CARTOONS UNDERGROUND 2024
Get Ready for Southeast Asia’s Biggest Animation Night!
Southeast Asia's largest independent animation festival is back for one electrifying night!
Join us for the Golden Durian Awards, where you’ll meet brilliant directors and vote for your favorite films! With 1,500 submissions from over 90 countries, we’ve curated an exciting lineup of 14 stunning animated shorts from Italy, the US, China, Singapore, and more!
This year, we’re thrilled to highlight the incredible work of Singaporean student filmmakers and artists of Asian heritage with 2 International Programmes and 1 Singapore Student Programme.
Expect bold themes—sex positivity, mental health, comedy, horror, and more—explored through dynamic 2D, 3D, stop-motion animation and the latest animation technology.
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Check out previous EDITIONS!
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME
SINGAPORE STUDENT FILMS
A total of 15 films were selected from an incredible 1,582 entries across 103 different countries. Hailing from all over the world, the submissions showcased a unique variety of voices, themes and stories. The selection in 2023 continued Cartoons Underground's (CU) mission of championing independent animated short films that challenge the medium's boundaries.
Out of this world
Wild Times
In 2022, a total of 16 works were selected from an incredible 1,681 entries submitted from 96 different countries - the highest number of submissions received in the history of the festival. The final selection of films is made of of many high quality films telling unique stories, evoking powerful emotions, tackling mature themes and challenging the animation medium.
Super Humans
Impossible Dreams
Young Ones
Retrospective
Celebrating a decade of animation at Cartoons Underground, we had an exciting line up of 13 carefully chosen films from over 1,000 submissions from 83 countries, and 5 student films from Singapore. Exclusively for our 10th year, we looked back with five films that our audience loved from past editions
2021
OUR BLOG
Artist Interview: Ang Qing Sheng
Having premiered at the Singapore Chinese Film Festival, Qing Sheng’s film “Lak Boh Ki” may seem like a straightforward suspense film on first viewing, but upon seconds, one begins to peel behind layers of hidden meaning. The composition of shots and timing of animation masterfully toy with our feelings over and over again for this innocent little baby tethering…
Artist Interview: Harry and Henry Zhuang (aka Zhuang Brothers)
The Tiger of 142B, a short film by Harry and Henry Zhuang and produced as part of Utter 2015, was selected to compete in the Grand Competition category of the 26th Zagreb Animafest. The film’s narrative, adapted from a short story by Dave Chua, explores the spaces – at once physical and metaphysical, visible and invisible – that…
Young Talent: Adiba Mustafa
Cartoons Underground met Adiba Mustafa or more popularly known as Merry Leona on Youtube at Lasalle’s Animation Grad show a few months back. Adiba is a young, aspiring voice actor and animator, who is still in Lasalle continuing her studies. This dynamic lady likes to consider herself a Jack of all traders but Master of…
Epic Sketchbook: Tia from Singapore
Patrick Smith, co-founder and advisor of Cartoons Underground, and co-writer at ScribbleJunkies Blog, started exploring different types of sketchbooks from artists from all around the world. Looking into these Epic Sketchbooks we see more personal work from these artists and get to know their thought process and them as people in a more intimate way. Thanks…
Epic Sketchbook: Miguel Herranz
Patrick Smith, co-founder and advisor of Cartoons Underground, and co-writer at ScribbleJunkies Blog, started exploring different types of sketchbooks from artists from all around the world. Looking into these Epic Sketchbooks we see more personal work from these artists and get to know their thought process and them as people in a more intimate way. Thanks…
Epic Sketchbook: Oyo
Patrick Smith, co-founder and advisor of Cartoons Underground, and co-writer at ScribbleJunkies Blog, started exploring different types of sketchbooks from artists from all around the world. Looking into these Epic Sketchbooks we see more personal work from these artists and get to know their thought process and them as people in a more intimate way. Thanks…