The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is gearing up for its biggest celebration yet. Returning from 23 to 27 September, the festival has unveiled its official competition line-up for its landmark 50th edition, bringing together some of the world’s finest animated shorts, features, student films and platform content under one roof.
Since 1976, OIAF has been one of the animation industry’s premier festivals, blending artistry, innovation and networking through screenings, workshops, exhibitions and industry events. This year’s edition will transform venues across Ottawa including the ByTowne Cinema, Arts Court, Club Saw, Strathcona Park, the National Arts Centre and the Ottawa Art Gallery into a five-day celebration of animation in all its forms.
The festival programme also includes all Ages OIAF workshops, Animation Exposé sessions, networking events and its signature anniversary celebrations, marking five decades of championing global animation talent.
Animated Shorts
- ちいさなうりぼう (little boarlet) | Atsushi Wada | Japan
- როცა ზღვა იყო მშვიდი (When The Sea Was Calm) | Mamuka Tkeshelashvili | Georgia
- A Pint of Bitter. | Conor Kehelly | Ireland
- Action Bog | Winston Hacking | Canada
- Adgwa-Ata | Zsuzsanna Kreif | Hungary, France
- Antitermitas (Anti-termites) | Alex Rey | Spain
- Daughters of the Late Colonel | Elizabeth Hobbs | United Kingdom, Germany
- Eri | Honami Yano | Japan, France
- Fit Check | Kyle Brooks | United States
- Five Orphans | Sarina Nihei | France, Japan, Germany
- How To Walk, A Guide For Fun and Profit | Zachary Margolis | United States
- Je ne t’aime plus (I Don’t Love You Anymore) | Diane Obomsawin | Canada
- Jelly Baddies | Ivan Li | Canada
- Kozmonavti (Cosmonauts) | Leo Černic | Slovenia, Italy
- Local Squalls | Skip Battaglia | United States
- Melk | Filip Anthonissen | Belgium
- Next Step | Tamás Patrovits | Hungary
- Paper Trail | Don Hertzfeldt | United States
- Pingviin (Penguin) | Kaspar Jancis | Estonia
- Please | Anna Mantzaris | Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Norway, Finland
- Praying Mantis | Joe Hsieh | Taiwan, Hong Kong
- Roll over and play dead | Gina Kamentsky | United States
- Street Race | Christopher Rutledge & Daniel Rutledge | United States
- The End | Niki Lindroth von Bahr | Sweden, France, Denmark
- The Picture of Dorian Gray | Georges Schwizgebel | Switzerland
- The Stars Watch from Long Ago | Stacey Steers | United States
- Uka-uka | Henri Veermäe | Estonia
- XYZ | Kyle Brooks | United States
- yellow orange green blue red cut | Peter Millard | United Kingdom
Commissioned
- A$AP Rocky ‘Helicopter’ | Daniel Streit | United States
- Anibar Animation Festival ‘WTF?! – 2025 Trailer’ | Joni Männistö | Finland, Kosovo
- Barber for the Queen ‘My Hang Up’ | Romy Côté | Canada
- Blon ‘2025 Teaser’ | Nathan Jurevicius | Lithuania, Canada
- Bump ‘2025 Leader’ | Jonas Wellens & Wouter Medaer | Belgium
- Juana Molina ‘Desinhumano’ (Uninhuman) | Dante Zaballa | Argentina
- Mad Barrowsky ft. Joseph Shabason ‘It Didn’t Really Matter’ | Jordan Minkoff | Canada
- Mome Anim ‘Friss Kakas Animációs Filmnapok Spot’ | Máté Horesnyi | Hungary
- Nbat2 ‘It’s Ok to Be’ | Francesca Colombara & Matteo Dang | United States, Italy
- Ok Go ‘Impulse Purchase’ | Will Anderson & Lucas Zanotto | United Kingdom, Finland, Netherlands, United States
- Overwatch 2 x Street Fighter 6 ‘Collaboration Trailer’ | Barry Kelly | United States
Student Competition
- Ball Face | Laurence Thérien | United Kingdom, Canada
- Bootstrapping for the Boobied | Stella Chen | United States
- Cold Bathroom | Eleni Aerts | Belgium
- Fisheye | Łukasz Rygał | Poland
- My Good Boy | Sara Priorelli | Hungary, Italy
- Quantum Jump | Šimon Mészáros | Czech Republic
- Visiting the Zoo | Maria Zilli | Italy, France
