chang
Children of the bird
Júlia Tudisco
Meet the Jury
Maurice Galway
Maurice is the Co-Founder and Festival Director of Animation Dingle in Ireland and has over 25 years of festival experience he brings each year to Animation Dingle. As a festival director, programmer, exhibitor and as an artist and filmmaker himself, Maurice has a deep understanding of what works, what needs to be seen, what audiences want to see, how to
exhibit that and, ultimately, what is good! Maurice has viewed thousands and thousands of hours worth of film and animation and is a highly experienced programmer. Maurice has programmed for Festivals, not only in Ireland, but also internationally.
Co-Founder/Festival Director Animation Dingle
Maša Udovičić
Since 1994 she has worked as a 3D modeler and animator in advertising. Since 1998 she worked in Varga Studio Budapest as an animator and compositing artist on many European series and commercials. In 2006 she co-founded Bold Studio production house for commercials in Zagreb. Since 2010 she produced 15 short animated films and one series. In 2012 founded Luma Film that currently develops several different animated projects. Lately, she dedicated herself to the popularization of animation as an art, organising workshops trough Croatia. Founded Animafin festival and School of Animation for children and youth in Zagreb. Member of Croatian Producers Association and of ASIFA.
Kristian Pugholm
In 2016 Kristian (He/Him) entered the Danish film industry, working on various animated and live action features, series and short films which have traveled the world on over 30+ festivals.
In 2017 he was headhunted for the independent film school 18Frames, along working as a junior producer for the company “new creations”. In 2019 he was accepted into The National Filmschool of Denmark as a producer until he graduated summer 2023. After that he went to Animation Sans Frontières investigating the European animation industry for future collaborations and working on this evil project. Kristian now works as a freelance producer. In 2024 he was nominated for the Danish Academy Award for his short documentary “WILD WOMAN”.
