Statue in the Garden

Director: Qianhui Yu

Year: 2020

WASTOPIA is a short animated film exploring the issues surrounding global attitudes to waste disposal and the environment pollution the inevitably follows. The film indicates a visual journey based on an otherworldly place inhibited by strange creatures and the products of what humans discard.

Director: Gemma Rigg

Year: 2026

A feral child befriends a stray dog in a lonely post-apocalyptic world, but at what cost? A stop motion animation set in a post-apocalyptic abandoned village where survivors forage for food through rubble and ruins. Amongst them is Lola, a lonely feral orphan. Her life is changed forever when she detangles a starving stray dog from a plastic bag. Her new friend fills her world with fleeting warmth and she shares what little food she has. But it’s not for a dog, even a starved one. His his tummy rumbles as he sleeps by her side. The dog is gone by morning, leaving a broken-hearted Lola to search all day for her new friend. She finally discovers the disloyal lurcher munching eagerly on a rival survivor's fresh meaty finds. Lola's sweet revenge is served warm, on a silver platter, to the grateful mutt. But what is the true price of this loyalty?

Director: Puzhen Zhang

Year: 2026

One summer in early 2000s China, a shy preteen girl confronts her fear of water — and human connection — when she forms an unexpected, magical bond in the deep end of the pool.