Best Animated Short – “Munkha” (Russian Federation)

Title: Munkha
Runtime: 11 min
Country: Russian Federation
Director: Alexander Moruo
Placement: Best Animated Short
Competition: September, 2024

Synopsis: In the snowy heart of Yakutia little girl Nyukku embarks on her first Munkha, Sakha traditional fishing. Filled with excitement and armed with her “magical” mittens, she dreams of catching a big pile of fish. However, her brother Michil is quite skeptical about the “magic” of her mittens and teasingly predicts that she will lose them. Nyukku’s enthusiasm is undiminished, so she challenges Michil to a bet.

Unfortunately, her adventure leads to an unexpected chaos and failure, and Nyukku loses the bet. Through this experience and guided by their father’s wisdom, Nyukku and Michil learn a valuable lesson: the true magic lies in the strength of family bonds and mutual support. As a result, the children save the catch, and miraculously, Nyukku gets her lost mitten back.