On your mark, get set, it’s time for a whole lot of animated brilliance from all corners of our big wide world. Join us for metaphysical musings and reflective moments, laugh-out-loud gags and a load of animal antics – it’s your annual wintery fix of animated inventiveness and imagination.
![Athleticus: Gym Keeper](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ia/xt/5h/f2/ATHLETICUS_GYM_KEEPER_COLLECTION%20HERO-0-800-0-450-crop.jpg?k=3764ef6c7f)
![And Yet We Are Not Superheroes](/assets/resized/sm/upload/v7/bc/if/f8/AND_YET_WE_ARE_NOT_SuPERHEROES-0-960-0-450-crop.jpg?k=7be49584d4)
![Ties](/assets/resized/sm/upload/jc/zq/gy/wu/TIES-0-960-0-450-crop.jpg?k=dcec913719)
Screened as part of NZIFF 2020
Animation for Kids 8+
Athleticus: Middle-distance Race 2017
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/sm/yh/4r/lo/Athleticus%20-%20Middle%20Distance-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=497483fbdf)
Competitors are taking off from the starting block and giving it everything they have – but one contestant looks a little out of place.
Cloudy 2018
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/1g/o4/11/bi/CLOUDY-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=d962f4d32e)
Mr Gnome just wants to sunbathe in peace – if only that stupid cloud wasn’t in the way! Fortunately, he has a banging good plan.
Maestro 2019
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/yp/1g/e5/oz/MAESTRO-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=0d8ffd332e)
A group of wild animals performs their nocturnal opera.
Things You Could Do With Extendable Arms 2018
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/3h/rq/ye/68/THINGS_YOU_COULD_DO_WITH_EXTENDABLE_ARMS-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=8203b3fcec)
Imagine if you could bring a whole new world within your reach.
Athleticus: Synchronised Trampoline 2017
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/5p/y3/vz/dr/Athleticus%20-%20Synchronised%20Trampoline-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=119a84fe33)
Hippos watch the perfect performance of two slick seals, but will they measure up?
Matches 2018
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/g0/2t/ly/8y/MATCHES-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=f765d72e1a)
Seven-year-old LS shares his dreams, fears and hopes, while inventive stop-motion matchsticks bring his visions to life.
Ties 2019
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ui/dr/8w/fe/TIES-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=f8716bfe9f)
A young woman leaves home but remains super connected to where she’s from, in the very first film created completely with 3D pen.
Athleticus: Training Room 2017
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/6e/ze/vk/qg/Athleticus%20-%20Training%20Room-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=7b3b2df27f)
What will be revealed when overexcited young flamingos work out on new treadmills?
Heatwave 2019
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/f4/x0/pd/hy/HEATWAVE-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=fa29b081ae)
In the midst of an insane heatwave, two kids find a way to cool everyone down.
And Yet We Are Not Super Heroes 2020
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/5s/tn/oz/1o/AND_YET_WE_ARE_NOT_SuPERHEROES-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=1061b8ab86)
Pocked-sized philosophers share their thoughts as they map a contemplative path to growing up.
Athleticus: Gymnastic Rings 2017
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/58/ue/71/z4/Athleticus%20-%20Rings-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=c04c843e66)
An athletic flamingo does his best in front of a critical jury.
Away 2019
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/76/bz/cb/xc/AWAY-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=4acb1a1040)
While one man thinks he’s living on an ice floe, everyone around him finds he's a supermarket distraction
Emily 2018
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/wa/67/rx/cv/EMILY-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=020d6ee963)
Looking back at her life and all the flowers she’s shared, Emily reminisces about the people she’s met and the choices she’s made.
Athleticus: Gym Keeper 2017
![](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ku/cm/uj/dl/ATHLETICUS_GYM_KEEPER_COLLECTION%20HERO-0-640-0-360-crop.jpg?k=1eb1a16627)
As an elephant tidies an empty gym, he entertains his champion dreams.