The SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Computer Animation Festival has announced this year’s winners. The short films will be presented on 17 December at the conference in Hong Kong.
Windy Day
The SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Computer Animation Festival (CAF) has announced this year’s winners.
The 2025 festival celebrates the vision of creators using digital tools to tell human stories, who work from the intersection of technology, art and storytelling. The winners, selected from a pool of 488 entries spanning 39 countries by an international jury, will be presented on 17 December in Hong Kong, when SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 brings together recognised artists, researchers and technologists under the theme Generative Renaissance. The complete conference runs from15 to 18 December.
Below, find the winners in the categories Best in Show, Best Student Project and Jury’s Choice
Best in Show winner Windy Day from Directors Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Elise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez and Camille Truding in France. Windy Day captures a group of strangers suddenly brought together by a gust of wind in a moment of transformation. In a park, a family is enjoying a picnic, a businessman is working next to a grandpa playing with his dog, while two lovers kiss passionately – when the wind whips up and disrupts their daily routine.
It blows so hard that everyone is swept away together. In the air, they meet and see their lives evolve toward new horizons. Through meticulous animation and elegant rhythm, the bright, dynamic film explores connection, chaos and renewal in a world swept off its feet. The Producer is Julien Deparis, l’École des Nouvelles Images, Avignon. Watch the trailer here.
Director Tobias Eckerlin at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Ludwigsburg, Germany, was inspired by true events to create A Sparrow’s Song, Best Student Project. His story follows an elderly widow in wartime London who serves day by day as an air raid warden in the crowded shelters, witnessing the suffering of children and others, and struggles to overcome grief and rediscover joy in her life.
One morning, she finds a dying sparrow and hopes to save its fragile life. As the sparrow gradually heals, a bond grows between them, and the bird begins to respond to her piano playing—a shared language that builds a bridge. During bombing raids, she carries the sparrow to the shelters, where she plays the piano and the sparrow sings its song to comfort the children and offer hope to those around her. Through this newfound purpose and unexpected alliance, her life begins to change. Though sombre and slow-paced, the film becomes a gentle reflection on resilience, art and healing amid conflict. Watch the trailer here.
A Sparrow's Song
Jury’s Choice winner, titled Son, comes from Russia, made by Director Zhanna Bekmambetova at Bazelevs Company in Moscow. Created in a rich, colourful stop-motion style, this story about a young boy and his father, living in a small house on the edge of the steppe, is a testament to perseverance, imagination and love.
Though the boy is confined to a wheelchair, unable to even manage a spoon for his porridge, and his father veers close to despair, their shared fascination with space exploration helps them overcome disability and find hope. Everything changes when one day the TV brings news of the landing of the newest robot on Mars. Watch the trailer here.
Tim Cheung, Computer Animation Festival Chair and Director of DoubleBlink Animation Studios (Hong Kong), said, “The Computer Animation Festival (CAF) has always been a reflection of how technology and storytelling meet. This year’s winners are extraordinary not only for their technical mastery but for their emotional truth. They remind us that animation continues to push not just pixels, but boundaries — and that creative courage remains its greatest engine.”
Jennifer Lee, Computer Animation Festival Producer and Director of Act Plus Animation & Media Studio (Hong Kong), added, “CAF is where emerging voices stand alongside established creators – a space that celebrates imagination without borders. The winning works illuminate how technology can deepen our capacity for empathy and wonder, and we can’t wait to showcase them on the big screen this December in Hong Kong.”
Visitors can view entries to CAF each day 15 – 18 December. Access the Computer Animation Festival Schedule HERE.
The Best in Show, Best Student Project, Jury’s Choice awards and the new category Audience Choice Award will be presented following the last Electronic Theater screening of the day at the CAF Closing & Awards Ceremony from 6.00 – 6.30 pm on 17 December 2025, at Level 3, Hall 3F.
Access SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Conference and Exhibition details HERE. The full program is now published HERE.
REGISTRATION is now open to trade visitors and members of the public. asia.siggraph.org/2025