- 地動き山揺れる時 (When The Mountains Shook) | Daiyu Li | Japan
Canadian Student Competition
- (in)significant | Jessica Toca | Concordia University
- Amalgame (Amalgam) | Marielle Boutin & Charlie Guèvremont | Université Laval
- Ball Face | Laurence Thérien | Royal College of Art
- Crocodile Tears | Gaoyuan Song | Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
- Entiérrame (Bury Me) | Stella Dipieri | Ontario College of Art and Design University
- Everything On Land With Bones Is A Fish | Antonia Novakovich | Concordia University
- Expo Inferno | A. John Yates | Concordia University
- Insomn | Min Kim | Emily Carr University of Arts + Design
- Mortal Lace | Lucas Piperias | Ontario College of Art and Design University
- Seeing Hands | Penakee Das | Ontario College of Art and Design University
- Sing to the Wind | Yaffa Aboudib Husseini | Munster Technological University & Algonquin College
- Skinless Symphonies | Rose Rousseau | St. Clair College
- The Maggots | Amberia Keke Li | Emily Carr University of Arts + Design
- Thief of Night | Yoonji Nam | Sheridan College
- Western Blot! | Ashlee Gonsalves | Concordia University
Animated Features
- Mononoke the Movie: Chapter III – The Curse of the Serpent | Kenji Nakamura | Japan
- Girlfriends Of Father | Xi Chen | China
- Magic Atlas | Xun Sun | China, Singapore
- Son of a Bitch | Erica Maradona, Tania Anaya, Otto Guerra & Sávio Leite | Brazil
- Tangles | Leah Nelson | Canada, United States
- The Orbit of Minor Satellites | Christopher Sullivan | United States
- We Are Aliens | Kohei Kadowaki | Japan, France
Animation for Platforms
- Adult Swim’s The Elephant | Pendleton Ward, Ian Jones-Quartey, Rebecca Sugar, Patrick McHale, Mike L. Mayfield, Humberto Irigoyen, Remus Buznea & Kyriaki Kyriakou | United States
- Glen: Wrestler | Travis Pelto, Joe Hingelberg & Shawn Golden | United States
- Kevin ‘Fourth of July’ | Angelo Hatgistavrou & Sarah Seember Huisken | United States
- Mating Season ‘The Truth About Canada’ | Henrique Jardim | United States
- Qui on croit et pourquoi? L’injustice testimoniale (Who Do We Believe, and Why? Testimonial Injustice) | Martine Frossard | Canada
- TedEd ‘Can Saunas Make You Live Longer?’ | Noam Sussman & Ali Kellner | Canada, United States
Animation made for young audiences (7–12)
- ? | Anastasia Shtolko | Ukraine
- Bats & Bugs | Leah Von Döhren | Switzerland
- Candy Caries | Tomiki Misato | Japan
- Dance Film | Kelly Gallagher | United States
- En, ten, týky! (Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!) | Andrea Szelesová | Czechia, Slovakia
- A Dog’s Life | Sophie Olga de Jong & Sytske Kok | Netherlands
- Land of No Man | Muling Tzai & Olivia Lin | United States, Taiwan
- The Magic Garden | Carlon Hardt & Naira Carneiro | Brazil
- Porridge Monster | Izabela Plucińska | Poland, Germany, Azerbaijan
- Backstreet Birds | Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė | Lithuania
Animation made for teen audiences (13+)
- Birds of Paradise | Nikita Greer & Abbey Collings | United States
- Blue Flavored | Jett Ulysses | United States
- Cabbage Daddy | Grace An | Canada
- The Girl Who Wasn’t Afraid of Bears | Lea Vučko | Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia
- Fish in My Stomach | Yehor Holovkov | Ukraine
- The Comet | Julie Charette | Canada
- Heartwreck | Luka Vucić | Croatia
- The Sky Was Candy | Anh Tu Nguyen | Germany
- Welcome to Starmart | Caz Shen, Vanessa Buice & Vinny Wang | United States
- Wolpie Of The Woods | Kat Messing | United States
With competition fiercer than ever and entries spanning every corner of the animation world, OIAF’s golden jubilee promises five days of bold ideas, fresh voices and unforgettable stories. Fifty years in, Ottawa isn’t slowing down it’s animating the future, one frame at a time.
