Bruno Razum’s short puppet-animation Can You See Them? is screening in international competition at the 40th Uppsala Short Film Festival, taking place 25th – 31st October. Can you see them? will appear in the “Ghosts in the Glass” programme. 

The audience at home had the pleasure of seeing Razum’s film at this year’s Animafest Zagreb, where he won the award for Best Film in the Croatian Competition. The film which is a Zagreb Film production (with Vinko Brešan as producer), has since screened at a number of regional and European festivals, such as Supertoon, Anibar, Balkanima and Film Front.

Marko Dješka’s animated film All Those Sensations in my Belly will also appear at Uppsala, as the part of the programme “Queer”, featuring seven of the world’s best LGBTQ titles. Dješka’s film premiered at last year’s Anibar, and then traveled the world, appearing at festivals in Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Turkey, USA, Canada and many other countries. The film has also garnered numerous awards and recognitions, the most recent of which are special mentions at the Lanzarote International Film Festival on the Canary Islands and the MiX International Festival in Milan. 

Additionally, Croatian industry professional Inja Korać will sit on the international jury deciding on the best film in main competition programme. She is the selector of Motovun Shorts, producer of the Zagreb Film Festival Industry programme, programme coordinator and selector for Motovun Film Festival (Motovun Shorts and Buzz@teen) and selector and educator for Beldocs festival.

The Uppsala Short Film Festival, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, is the largest Swedish festival of its kind and one of the most important short film festivals in Europe. Its international and national competitions are Oscar-qualifying, which means that the winning titles in these categories automatically enter the running for Oscar nominations, as well as for the European Film Awards and the British Film Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA).

One more Croatian shorts is scheduled to appear at another Oscar-qualifying European festival in November. The 63rd edition of Zinebi – Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival will take place in Spain, 12th – 19th November.

Shadows, which will feature in the main competition programme, is an allegorical story about battling one’s demons, told through an unusual combination of 2D and stop motion animation. The film is a Kreativni Sindikat production, with Igor Grubić as producer. It premiered domestically at this year’s Animafest Zagreb, while it is currently having its international premiere at the Banjaluka International Animated Film Festival. 

Zinebi is the largest international festival in the category of documentary and short film in Spain, dedicated to promoting authors who are just starting their filmmaking careers. The festival holds the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations) accreditation since 1974, while in addition to qualifying for Oscar nominations, the winning titles also enter the running for nominations for the BAFTAs, the European Film Awards and the Goya Awards of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Cover photographs: collage (scenes from movies – left to right: Can You See Them?; All Those Sensations in my Belly; Shadows)