OIAF 2026 Shorts: Round 1

I'm covering the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) remotely this year (the fest wraps up its in-person activities on Sunday), so I'll post thoughts on a few batches of shorts over the next week or so. 

When I was looking over the titles that are available, the first one that caught my eye is Bahij Jaroudi's This is a Genocide. The genocide happening in Palestine isn't in the news as much as it should be, at least here in the US. Recently, the whole Ed Sheeran/Macklemore situation, and even more recently, Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder being arrested while protesting against Netanyahu's speech at the U.N. have made headlines, but the ongoing violence itself only manages to be newsworthy on our shores when celebrities are talking about it. It's frankly despicable.

One of the places where the genocide is spoken about is on the screen. One of the best movies I've seen this year is American Doctor, an unflinching portrait of three American doctors who travel (or attempt to travel) to Palestine to work in a hospital there, as well as the work they do making media appearances and whatnot. The doc is notable, in part, because of its decision not to ever blur the images of violence and death. Why spare viewers, sitting comfortably in far-off movie theaters or the comfort of their homes, from having to behold the truth of these atrocities?

This is a Genocide takes a very different approach, and an astonishingly effective one. The very short short (it's just over two minutes long) kind of has the feel and appearance of a children's book. Indeed, the description on Letterboxd is simply "A child explains what genocide is." As we flip through the "pages," we read simple sentences like THIS IS MY HOUSE, THIS IS MY STREET, THIS IS MY CAT. Accompanying each one is a black-and-white depiction that looks like it was crafted by Saul Bass, or like it was cut out of paper (think Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, but even simpler-looking). Some of the pictures are barely recognizable, blown into scattered geometry. Others are instantly recognizable, horribly so. 

It's a really unique artistic approach to the ongoing violence, and an extremely effective and emotional one, too. You can watch it on Vimeo.

Joel Mackenzie's Baby Daddy is a real treat. It's one of those shorts where you're immediately struck by the visuals. It has a super cute 2-D art style with a kind of soft filter over it. It feels cozy and warm and fun, suffused with this lovely light that gives it a bit of a feeling like it's a memory. Which feels right, since during the credits, there's a note that the short is 97% based on a true story.

Baby Daddy

That true story involves a little boy exploring his family's backyard garden alongside his dad. He's a super curious kid, poking and prodding and picking. Nothing gets past him, and he has commentary on everything. Out of nowhere, he suddenly grabs a chunk of his dad's beard off, eliciting a scream and sending said dad rushing off into the house to grab the clippers and finish the job. (During the credits, there's a picture of the real chunk of beard that was ripped off of Joel's face.)

Here, I assume, is where things veer into fiction. The boy plants the beard, which grows into a sort of vegetable-baby version of his dad (he looks kind of like a big old Pikmin), who the boy then dutifully takes care of. At least, to the best of his ability. He tries to figure out what food the baby daddy might want to eat, protects him from an angry cardinal, and tucks him in for a nap in one of the vegetable patches. All very sweet.

What relaly makes this short special is the voice work. Mackenzie's son Finley provides the voice of our young protagonist, and he has the cutest little voice you've ever heard, and fantastic delivery. It's so good that I was kind of wondering if this was somewhat a short that was built around various recordings Mackenzie took, or if he wrote the lines and then had Finley deliver them. However it was done, the father-don duo have made something really special and fun here.

I almost don't want to write about Tomoki Misato's Candy Caries, because it is such a wild little delight, and one that I think benefits from watching blind. It's a dazzling-looking short, the animation has so much texture and variety to it, and it's extremely cute.

I historically don't love going to the dentist, as I've had some bad dentists in my time, so this one really resonated with me. Without going into too much detail about how it's executed, the short is about a girl named Ame (Japanese for "candy") visiting the dentist, who has extremely bad vibes. Like, mad scientist vibes. He wears a hockey mask...enough said. He's trying to gain access to Ame's mouth so he can do his violent dentist work, but she's not budging. I would say steer clear from reading too much more about it, or even reading the Letterboxd synopsis, because it gives away the other element of this short that's a very fun and weird surprise. Just trust me and watch this one if/when you get the chance. And good news -- here's your chance, because it's available to watch on YouTube:

The last short for this batch is also available on YouTube: the wonderfully low-key Welcome to StarMart, from directors Caz Shen, Vanessa Buice, and Vinny Wang (collectively known as CV²). 

Welcome to StarMart follows a horse who lands his spaceship at a fuel station/convenience store out amongst the stars and asteroids and other space stuff. It has a great feel to it, like...this is all really random, and silly, and there isn't much of an explanation of who this horse is or why he's in space or why he doesn't seem to know how to handle a spaceship. It feels like a short that really is willing to wide its comedic wave, go wherever it needs to to unearth another laugh, and not worry too much about explaining itself.

It really pays off, because this is a lot of fun to watch. I honestly wish it were even longer. I just liked watching the horse go around the convenience store looking at different items for sale, tasting snacks, trying on sunglasses. Immaculate vibes, some might say (I certainly would). This is real good stuff. Check it out below: