The Midnight Flight Competitionof the 14th Indie-AniFest received a total of 182 submissions. They wereprimarily graduation films made by high school and university students. The membersof the pre-selection committee felt a sense of excitement while reviewing the debutfilms made by these young animation directors.

With the advancementof platforms where a wide range of film genres can be seen, young filmmakerstoday have a more discerning eye than ever before. All of the jurors agree thatthe quality of animations is improving with each passing year. Numeroussubmissions have such a high degree of technique and content that we wonderedif they are truly their creators’ debut films.

Among this year’s submissions, there are fewerfilms that deal with social issues and perspectives on the outside world.Instead, many of the films look inward and explore the director’s inner thoughts.Perhaps it is a sign of the changing times and the growing importance of theindividual’s life in society. However, in some cases this introspectionbordering on self-obsession can make it difficult to built empathy with theaudience. Furthermore, a higher degree of technical quality in a film oftenseemed to come at the expense of the story and content. We keenly felt the needfor stories that had depth and were widely accessible to a broad range ofviewers. Nevertheless, we were pleased to see so many animations that showed strongfundamentals and the dedication of their directors who told their own storieswith sincerity and attention to detail. We regret that we are not able to shareall of these heartfelt films on the festivalscreen.

In the fierce summerheat, the members of the committee selected 23 films for the Midnight Flightcompetition. Through our discussions, we chose the films that made animpression on the jurors both visually and emotionally. We wish to congratulatethe directors of these 23 animations and hope that this year’s Indie-AniFest becomesa memorable moment for them.

The directors of theremaining 159 films that were not included in the competition also deservepraise for their dedication and perseverance. The time and effort that they spentwas evident in each work that was submitted. We eagerly await their nextanimations and hope they will continue in their creative endeavors in thefuture.

Finally, wewish to thank all of the directors of the 182 animations that were submittedand the staff of Indie-AniFest for giving us the opportunity and privilege to participatein this committee.

Written by BAEK Mi-Youngon behalf of the Midnight Flight Pre-selection Committee: BAEK Mi-Young, LEEJong-Hoon, and Jinny H.J. CHOO