Tuesday 14/April/2026 – 03:31 PM
The management of the Alexandria Short Film Festival announced the complete list of films participating in the Animation Competition during the activities of the twelfth edition scheduled to be held from April 27 to May 2 next.
List of animation films participating in the 12th session
The list of animated films participating in the Alexandria Short Film Festival includes 11 diverse films from various countries of the world, including: “The Pool or the Death of a Goldfish,” produced in Poland in 2025, by director Daria Kubik. It is 14 minutes long and is a first showing in the Middle East and North Africa. Its events take place within the framework of a possessive relationship between a mother and her daughter.
From Estonia and Ukraine comes the film “Kiev Cake” by director Mikita Leskov, produced in 2025 and premiering in the Middle East and North Africa. It is 22 minutes long and revolves around a child born into a poor family. The parents do everything in their power to survive, but only when the crisis reaches its peak does a new danger erupt.
As for the movie “The Sanctity of Heaven,” it is an Iranian production in the year 2025, in its first showing in the Middle East and North Africa, by directors Najah Khazreh Vardyardad and Farnoush Abdi. Its duration is 9 minutes and its events take place in the context that sometimes the weight of losing loved ones becomes overwhelming to the point that getting rid of this weight necessitates an inevitable new birth.
Also participating during the activities of this session is the film “The Profitable Place” from Belarusa, directed by Alex Maximov, which was produced in 2025 in its first showing in the Middle East and North Africa. Its duration is 5 minutes. The work discusses the idea that there are places in the world that are more suitable for business than others, and thanks to the appropriate skills, you not only meet the demand, but you create it yourself.
From Belgium and France comes the movie “In a Thousand Petals”, which is a premiere in the Middle East and North Africa and produced in 2025, directed by Louise Bongartz, and has a duration of 10 minutes. Its events take place when a young married woman collects beautiful memories of her love story, and upon looking closely, we find that she leaves behind parts of herself.
Also among the participating films is “The Magician,” a joint production between Croatia, France, and Romania in 2025, directed by Bogdan Muresanu. It is a 24-minute premiere in the Middle East and North Africa, and its events revolve around Solina, in the year 1910, and the inauguration ceremony of the first electric power station in this Romanian coastal city. Amid the joy of the modern and diverse crowds, “Ilarion,” a show magician (sleight of hand) from time immemorial, attempts Ghaber, to play his last card.
In addition to the movie “It Could Have Been Me,” produced in 2025 between Egypt, Palestine, and America, by directors Lina Abdel Karim and Mohamed Al-Mashharawi, in an African premiere, 12 minutes long, and its events revolve around Yasmine, a 10-year-old Palestinian-American girl, who meets Samoud, a refugee her age from Gaza, during a visit to the local mosque.
From France, the film “Rafiq” by directors: Martha Rivière, Laura Darras, Theo Bergogne, Gaspard Keller de Schleitheim, Wuhan Kuper, and Romain Kasha is participating. It is a 7-minute premiere in the Middle East and North Africa. The events take place after a bloody battle in World War I. A German Red Cross dog roams the devastated lands in search of survivors.
The film “All This Death” comes from Lebanon, directed by Fadi Suryani, in its first showing in Egypt and North Africa. It is 17 minutes long, and the events revolve around a fifty-year-old man from Beirut, who keeps checking the obituaries page and attending funerals every day. Through this funerary routine, his own journey of mourning and accepting loss is revealed; Loss of a dear person, home, and city.
From Egypt comes the film “7 Minutes” by director Mahmoud Raafat, produced in 2026. It is a world premiere, and its events revolve around a grieving father who lives in a state of obsession with visiting his deceased daughter through a technical device that allows people to regain their memories and see their departed loved ones, until a thief breaks into his house trying to steal the device, which puts him in a confrontation to protect his only connection to his child.
In addition to the participation of the Egyptian film “The Bitter Orange”; Directed by Mamdouh Salah, this 8-minute world premiere from 2026 is a black-and-white silent film that traces the memory of Palestine — from Naji Al-Ali’s homeless childhood, to the birth of his icon, Handala, who emerges from the drawing holding the key to return, and finally to a child in Gaza reflecting on his position in the midst of war, through oranges, the key, and bread, and the story of resilience and identity continues.
