Young Directors Competition 2
01 Mother's Child



Director(s)

Naomi NOIR
Film info
Year of production: 2024
Country of production: Netherlands
Production: Naomi Noir Productions, Valk Productions
Length: 09' 06''
Category: First film
Watch the trailerSynopsis
Mary can't catch a break. Fusing motherhood with being a full-time carer for her disabled son has her up to her ears in red tape, barely keeping afloat. A surreal situation is looming.
02 Wish You Were Ear



Director(s)

Mirjana BALOGH
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: Hungary
Production: MOME - Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design
Length: 10' 14''
Category: Graduation film
Synopsis
In a world where, after each breakup, ex-partners must exchange a chosen body part, people not only lose a literal piece of themselves with each split, but also carry visible reminders of every past love.
03 Adhesion



Director(s)

Rafael CUCULIĆ
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: Croatia
Production: Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb
Length: 03' 39''
Category: Student film
Watch the trailerSynopsis
A man and a woman accept each other in spite of their insecurities.
04 Floating



Director(s)

Jelena MILUNOVIĆ
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: Serbia
Production: Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Length: 07' 01''
Category: Graduation film
Synopsis
A daughter gradually realizes that her father is struggling with mental illness. He lives isolated in a dark apartment, drifting like a balloon. She tries to find a way to reconnect and bring him back to solid ground.
05 Cottage Cheese
Director(s)

Liina LUOMAJOKI

Lena METZGER

Janina MÜLLER

Alice KUNZ
Film info
Year of production: 2024
Country of production: Switzerland
Production: HSLU Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art
Length: 05' 16''
Category: Graduation film
Watch the trailerSynopsis
When Mika sits down on the toilet, she is shocked to discover that there is something slimy in her underpants. In search of answers, she then embarks on a bizarre journey into her own vagina.
06 Double or Nothing



Director(s)

TOKAY
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: Switzerland
Production: HSLU Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art
Length: 09' 40''
Category: Graduation film
Synopsis
Inspired by an anecdote from booming Tokyo in the 80s, the film tells the glamorous story of the real estate shark Akio Kashiwagi. Akio's great passion is illegal gambling in the underworld. An American is on his trail and tries to track down stolen money.
07 The 5-Second Rule



Director(s)

Yura BOGUSLAVSKY
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: Armenia
Production: Invisible Friends Studio
Length: 01' 32''
Category: Student film
Synopsis
The film plays with the well-known "5-Second rule" — a folk belief that food picked up from the floor within five seconds remains safe to eat. The authors ironize this self-deception, since germs don't recognize our made-up rules.
08 Silent Panorama



Director(s)

Nicolas PIRET
Film info
Year of production: 2024
Country of production: Belgium
Production: Zorobabel
Length: 05' 09''
Category: First film
Watch the trailerSynopsis
In this animated miniature a drawing gradually comes to life before our eyes, telling a story not only of a wild boar on the run, but also of the ways in which people occupy the places that used to belong to nature.
09 Stone of Destiny



Director(s)

Julie ČERNÁ
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: Czech Republic
Production: UMPRUM Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
Length: 1h 10m
Category: Student film
Watch the trailerSynopsis
'Stone of Destiny' explores the beauty of finding your path, even when it’s fraught with uncertainty.
10 The Joke's Butt



Director(s)

Barney FAGAN
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: United Kingdom, Germany
Production: None
Length: 01' 31''
Category: First film
Synopsis
A young man feels lost in the modern, digital world before finding himself in a piece of clickbait.
11 Deluge



Director(s)

Meejin HONG
Film info
Year of production: 2024
Country of production: United States of America
Production: Meejin Hong
Length: 12' 05''
Category: First film
Watch the trailerSynopsis
“Deluge” is an ever-evolving landscape where the present inevitably coexists with the past. Memories are formed, reshaped, and obliterated, relentlessly competing for space. Control is surrendered, and mistakes and second chances are embraced. It is the slow stampede of a vulnerable mind.
12 All Hail the Duck King



Director(s)

Tommy HOWLETT
Film info
Year of production: 2025
Country of production: United Kingdom
Production: NFTS - National Film & Television School
Length: 06' 02''
Category: Graduation film
Synopsis
When Bill struggles with artist’s block, a childishly drawn duck called Quack emerges out. The more Bill ignores Quack, the more distracting the duck becomes. In order for Bill to overcome his artist block, he must first embrace Quack.