Watch: 'Playing God' - Oscar-Shortlisted Sculpture Stop-Motion Short

A tale of what happens when someone tries to... play God. This excellent animated short is now available to watch online thanks to Animatic, Short of the Week, and Studio Croma Animation. Playing God is a stop-motion animated short film by Italian filmmakers Matteo Burani & Arianna Gheller. It first premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival and also screened at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. A clay sculpture comes to life in the darkness of a workshop, surrounded by strange creatures... Playing God made the cut in the first shortlist selection for the upcoming 2026 Academy Awards in the Best Animated Short Film category. The filmmakers introduce it: "After more than a year of traveling around the world through Film Festivals, we’d like to open a small window into how the short film Playing God was made. 7 years in the making for 9 minutes of stop motion animation, one of the biggest and most meaningful challenges in the history of our independent animation studio. With this project, we wanted to push beyond our limits, experimenting with the stop-motion medium without compromises, blending art, technique, & passion into a single vision." There's also a making of video included below. A must watch 9 minute stop-motion film. Thanks to Animatic for the tip on this film debuting […]