Shorts
US & French Student Short Film Competition

Award Ceremony
Sunday, January 29 at 8:30pm
FIAF Florence Gould Hall

On Demand
Monday, January 30–Sunday, February 12, 2023
Online on Eventive

Mature Audiences



Congratulations to the winners of the third annual Animation First Student Short Film Competition! View the winners and participants below.

Since 2020, FIAF’s Animation First festival has held a competition to highlight emerging talent from some of the most renowned animation schools in France and the United States. Four schools are chosen from each country and each school selects five films from its most recent graduating class. Prizes are awarded for Best French Student Shorts and Best American Student Shorts.

This year’s schools included Gobelins, l’École de l’Image (Paris, France), RUBIKA (Valenciennes, France), EMCA (Angoulême, France), École des Nouvelles Images (Avigon, France), California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) (California, USA), Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) (Georgia, USA), School of Visual Arts (SVA) (New York, USA), and University of Southern California (USC) (California, USA).

Grouped into two programs—one featuring the American films and the other featuring the French ones—the student films were made available to stream online from Monday, January 30–Sunday, February 12.

2023 WINNERS

Best French Student Shorts

  • Ressources Humaines (EMCA)
  • La quête de l’humain (Gobelins)

Best American Shorts Winners

  • Grandma Rosi (CalArts)
  • The Best Ham Sandwich According to a Fish (CalArts)

Special Mention

  • 잘 지내 (jal-jinae) (Spend your life well) (SVA)
  • The Legend of Pipi (SCAD)

Prizes were announced, and the winning films screened during the festival’s closing night screening of No Dogs or Italians Allowed, on Sunday, January 29 at 8:30pm in FIAF Florence Gould Hall.

The student jury was presided over by acclaimed animator Kristof Serrand (The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda). The winners receive a one-on-one session with Serrand to discuss their work and gain his advice.

Student Shorts from France

(20 shorts)
English subtitles available
Mature Audiences

  • Gobelins, l’École de l’Image (Paris, France) — View Selection
      • Funeral at Nine, Dir. Mamadou Barry, Rodrigo Burigo, Ziyu Wang, Junhao Xiang, Wang Yu, Linfeng Zhou, France, 2022, 6 min.
      • Go Fishboy, Dir. Denise Cirone, Sebastian Doringer, Andrey Kolesov, Chiayu Liu, Zhen Tian, Lan Zhou, France, 2022, 6 min.
      • Midnight Hotel (Hôtel Nuit Noire), Dir. Vincent Albert, Neïl Dieu, Malo Doucet, May Taraud, Marie Toury, France, 2022, 7 min.
      • La quête de l’humain, Dir. Mélina Ienco, Lucie Juric, Caroline Leibel, Faustine Merle, Claire Pellet, France, 2022, 7 min.
      • Gloire Amère 40000, Dir. Vincent Pistien, Armand Goxe, Florian De Chelle, Marine Corbineau, Alexis Maurice, Tom Rameaux, Valentin Giuili, France, 2022, 5 min.
  • RUBIKA (Valenciennes, France) — View Selection
      • Synchronie Passagère, Dir. Julia Le Bras-Juarez, Emmie Marriere, Marianne Fourmanoit, Laura Techer, Louise-Marie Rousselie, Jean Delamarre, Alexis Prost, France, 2022, 8 min.
      • Apocalypse Dog, Dir. Aziliz Le Clainche, Camille Nasarre, Jing Qian, Juliette Barraux, Emma Plumey, Lucile Arnaud, Solène Cauchie, France, 2022, 7 min.
      • Hellscape, Dir. Alixe Devaux, Camille Leroux, Félicia Poggi, Clémence Lacoume, Lara Brière, Valentine Wilke, France, 2022, 7 min.
      • Galibot, Dir. Thomas Vandenbussche, Elise Petit, Ambre Grangereau, Emilie Cousin, Wan-Jing Yang, Laure Vernier, France, 2022, 6 min.
      • Tear off, Dir. Clément Del Negro, Charlotte Fargier, Héloïse Neveu, Camille Souchard, Nalini Bashin, Mikko Petremand, Matthias Bourgeuil, France, 2022, 6 min.
  • EMCA (Angoulême, France) — View Selection
      • Ressources Humaines, Dir. Titouan Tillier, Trinidad Plass, Isaac Wenzek, France, 2022, 3 min.
      • Le sel de la mer, Dir. Chloé Danguy, France, 2022, 5 min.
      • Sombre, Dir. Alexis Morisson, France, 2022, 6 min.
      • Schrodinger, Dir. Adrien Waszak, France, 2022, 6 min.
      • Au nom de quoi ?, Dir. Marilys Gouaux, France, 2022, 6 min.
  • École des Nouvelles Images (Avignon, France) — View Selection
      • Boom, Dir. Romain Augier, Charles Di Cicco, Gabriel Augerai, Yannick Jacquin, Laurie Pereira De Figueiredo, France, 2022, 6 min.
      • Code Rose, Dir. Taye Cimon, Pierre Coez, Julie Groux, Sandra Leydier, Mauarii Morel, Romain Seisson, France, 2022, 5 min.
      • Hope, Dir. Oualid Laouer, Kanto Randresy, Henry Mbouem Mbeck, Maxime Pitrou, Lucie Jean, France, 2022, 7 min.
      • Une Belle Nuit d’Été, Dir. Yannis Brun, Sam Castelli, Barbara Derail, Arthur Dupuy, Enzo Leboucher, Aleksandar Savic, France, 2022, 7 min.
      • Thao, Dir. Elisabeth Garreau, Saphir Robelin, Sandra Gire, Alizée Blum, Baptiste Maury, Jenna Mekidiche, France, 2022, 7 min.

Student Shorts from the United States

(20 shorts)
In English
Mature Audiences

  • California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) (California) — View Selection
      • Operago, Dir. Rayna Buxton, USA, 2022, 8 min.
      • Detective Alice and The Inside Game, Dir. Kyky Yang, USA, 2022, 3 min.
      • Grandma Rosi, Dir. Maya McMahon, USA, 2022, 4 min.
      • The Best Ham Sandwich According to a Fish, Dir. Jessica Xu, USA, 2022, 3 min.
      • The Balcony, Dir. Anya Martin, USA, 2022, 3 min.
  • Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) (Georgia) — View Selection
      • Beacon, Dir. Andrew Stadler, USA, 2022, 9 min.
      • Desert Mayhem Overdrive, Dir. Noah Cheruck, USA, 2022, 8 min.
      • Hideout #47, Dir. Isabella Blandam, Tilly Fidler, Summer Grier, Andrea Lacher, Nathalie Mortell, Lauren Rebelo, Camill Scalzetti, USA, 2022, 4 min.
      • The Legend of Pipi, Dir. Julia Schoel, Birgit Uhlig, USA, 2022, 8 min.
      • The Pope’s Dog, Dir. Neko Pilarcik-Tellez, 2022, 5 min.
  • School of Visual Arts (SVA) (New York) — View Selection
      • 잘 지내 (jal-jinae) (Spend your life well), Dir. Janice Chi, USA, 2022, 8 min.
      • MOHA, Dir. Jingpei Xiao, USA, 2022, 3 min.
      • Parallels at Hand, Dir. Emma Sawyer, USA, 2022, 4 min.
      • Decisive Action, Dir. Catherine Krahn, USA, 2022, 3 min.
      • The Boy and The Moon, Dir. Christopher Cuthrell, 2022, 3 min.
  • University of Southern California (USC) (California) — View Selection
      • Between the Two, Dir. Jarrod & Parker Chatham, USA, 2022, 5 min.
      • Restless is the Night, Dir. Xiaoxue Meng, Yuehan Tan, USA, 2022, 4 min.
      • Woe, Dir. Qi Liu, USA, 2022, 4 min.
      • Rose, Dir. Joe Jacobs, USA, 2022, 5 min.
      • Fallen Leaves, Dir. Thomas Edgar-McNerney, USA, 2022, 8 min.

2023 JURY

President: Kristof Serrand

French Jury: Maxime Bourstin & Ysaline Debut (RUBIKA), Clément Hamtat & Edouard Trefert (EMCA), Anne Guisset & Anaëlle SABA (Gobelins), Kimié Maingonnat & Avril Zundel (École des Nouvelles Images)

American Jury: Corinne Evans & Adrien Rolley (SVA), Alexandra Young & Mason Smigel (SCAD), Shengwei Zhou & Delaney McCallum (USC), Z Balashov & Mu’izza Nur Rahman (CalArts)