City of Smiles

Thunder

July 1982 •Japanese

A woman’s face disappearing behind, and emerging from, a pair of hands. Flashing lights. An empty building full of dark hallways. Designs drawn in the air with light and long-exposure cinematography.

Expecting

June 2016 •English

A woman with a perfect life learns she's carrying a baby she didn't expect. With no one to turn to for help, she carries to term and really comes to understand the saying ‘your life is over when you have kids’.

Poppa

March 2025 •English

An unlucky dude encounters a sticky situation after accidentally swallowing bubblegum.

Birdsong

April 2022 •English

Based on late field biologist John Sincock's experiences in Kauai.

The Host

September 2024 •English

A man is invited to his friend's house party.

Paseo

November 2007 •Spanish

Immaculate

April 2013 •Portuguese

A man lives isolated in his grandmother's country-house in an attempt to recover from a tragic event involving his family. His lonely and silent days are spent with an unnameable hope.

Alice in Not So Wonderland

July 2007 •English

The story of Alice in Wonderland, explored in the stop-motion world of the Quay brothers.

Panda Syndrome

June 2004 •Danish

A young boy, Bjørn, discovers on his 17th birthday that his problems with the girls might not be self-inflicted.

About the Hippopotamus Who Was Afraid of Inoculations

April 1966 •Russian

Fabulous animals bathed, rested and had fun on the summer beach of the southern town. Suddenly, the rest was interrupted by an urgent message on a hanging poster: "Everyone needs to vaccinate vaccinations from elephant to fly!". However, all the animals, having read the message, as if nothing had happened, began to rest, dance and sunbathe again. And only Behemoth, worried, began to ask everyone how scary and painful it was to vaccinate.

The Disheveled Sparrow

April 1967 •Russian

According to the fairy tale of the same name, how the little sparrow Pashka, as a token of gratitude to his mistress, the girl Masha, fearlessly enters the crow's dwelling in order to return the girl's father's gift stolen by the crow.

En el camino

March 2020 •Spanish

During the trip back from their vacation, a young couple is stranded in the middle of the road and they lose all forms of communication, including each other.

Deep Down

July 2014 •English

Deep Down redraws a descent into hell of a stripper called America, lost in the very depths of the U.S, taken away by a devastating love-story.

The Worst of Times

September 2023 •Basque

Election night. Aimar, leader of the left-wing Basque nationalist movement, returns home more tired than ever. Itziar awaits him, exhausted. At the entrance, the remnants of a protest by the radical youth of their own party. Aimar has to make a decision: Does he want to continue dedicating his life to the nationalist cause, even in the worst of times?

Mortys

October 2011 •French

An emotional and generational conflict between mother and son in the twenty-first century, except for one detail: Mother is none other than death.

Miracles in the Sieve

April 1978 •Russian

A bizarre cartoon based on English nursery rhymes.

Fallas 37: el arte en guerra

March 2013 •Spanish

In November 1936, a few months since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, the government of the Second Republic moves to Valencia. In this situation, several Valencian artists and intellectuals decide to build four fallas — satirical plasterboard sculptures created to be burnt — to mock fascism.

Animal Control

March 2011 •English

Before Sammy, his best friends were stuffed animals. Larry, an eccentric amateur taxidermist, works for Animal Services picking up road kill along the highway. Socially isolated, he's retreated into an emotional state where his only companions are the animals he's stuffed.

Walls

June 2014 •English

A day in the life of Mr. Istvan and Ms. Magdi, neighbors for many years, is narrated by the building of Budapest where both live. The walls surrounding them reveal their small passions, stories and routines.

And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool.

April 2017 •Japanese

One summer day, 400 goldfish were found in the swimming pool of a secondary school. This is a story about the four 15-year-old girls who put them there.