British Animation Film Festival 2025

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

The British Animation Film Festival 2025 features fifteen brilliantly varied animation short films from a bunch of talented animators and filmmakers.

Beautiful Scarecrow – 6.1/10
Creatives: Jess Cope, Jonathan Main, Venkatram Viswanathan, George Tucker
Set in a post-pandemic society, the detail in this fantastical gothic-style short film is incredible. The juxtaposition between the ethereal, gentleness of the girl dancing by the beautifully lit moon, quickly switching to the dark, intense underground world, is brilliantly done, creating an unnerving intensity, with a tinge of poignancy.

Marvelous Gift – 8.3/10
Creatives: Danna Galeano, Germán Acuña, Kirsten Mossberg, Enrique Rosado
The concept is brilliant – set in a world where humans have gained the gift of eternal life, it’s a wish many have – but this helps add a touch of reality to the fantasy of living forever. The humorous story focuses on insanely long hospital lines, repeated crime, boredom and the joy lost in the 200th birthday that’s lost its appeal. A very funny take, with a lot of little visual gems, and thought-provoking ideas crammed into the 5 minute runtime.

Snow Bear – 9.2/10
Creatives: Aaron Blaise, Nicholas Burch
How can you not be absolutely in love with the touchingly sweet story of a lonely polar bear looking for companionship?! Climate change has ripped away his friends and family, leaving him alone and bored, until he has the idea to create another little bear made out of snow. Semi-similar to Raymond Briggs ‘The Snowman’, the bears embark on a whirlwind of fun together, until the beating sun threatens to melt their friendship away. Thankfully, you won’t run out of tissues because the end is uplifting and joyful, which is definitely appreciated! Beautifully touching, endearing and bursting with warmth, this 2D animation is an absolute joy – not to mention timely with the constant affects of global warming.

Voicemail – 8.6/10
Creatives: Iona Menzies, Kate Jefferies, Connor Thomas
We’ve all been there – either listening to or leaving drunken voicemails at the end of a night out, normally filled with slurred stories about ridiculous scenarios through boozed up thoughts. Iona Menzies brings a brilliantly ridiculous real voicemail to life, with an animated visualisation of the person leaving the message – drunkenly gushing about a gorgeous bloke on the train. It’s snappy, hilarious and completely engaging – more of these please because this is pure gold!

History of Humanity, Summarized – 5/10
Creatives: Stefano Bertelli
At only 2 minutes long, you wouldn’t think you could summarise the history of humanity – but Stefano Bertelli does a pretty good job, with a very artsy depiction of war, superficiality and destruction. Its short, but punchy, and makes its point well.

Polliwog – 4.5/10
Creatives: Julia Skala, Theresa Worm, Paulina Larson
Ten year old Marlene is struggling with puberty, confused and ashamed about the changes happening to her. Visiting a museum, she finds a kindred spirit in the tadpoles that are oddly shaped and not quite yet formed, making it her mission to set it free. It’s a sweet story, albeit a little repetitive at times. The sound is well integrated into the animation – great effects to creative the atmospheric background and enjoyably gentle music to accompany the visuals.

For Moments – 8.1/10
Creatives: Keion Ing
Life is short – and much of it is spent working, wishing the day away to a time you’re less busy or not as in demand, much like the workaholic character in For Moments. But when an accident forces him to reevaluate his life choices, he gives up his high-flying, corporate job to instead relax, painting on the beach in the sunshine. The poignant message of ‘live for moments, not minutes’ is emotional, but important. It’s an impactful film, that has a great meaning and leaves you filled with hope.

666 Mankind 666– 5.5/10
Creatives: Erika Errante Baruffaldi
This animated music video for The Ghost Wolves is fast-paced and engaging. Featuring a lost girl in a surreal nightmare, the animation fits the music perfectly. Using only red, black and white colouring, the eye-catching visuals keep the audience intrigued and interested.

Loneliness & Laundry – 4.8/10
Creatives: Jonny Eveson, Lindsey Williams
Tabitha is lonely and trapped in a cycle of sadness that she struggles to escape from. Her messy, laundry filled room finally needs to be tackled, so she chucks on a wash – and ends up being sucked into a fantasy laundry world. Interacting with the various garments helps her to reach out of help back in the real world – a visual representation of depression and how small acts can help make a difference. It’s a nice message, but the animation itself runs for a few beats too long and starts to lose momentum, keeping it snappier and shorter would help maintain the impact.

Grave – 6.5/10
Creatives: Oz Durose
Great little Halloween inspired animation! Featuring a gravedigger haunted by guilt, it’s well-paced and suspenseful, slowly building up the tension until the brilliantly creepy final scenes. The detail in the animation is well-done, and the audience are kept hooked as the story unravels.

Adult Teeth – 4.9/10
Creatives: Effie Peters
Focusing on memories and how they can change or morph over time, Adult Teeth is an interesting concept, but leaves you wishing for more. Various interviews with childhood friends serve as the voice over, as they talk about growing up in a rural town. The animations bring the memories to life, though a tighter focus would help to keep engagement.

Loading Nouns Gets Down – 7.1/10
Creatives: Chris Ullens
A simple concept, that features a lot of hard work! 2D cut out paper characters shot in stop-motion, against a variety of real-life backgrounds. It’s uplifting and fun, with a great dance music track in the background. The contrast of the animation against reality works brilliantly, and the video game sound effects and visuals are also a fun little addition.

Baggage – 4.6/10
Creatives: Lucy Davidson
When three girls check in at the airport, they are treated as luggage – their internal baggage getting put under the spotlight. The black and white visuals are stark and eye-catching, and the labelled baggage such as ‘bottled up emotions’ adds to this cute concept. Needs a little more oomph to fully captivate, but it’s on the right track!

Just Run Up – 4.5/10
Creatives: Khem Harnvorrayothin
Just Run Up is extremely abstract and filled with vibrant colour. It’s fast-paced and jumps from scene to scene, with the character running through various backdrops. Without the blurb to know the character is racing against time, the concept isn’t fully clear in the visuals, creating instead confused intrigue. The final scenes of the character fast asleep in a contrasting colourless world as his alarm goes off is a nice ending though!

Dead Weight – 6.3/10
Creatives: Øyvind Tangseth, Bjarte Hjelmeland, Bjarte Tjøstheim, Morten Svartveit
When a balloon gets too heavy to ascend, the three men need to ditch some of the dead weight to be able to continue on their journey. When one is thrown out of the side of the balloon, the decision seems to have been made – but doesn’t quite work in their favour. This is funny and enjoyable, though the white subtitles on a white background do make it a bit of a struggle to read at points! That being said, the visuals alone are enough to tell the humorous story.

The Film Festival Guild host a number of film festivals throughout the year, helping to shine a spotlight on emerging creatives and cast in a wonderfully supportive, inspiring and celebratory environment.