Jakarta Film Week 2025: Global Animation Competition
On Thursday, October 23, 2025, Grafis Masa Kini attended the Global Animation Competition program at Jakarta Film Week. The program featured eight international short animated films selected for competition at the festival. The compilation encompassed both narrative and documentary forms, showcasing a wide range of techniques and artistic explorations. The filmmakers competed in directing, production precision, and artistic vision. Each film addressed contemporary themes, inviting viewers from around the world to engage and reflect on the evolving landscape of global animation.
The opening film, And Granny Would Dance (2024) by Maryam Mohajer, presented raw, expressive visuals created through oil pastel strokes. The story followed a child’s perspective on the women in her life and their relationships with loved ones. Beneath its simple imagery, the film stood as a heartfelt tribute to love, loss, resilience, and solidarity among Iranian women.
Next came Find Me (2025) by Akari Maru, a melancholic work combining hand-drawn animation, text collages, and monochrome blue photography. The film captured fragments of childhood memories, the longing for a mother figure, and the search for a place to belong.
The third film, The Salami Sandwich (2024) by Clarisa Lea Place, told the story of a guerrilla fighter captured by the Argentine government during the military regime. Using rough colored-pencil lines on archival paper, Place constructed a visually striking film that distilled political tension into a layered, satirical narrative.
The fourth entry, Mama Micra (2024) by Rebecca Blöcher, was a semi-documentary animation based on interviews between the director and her mother. Through stop-motion techniques, photos, letters, and family journals, Blöcher created an intimate portrait of their relationship, while also reflecting on questions of freedom and female identity across generations.
The fifth film, The Bleacher (2024) by Nicole Daddona and Adam Wilder, shifted the tone toward the absurd. It followed Rita, who loses a sock at a laundromat and becomes determined to find it, only to be sucked into a washing machine and transported to another world. Mixing horror and comedy, the film delivered a surreal yet refreshing viewing experience.
The sixth film, Magic Candies (2023) by Daisuke Nishio and produced by TOEI Animation, centered on Dong-dong, a shy boy who buys a bag of colorful candies and suddenly begins to hear the voices of nearby objects. Through its simple storytelling, the film explored themes of friendship, family, and the importance of honest communication.
The seventh film, I Am a Flower (2024) by Ariel Victor Hartanto, depicted the transformation of a child named Sam, who slowly blossoms into his true self. His mother struggles to let go, until a gentle conversation between them turns fear into acceptance. With vibrant colors and dynamic movement, the film portrayed the beauty and tension of growth, identity, and reconciliation.
The final film, Sea Angels (2024) by Cessi Efriamsson, closed the program with a sharp environmental satire. The polluted ocean forces mermaids to seek refuge on land, revealing themselves as real beings rather than myth. Blending dark humor and poignancy, the film reflected on humanity’s troubled relationship with nature in the modern age.
At the end of the program, the jury—consisting of Agil Prakoso (animation director), Reda Gaudiamo (writer), and The Popo (artist)—announced And Granny Would Dance (2024) by Maryam Mohajer as the winner of the Global Animation Competition. In their official statement, they wrote, “This piece has a strong statement. The visual is bold with its experimental, brave approach and excecution. The message of woman, who is finding her voice back—thanks to the support of her friends—is relevant to today’s issue. And, the ending scene is so impactful by the way of how the grandma’s friends make her happy again, together with a simple but powerful scene.”
With a balanced selection of form, theme, and emotion, the Global Animation Competition at Jakarta Film Week 2025 highlighted the new direction of contemporary animated cinema, where experimentation and empathy intertwine in the storytelling of the human experience.
