Three kids trudge through the snow. One of them sees a falling star and gets to make a wish. But it’s not quite that simple, because the two friends think the childish wish is too short-sighted and selfish in light of global problems. Ninety seconds in bright colours and with cute characters that show briefly and succinctly what goes bitterly wrong when the right thing is no longer right.

André Eckardt

April 2020: The playground is empty and quiet, with a sadly fluttering barrier tape that nobody cares about because everyone is at home in lockdown. Except for a pear-shaped 3D figure which pads searchingly through the gravelly sand on thin legs, in chunky sneakers. It is towing an exhausted balloon with a frozen smile and – chunky sneakers. The dangling balloon hands pat the lonely rule-breaker from above. Franz Impler’s poetic and playfully condensed snapshot lets us empathise with an indescribable, exceptional situation in all its melancholy and absurdity.

André Eckardt

A tennis player is driven to despair by his opponent, a devious blue Cheshire cat. After her serve, she uses wicked magic to manipulate the spatial coordinates and establishes the one, ruthless rule: Now the court keeps rotating and with every return the player, long-since destined to lose, crowns himself the invincible opponent. A creative tennis nightmare.

André Eckardt

Hands in his pockets and chewing bubble gum – a little big city rebel strolls casually through the streets, accompanied by hazy, sluggish sounds, past graffiti and retro gumball machines. He has perfected his “cool look” and his vanity swells to become a self-portrait. Franz Impler needs only ten seconds to introduce us to someone whose quirky trick amazes and amuses.

André Eckardt

Left to one’s own devices, the appeal of internet posts has faded, boredom and nonsensical ideas take hold: Can the neglected plant be revived with a flat coke? Talking to oneself because there is nobody else. The outside world only shows up in the shape of a dishevelled pizza boy at the door. The hope for the new in-line skates with the cryptic name YMI-2142 you ordered and indeed any hope at all is safest from disappointment when you no longer expect anything. The world of the main character in Franz Impler’s 3D animation is colourful, free of edges and brimming with kindness, which makes the realisation that life can simply move forward without one even sadder.

André Eckardt