Returning for its third straight year, Animation Is Film is proud to present this essential showcase featuring some of the best animated shorts directed by women in 2021. Programmed in partnership with Annecy and Women In Animation, this special program features a diverse array of beautiful, thought-provoking short films from around the world.

NO LEADERS PLEASE (dir. Joan Gratz / USA)
Works inspired by artists Basquiat, Banksy, Haring, and Ai Weiwei represent Bukowski’s poem’s theme of self-invention.

AFFAIRS OF THE ART (dir. Joanna Quinn / UK, Canada)
Beryl’s back in “Affairs of the Art”, which showcases one family’s eccentric yet endearing obsessions with everything from drawing to screw threads and pet taxidermy.

IT RAINS (LLUEVE) (dirs. Carolina Corral Paredes & Magali Rocha Donnadieu / Mexico)
Is that what mass graves are like, one body on top of the other and nothing else? Through the rain, Oliver sends signals to his mother to help her unearth the truth.

HOW TO BE AT HOME (dir. Andrea Dorfman / Canada)
Lean into loneliness – and know you’re not alone in it. Filmmaker Andrea Dorfman reunites with poet Tanya Davis to craft tender and profound animation on the theme of isolation, providing a wise and soaringly lyrical sequel to their viral hit “How to Be Alone”.

CE QUI RESONNE DANS LE SILENCE (WHAT RESONATES IN SILENCE) (dir. Marine Blin / France)
Hiding death doesn’t make it disappear. A young girl suffers from the adults’ silences and feels dispossessed of her right to mourn. As an adult, she describes the tender gestures that bind her to the dead.

LE REVEIL DES INSECTES (THE AWAKENING OF THE INSECTS) (dir. Stephanie Lansaque / France )
Mr Lam is an old man, losing his memory since his wife died. The last day of “the insects’ hibernation”, he receives an unexpected visit from Ms. Meng, Taoist exorcist determined to chase demons out of his head.