This Season at the Tsiolkovsky ISFF: 35 Animated Films from 17 Countries

From April 12 to 16, Kaluga will once again host the Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival, now in its 6th season! As in previous years, the festival’s main venue will be the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky.

Festival guests will enjoy competitive and non-competitive screenings of feature, documentary, animated, and full-dome films, a retrospective program, lectures by scientists, theater performances, workshops, meetings with cosmonauts and filmmakers, and special presentations by festival partners.

Animated and Multimedia Section

The animated and multimedia section will feature 35 short animated films from 17 countries, including Argentina, Russia, Brazil, the USA, China, India, Iran, Latvia, France, Italy, Austria, Turkey, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Spain, Germany, and Nigeria. All films are grouped into four thematic selections.

"A Small Miracle" – for younger audiences. This selection includes films designed for elementary and middle school students:

🌟 TERRACUA (Argentina) – Director: Nahuel Franzetti
🌟 The Star of the Nativity (Russia) – Director: Natalia Berezovaya
🌟 The Adventurers of Lost Time (Brazil) – Director: Luah Garcia
🌟 Far Away Alone (Russia) – Director: Ksenia Shpakova
🌟 Breakfast on the Table (Russia) – Director: Natalia Vanteeva
🌟 Jets on the Rocket: Exploration Station (USA) – Director: Richard Tucci
🌟 The Micronaut (Brazil) – Director: Emerson Rodrigues
🌟 Beard and Bird (Russia) – Director: Kristina Kesler

"Somewhere in the Solar System" – glimpses into the future. A selection of nine films for older audiences, offering futuristic perspectives:

💫 Casey (USA/China) – Director: Margaret Xiaoyue Wang
💫 2075 AD - The Earth Operation (India) – Director: Akash Krishna Kshirsagar
💫 Black Orb (Iran) – Directors: Benyamin Isari, Saeid Salehi
💫 Ghosts of Humanity (Latvia) – Director: Sergios DeLaurentis
💫 Offworld: The Journey of Sasha (France) – Director: Jules Richeux
💫 Calypso (France) – Directors: Damien Brochard, Angèle Kadjane, Jacques Laignel, Itzia Soto Robledo
💫 Novavita (Italy) – Directors: Francesco Bruno Sorrentino, Antonio Genovese
💫 The Last Star (France) – Director: Dimitri Vallein
💫 Junkbot (France) – Director: Abderahmane Abouyahia

"AI and Music" – dedicated to artificial intelligence. This section explores the intersection of AI and creativity:

🔸 A Diminishing Blue (Austria) – Director: Jakob Jakubowski
🔸 Dr. Garlic (Russia) – Director: Alexander Ovsyankin
🔸 Depth (Russia) – Director: Darya Mantsereva
🔸 One of Them Flew Over the Celestial Palace (China) – Director: Sofia Wang
🔸 For You (Russia) – Director: Pavel Peregudov
🔸 ARĪ - 6427 (Turkey) – Director: Mustafa Keskin
🔸 Macha Gharibian - Survoler La Lune (France) – Director: Lucas Esteban
🔸 SBATS (Kazakhstan) – Directors: Darya Yevdokimenko, Katerina Kulchitskaia, Raniya Aliyeva, Margarita Vert, Zhaina Kapasova, Arystan Bulatov, Damilya Sarsenbekova, Sergei Dubovik, Diana Strugova
🔸 Silver Wedding - I Am the Moon (Russia) – Director: Evgeny Kozhevnikov (Lazerov)
🔸 Steel Mind, Human Soul (South Korea) – Director: Junpyo Ko

"Unconventional Solutions" – bold and experimental. A collection of eight films that push the boundaries of storytelling:

🔹 Cosmos Claus (Spain) – Director: David Ibernia Etayo
🔹 Prostastis - The Lost Sun (India) – Director: Vedanga Nag
🔹 Dream of Flying (Iran) – Director: Maryam Rokni Hosseini
🔹 The Spark (Italy) – Directors: Alfonso Annarumma, Arcangelo Gabriele D'Alessandro, Federica Gallo, Fabrizio Lorito
🔹 I Am Glitching (Germany) – Director: Salma Parra
🔹 Philosophical and Physical Model of a Tea Bag (Russia) – Director: Natalia Shulga
🔹 Professor T.E.E and the Problem Solvers (Nigeria) – Director: Joel Tugaineyo
🔹 The Mooning (USA) – Directors: Vivian Osness, Mason Klesch

The program director of the feature film and animation section at the Tsiolkovsky ISFF is Irina Soshnikova, senior lecturer at the Department of Producing at VGIK (The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography).

For more details about each animated short film, follow the festival’s official social media pages. The full festival program will be available on space-fest.ru in mid-March.

The Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival is held with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, and the Government and Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Kaluga Region. Festival partners include State Corporation "Roscosmos," Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Research Institute, Rossotrudnichestvo, the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, and other public and commercial organizations.

The festival’s key media partner is TASS, supported by media partnerships from Roscosmos Media and TRK "Nika."