“About One Bird” by Olga Kudryavtseva is a melancholic piece with a twist of humor. The eight-minute feature focuses on a cute feathered creature, possibly a crow, whose birdy body-language speaks louder than words.

“Brave Gonzo” from Ilya Suvorkin is an ironic interpretation of a classic tale with the classic characters including a knight, a dragon and a princess, with the only difference that the knight is bone lazy.

With Russians having an eye for a drama, “On a Scale” is a poetic piece exploring the eternal Shakespearean questions of life and death.

“Dogs’ Walking Ground” is a funky outlook at the world of pets and their owners as observed at a playground. Peppered with a generous shot of humor and sharp details, the eight-minute Russian short from Leonid Shmelkov truly speaks for itself.

Animation film studios from over 30 countries, including Japan, America and France, will take part in the week-long festival, with one of its strands this year dedicated to some of the world’s most important filmmakers – France’s Michel Ocelot and Span’s José Ramón Sánchez.