International Award Winners and Rising Stars Lead Feature Competition at OIAF
OTTAWA, ON — The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) unveils the five animated feature films selected for this year’s Official Competition. This year’s Feature Competition includes a strong showing of emerging talent and award-winning animators from the international festival circuit. All five films will compete for the Grand Prize for Feature Animation, to be determined by a distinguished jury: Chris Lavis (Canada), Dr. Magdalena Zira (Cyprus) and Honami Yano (Japan).
The OIAF 2025 Features Competition includes:
- ChaO (dir. Yasuhiro Aoki, Japan)
- L’Olívia i el terratrèmol invisible (Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake) (dir. Irene Iborra, Spain/France/Belgium/Switzerland)
- La gran historia de la filosofía occidental (The Great History of Western Philosophy) (dir. Aria Covamonas, Mexico)
- La mort n’existe pas (Death Does Not Exist) (dir. Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Canada)
- Pohádky po babičce (Tales from the Magic Garden) (dirs. David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar and Jean-Claude Rozec, Czech Republic/Slovakia/Slovenia/France)
“This year’s Official Competition is a celebration of just how far animated features have come,” says Chris Robinson, the Festival’s Artistic Director. “From drawings and collage to archival footage, stop-motion puppets to digital cut-outs, these films prove there’s no technique too bold for a feature-length canvas. At OIAF, we’ve always championed experimentation, and it’s thrilling to see stories that explore philosophy, politics, poverty, creativity, protest and resilience in unique, inventive ways—refreshingly standing apart from the endless formulaic studio features churned out each season.”
This year’s Official Selection features recent standouts from the international animation scene, including several films honoured at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Among them is ChaO, the highly anticipated debut feature from Aoki and STUDIO4ºC, which took home the Jury Award at Annecy. Canada’s own La mort n’existe pas (Death Does Not Exist), the latest from acclaimed Québec animator Dufour-Laperrière (Archipel, Ville Neuve), was recognized for its original soundtrack. Meanwhile, L’Olívia i el terratrèmol invisible (Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake), adapted from Maité Carranza’s celebrated graphic novel La Vie est un film, received the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution.
The competition also features Pohádky po babičce (Tales from the Magic Garden), a 3D stop-motion puppet anthology based on Arnošt Goldflam’s beloved collection of stories, Of Unwanted Things and People. Premiering at Berlinale 2025, this international co-production was eight years in the making and brings together directors from across Central Europe.
Rounding out the selection is La gran historia de la filosofía occidental (The Great History of Western Philosophy), the debut feature from Covamonas. Known for her Dadaist collage shorts (Socrates’ Adventures in the Underground, Hideouser and Hideouser, and I Can’t Go on Like This), Covamonas crafts a bold, intricate narrative from public domain footage and audio, featuring figures ranging from Socrates to Mickey Mouse. The film premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival earlier this year.
The Grand Prize winner for Best Animated Feature will be announced live at the OIAF Awards Ceremony on September 27, 2025, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
