What goes through your mind when you are stuck in the city, on the cusp of adulthood, feeling charged with desire and anger? How do you come to terms with the notion of being a slave to work - do you just drop out of society altogether? What happens when you want to speak but physically can’t? We are all looking for answers. Some of us are staring at the stars. This is a collection of questioning, diverse, funny, moving and heartfelt stories explored in this fascinating bunch of shorts.

Independent animation is an art form that continues to thrive and develop as a breath-taking medley of styles, materials, techniques and production – from hand-drawn, paint on glass, collage, sculpture, cut-outs, puppets, abstract to some of the more interesting developments in CGI – all of which can be seen at this year’s LIAF.

We’ve emerged from under the pile of 2,400 entries to put together a series of screenings that showcase the best 86 new films from 41 countries around the world. They can be funny, dramatic, bizarre, subdued, scary or autobiographical. The one thing they have in common is that we think they’re the pick of the crop. 8 international competition programmes. Every technique, every genre, every style – this is your annual window into the international indie animation universe.

Total running time: approx 92 mins

For more information please visit http://www.liaf.org.uk/

Now That I'm Thinking

Feeling lost in his day-to-day existence, Red has trouble making a decision that could potentially change his life.

USA 2023 Dir: David Gelfand 8’15

Slower Animals

While aimlessly following a winter goose migration across the American south, a professor slips in and out of childhood memories that all surround a forgotten trauma.

USA 2022 Dir: John Christopher Kelley 7’00

Ana Morphose

A little girl reads herself to sleep. As she dozes off, the physical world starts melting into an alternate reality where the contents of a book rule over the laws of physics.

Portugal 2023 Dir: Joao Rodrigues 9’45

Whatever Moves is Alive

While slugs wander across the kitchen floor, Noémie draws up her self-portrait, shifting and fragmented, on the edge between the intimate and the hubbub of the world.

Belgium 2022 Dir: Noémie Marsily 11’’00

Gregor Mendel and the Secret of Peas

How ordinary pea plants helped unravel the laws of genetics and how their discoverer, the Moravian scientist Gregor Mendel, almost fell into oblivion.

Czech Republic 2023 Dir: David Súkup, Vendula Chalánková 3’25

Via Dolorosa

Between drug addiction, first discoveries of sexuality and a permanent state of war, the filmmaker searches for her lost youth by wandering the streets of Jerusalem.

France 2023 Dir: Rachel Gutgarts 10’30

Worlds Apart

How do we consider the debate around religion vs science without resorting to conflict?

UK 2023 Dir: Emily Downe 3’00

Beautiful Figures

Thoughts ripple over the pages of a personal notebook, kept during a stay at different science labs in Zürich. They float from one to another, like a mind map of unfinished ideas on memory, medical imaging, cells, and ageing.

Belgium 2022 Dir: Soetkin Verstegen 4’00

Money and Happiness

The hamsters live and work in Hamsterland, a perfect state with a perfect economy. The GDP grows steadily, there is no unemployment, and 100% of the population declare themselves to be happy.

Serbia,Slovenia, Slovakia 2022 Dir: Ana Nedeljković & Nikola Majdak Jr 9’50

Aphasia

A deeply moving foray into the heart of aphasia—a devastating neurocognitive condition that progressively destroys the ability to speak and understand words, afflicting many people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Canada 2023 Dir: Marielle Dalpé 3’45

By Water

An unlikely hero's journey into his own memories becomes a vehicle for reconciliation and healing for himself and his sibling.

USA 2023 Dir: Iyabo Kwayana 12’00

11

Three masters of football. They can perform wonders during the match and score impossible goals, but what goes on in their heads when they are about to take penalty kicks?

Croatia 2022 Dir: Vuk Jevremovic 5’30