PIFF | Oscar Shorts

Wander to Wonder
A touching yet eerie stop-motion animated short that follows Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton—once beloved children’s TV stars now left alone in a decaying studio after their creator’s passing. As their costumes crumble and hunger grows, they continue to produce increasingly strange episodes. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival and earning over 40 awards—including Best British Short at the British Independent Film Awards and a Golden Calf at the Netherlands Film Festival—this film has received both Oscar and BAFTA nominations. Directed by Nina Gantz, it’s a masterful exploration of loss, creativity, and the enduring magic of storytelling.

Beautiful Men
Winner of the Festival Connexions Award at the prestigious Annecy International Film Festival, Beautiful Men delivers a peculiar yet heartfelt narrative. Three balding brothers embark on a journey to Istanbul for a hair transplant, only to find that their insecurities grow faster than their hair in a hotel far from home. This animated short has captivated audiences at festivals like Clermont-Ferrand and SXSW and recently earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. Directed by Belgian filmmaker Nicolas Keppens, whose refined skills were honed at KASK Ghent and the Luca School of Arts Brussels, the film finds extraordinary meaning in the ordinary.

I’m Not a Robot
In this thought-provoking narrative, feminist Lara embarks on a quest to prove her humanity after multiple failed CAPTCHA attempts, confronting the unsettling possibility that she might be a robot—and even a commodity. Directed and scripted by Victoria Warmerdam, the film challenges modern perceptions of identity and technology with wit and insight.