Competition Program of the 31st Suzdal Animation Festival Announced

The organizing committee of the 31st Open Russian International Festival of Animated Film (Suzdal Animation Festival) has announced the films selected for this year’s competition program. The selected works will be screened for festival guests, participants and jury members in March — both at the festival venues in Suzdal and online via the Suzdalfest.Online platform.

The selection was made by a committee consisting of artist Marina Kurchevskaya, director and artist Svetlana Filippova, director Maria Muat, director and artist Ekaterina Sokolova, director Evgeny Fadeev, and director and artist Alexey Alexeev.

The competition program traditionally includes several categories: student graduation films, debut films, auteur short films, applied animation, animated series, and feature-length films.

Student Graduation Films
This section features works by students from leading Russian animation schools and universities. Among them are “It Hurts!” by Anastasia Petrova (VGIK), “Paper Lion” by Elena Baranovskaya (St. Petersburg State Institute of Film and Television), “Key, Sea, Parachute” by Maria Alekseeva (HSE Art and Design School), “Ryazan Miracle” by Nikita Bazzaev, and other films.

Debut Films
The section includes first professional works by emerging directors, such as “Inside the Snake” by Ivan Khanzhin, “Give Me Water” by Olga Rodina, “Kitten and Hedgehog” by Vsevolod Bulavkin, and “Parajanov. Cinema Without Film” by Ivan Baturin.

Auteur Short Films
One of the largest competition sections brings together films by both established and emerging animation directors. Selected titles include “Orange Tree” by Olga Baulina, “Once There Was a Mouse…” by Elena Kurkova, “Son” by Zhanna Bekmambetova, “My Little Life on the Island” by Nina Bisyaryna, and “Bear’s Night” by Oksana Kholodova.

Applied Animation
The competition also features advertising, music, and experimental animation projects, including “Flow of Power” by Leonid Shmelkov, “Reverse Perspective” by Evgeny Strelkov, and “Khatyn — The Unconquered Village” by Alexander Lenkin.

Animated Series
This section includes episodes from several well-known animated projects, such as Yeti and Kids, Cheburashka, Sonya and Lyonya, Captains of the Future, and Drakoshiya.

Feature Films
The feature-length competition lineup includes “The Big Trip: Around the World” by Vasiliy Rovenskiy, “Doctor Dinosaurs” by Maksim Volkov, “Marakuda” by Viktor Glukhushin, “Thrown Away” by Konstantin Bronzit, and “Restlessness” by Leonid Shmelkov.

The Open Russian International Festival of Animated Film is organized by the Master-Film production company together with the Administration of the Vladimir Region with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.