Watch: ‘Playing God’ – Oscar-Shortlisted Sculpture Stop-Motion Short
by Alex Billington
December 29, 2025
Source: YouTube
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 online. Brief intro via YouTube: “Fragile clay Sculptures come to life in a bare workshop, craving more than just existence. When their Sculptor abandons them, they must discover the power of belonging.” Playing God is a short film created and directed by Italian stop-motion animation filmmaker Matteo Burani – founder of Studio Croma. For info visit their official website or visit their Vimeo page or follow them on IG @studiocroma_stopmotion. It’s co-written by Matteo Burani & Gianmarco Valentino. It’s produced by Arianna Gheller. An Italy / France co-production between Studio Croma animation and Autour de Minuit with the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region from the Emilia-Romagna Film Commission, MIC Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, and CNC Center National Du Cinema Et De l’Image Animèe. Featuring puppets made by Sole Piccininno. And music by Pier Danio Forni. This first premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival in the Critics Week sidebar and is shortlisted for the Oscar. For more info on the film, head to YouTube. To watch more shorts (including animation), click here.
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