LINES
An aggressive battle unfolds between red and dark blue. The borderlines between the colors vibrate with tension as they fight for their lives.
LINES is a deeply personal visualization of tension and panic attacks, inspired by the minimalistic abstract films of Norman McLaren and Oskar Fischinger. It explores the breaking point of conflict and how the collapse of rigid boundaries can finally lead to peace.
CREDITS
Director & Animator: Martin Schmidt
Music: Thomas Höhl - Soundspores
Sound Design & Mix: Christian Wittmoser - Soundspores
Film Funding: Hessen Film & Medien GmbH
AWARDS
First Prize (Official Competition)
PUNTO y RAYA Abstract Art in Motion Festival 2025
Equilibristics Prize (Best Non-Narrative/Experimental Work)
Insomnia International Animation Film Festival 2025
Best International Animated Film
Pink City International Short Film Festival 2024
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Special Mention (Experimental Jury)
Festival Tous Courts Aix-en-Provence 2024
Special Mention (Int. Competition)
CineToro Experimental Film Festival 2024
Honorable Mention
The Strong Mind Showcase 2024
Honorable Mention (Best Animated Short)
Cinéfagos Festival de CineArte en la Frontera 2025
PREMIERES
World / International Premiere
10 Jun 2024 - Annecy International Animation Film Festival
International Competition Off-Limits (Abstract Films)
Annecy, France (9–15 Jun 2024)
German Premiere
29 Oct 2024 - DOK Leipzig
Int. Animation Competition
Leipzig, Germany (28 Oct – 3 Nov 2024)
Online Premiere
27. Feb 2026 – Short of the Week
Official Selection & YouTube Release
Worldwide (Curated Online Release)
FILM FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Oscar-Qualifying and Tier A Festivals
Annecy International Animation Festival
DOK Leipzig
Clermont-Ferrand - Le Court (Market Picks)
ITFS - Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival (SFFTV Program)
Int. Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (Hot Shorts)
Go Short Nijmegen
REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival
Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films
Int. Kortfilmfestival Leuven
Fest Anča International Animation Festival
AmDocs – American Documentary and Animation Film Festival
deadCenter Film Festival
Online Curation Specials
Vimeo Staff Pick
Short of the Week (Official Selection)
Stash Permanent Collection (Issue 176)
Animation Classics
MONSTRA - Lisbon Animation Festival
London International Animation Festival (LIAF)
Fredrikstad Animation Festival
Experimental & Abstract
PUNTO y RAYA Abstract Art in Motion
Festival Tous Courts Aix-en-Provence
Bideodromo International Experimental Film & Video Festival
Linea D’Ombra - VedoAnimato Competition
Animafest Gdańsk - Short Experimental Animation
CineToro Experimental Film Festival
PRESS ECHO
Annecy Festival - Video Interview
Stashmedia.tv - Feature
“A minimalist yet intense collision of sound and motion.”
Shortoftheweek.com - Official Selection and Review
“Lines ... achieves something rare, which is making abstraction feel intimate. ...You emerge not with answers but with recognition: a reminder that what feels unspeakable can still be drawn, still be shared, and, in that sharing, perhaps softened.”
Testkammer.com - Film Review
“...Images create an immediate pull... A deeply personal approach to burnout.”
Testkammer.com - Director Interview
Jury Text - PUNTO y RAYA 2025
"For the outstanding way in which the simplicity of form is combined with a dynamic and intense rhythm of confrontation, as well as the perfectly balanced overall structure of crescendo and release of tension, where sound and image coexist in an effective symbiosis, the jury decided to give the first prize to the film Lines by Martin Schmidt."
Excerpt from Press & Jury Texts - FBW Germany
"...In LINES, filmmaker Martin Schmidt creates a fascinating world in just four minutes that consists solely of abstract lines, yet tells a complex story. It almost seems as if the individual lines, some thin, some thick, become personalities that fight each other..."
Jury text - Cinéfagos
"The aesthetic exploration and construction of a visual composition that functions rhythmically, with sound and movement, is a classic aim of video art, and this work reminds us of the foremost representatives of the genre and of art and design movements already regarded as classics, such as Bauhaus and Dada."
FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUIT 2024
Sydney Film Festival
SFFTV Program, Australia, 5.-16.6.24
Annecy Int. Animation Festival 2024
Int. Competition Animation Off-Limits, France, 9.-15.6.24
Sopot Film Festival 2024
Int. Competition, Poland, 22.-30.6.24
Bridge Film Festival 2024
Experimental Competition, Verona - Italy, 9. - 13.7.24
Montgomery Film Festival 2024
Experimental Shorts & Music Videos, USA, 2.-3.8.24
Animix Animation Film Festival 2024
Int. Short Film Competition, Tel Aviv - Israel, 6.-10.8.24
Santander Int. Film Festival 2024
Int. Animation Competition, Spain, 20.-30.08.24
Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival
Experimental Animation and Video Art program, Kyiv - Ukraine, 4.-8.9.24
Pink City Int. Short Film Festival
Jaipur - India, 7.9.24
Girona Film Festival 2024
Videocreation (Experimental), Spain, 12.-14.09.24
Mosaic World Film Fest 2024
Animation Competition, USA, 13.-15.9.24
Heart of Gold Int. Short Film Festival
Gympie - Australia, 27.-29.09.24
Animatou Festival 2024
Int. Experimental Animated Shorts Competition, Geneva - Switzerland, 3.-12.10.24
European Short Film Festival of Nice, Un Festival C'est Trop Court! 2024
Experience Competition, France, 4.-11.10.24
Animafest Gdansk
Short Experimental Animation, Poland, 8.-11.10.24
Kuandu International Animation Festival
Best Animated Short Film Award Competition, Taiwan, 10.-20.10.24
International Short Film Festival of Cyprus
Int. Competition, Cyprus, 12.-18.10.24
Bideodromo Int. Experimental Film and Video Festival 2024
Bilbao - Spain, 14.-23.10.24
Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival
Int. Animated Shorts, Baltimore - USA, 18.10.24
The Strong Mind Showcase 2024
Short Film Competition, Pittsburgh - USA, 20.10.24
Fredrikstad Animation Festival
Abstraction at hoi polloi, Norway, 24.-27.10.24
Goa Short Film Festival
Best Animation Competition, Goa - India, 26.-27.10.24
DOK Leipzig
Int. Competition Animation, Germany, 28.10.-3.11.24
CineToro Experimental Film Festival 2024
Spectral Beings Int. Official Competition, Columbia, 5.-10.11.24
Int. Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
Hot Shorts, Switzerland - 5.-10.11.24
FILMZ
Festival des deutschen Kinos, Mainz, 7.-17.11.24
Linea D’Ombra Festival
VedoAnimato Competition, Salerno - Italy, 9.-16.11.24
Il Varco International Short Film Festival
Opening Film, Rome - Italy, 11.-13.11.24
TOFUZI Int. Animated Film Festival 2024
Experimental Animated Film, Tbilisi - Georgia, 11.-16.11.24
accordi @ DISACCORDI Int. Short Film Festival
Animated Shorts, Naples - Italy, 11.-17.11.24
Kasseler Dokfest
Golden Hercules Competition, Germany, 12.-17.11.24
Festival Européen du Film Court de Brest 2024
OVNI Young Audience Section, France, 12.-17.11.24
Ridgway Independent Film Fest 2024
Animated Short Competition, Ridgway - USA, 14.-17.11.24
GIRAF Festival of Independent Animation 2024
Calgary - Canada, 14.-17.11.24
FEDAXV 2024
International Competition, Valdivia, Chile - 20.-22.11.24
London International Animation Festival
Int. Competition Abstract Showcase, United Kingdom, 22.11.-01.12.24
Scandinavian Int. Film Festival 2024
Animated Film Competition, Helsinki - Finland, 24.-27.11.24
Int. Kortfilmfestival Leuven 2024
European Competition:Animation and Labo Program, Belgium, 29.11.-7.12.24
Festival Tous Courts Aix-en-Provence
Int. Experimental Short Film Competition, France - 3.-7.12.24
FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUIT 2025
London Short Film Festival 2025
Under 5 minutes, United Kingdom, 19.-28.01.25
Clermont-Ferrand Le Court
Short Film Market Picks, France - 3.-6.2.25
Two Short Nights Film Festival
Short Film, United Kingdom - 6.-7.2.25
ANIMED Mediterranean Animation Film Festival
Experimental Animation, Spain - 7.3.25
REGARD - Saguenay Int. Short Film Festival
Official Competition, Canada - 19.-23.3.25
MONSTRA - Lisbon Animation Festival
Short Films Competition, Portugal - 20.-30.3.25
Int. Short Film Week Regensburg
German Competition, Germany - 20.-30.3.25
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Animation Competition, USA - 25.-30.3.25
AmDocs American Documentary and Animation Film Festival
Animated Work, Palm Springs, USA - 27.-31.3.25
Athens ANIMFEST
Experimental, Greece - 27.-30.3.25
European Film Festival of Lille
Experimental Competition, France - 28.3.-2.4.25
Go Short Int. Short Film Festival Nijmegen
Weird Animation, Netherlands - 1.-6.4.25
Detroit Int. Festival of Animation
USA - 5.4.25
Fronteira Int. Film Festival
Int. Animation Short Film Competition, Brazil - 23.-27.4.25
ITFS Int. Festival of Animation Stuttgart
Int. Competition, Germany - 6.-11.5.25
Anifilm Int. Festival of Animated Films
Int. Competition, Abstract and Non-narrative Animation, Czech Republic - 6.-11.5.25
Kinofilm Manchester Short Film Festival
Animation Shorts, UK - 12.-18.5.25
Sunrise Film Festival
Official Selection, UK - 22.-25.5.25
Leiden Shorts 2025
Exhibition Screening, Netherlands, 30.5.-3.6.25
Pune Short Film Festival
Best Experimental Film Competition, India - 2.6.25
deadCenter Film Festival
Experimental Shorts, USA - 11.-15.6.25
Int. Animation Festival Fest Anča
Contemporary Abstract and Non-narrative Animation, Slovakia - 24.-29.6.25
Insomnia Int. Animation Film Festival
Int. Competition, Russia - 16.-21.7.25
LIFE AFTER OIL International Film Festival
Animation, Italy - 17.-21.7.25
South Italy International Film Festival
Best Animated Short Competition, Italy - 18.7.25
Anim sur le lac
Int. Competition, Canada - 8.-10.8.25
Toronto Arthouse Film Festival
Experimental Film Competition, Canada - 6.-9.10.25
24FRAME Future Film Fest
Short Film Competition, Italy - 17.-19.10.25
Filmfestival Suikerzoet Schiedam
Netherlands - 26.11.-30.11.25
PUNTO y RAYA Abstract Art in Motion
Official Competition, Bulgaria - 3.-7.12.25
TIAF Tbilisi 8th Int. Animation Festival
Experimental Competition, Georgia - 2025
FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUIT 2026
Short of the Week 2026
Official Selection, Online - worldwide, 27.02.26