Ali Masoumi

I am an animation director with an M.A. in Animation Directing from the University of Art, Tehran, and over a decade of professional experience. My latest short film BUG was selected for the 51st Student Academy Awards (2024), a new milestone in my artistic career.

I work extensively across stop motion, 2D frame-by-frame, digital 2D, and cutout animation, and I am best known for my (patent pending) variation of the multiplane camera technique, which has become a central and defining element of my visual style and storytelling.

My films have screened at Academy Award–qualifying and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, including the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and the New York International Children’s Film Festival, receiving international recognition. BUG has also earned numerous awards, including Best Animation at the Bmore Horror Festival, Comicon Italy, and Tehran International Film Festival, as well as the Best Audience Award at the Short Focus Film Festival in London.

In addition to directing, I have over seven years of experience as a senior motion designer, with expertise in drawing, storyboarding, and developing characters and visual concepts.

Festival & Awards

Bisotun Short Aniation

Winner

Persia Educational Film Festival – 2023

Nominee

Nashville Play Film 2022 – US

Officially selection

New York Kurdish Film Festival 2024 – US

13th Tehran international Animation festival 2024 – Iran

39th Tehran international short film festival 2022 – Iran

Animex Screen student films in competition – 2023 UK

Student World Impact Film Festival SWIFF 2023 – USA

Steve Aronson International Film Festival 2023

BAM Festival 2023 – Texas

Bornova Short Film Days 2022 – turkey

Voronezh International Animation Festival 2023 – Russian

Return film festival 2022 – Weimar Germany

CAFF Film Festival Coordinator 2022

Clapperboard Golden 2022 – Brazil

First-Time Filmmaker Online Sessions 2022 – UK

Parchin Short Animation

Winner

Only the best AWARDS (OTB) 2021 – Miami, US

Quarter Finalist

2023 Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF) 2023 US

Finalist

Short Cut Festival 2022 – Serbia 

Officially selection

Iranian international film festival 2022 – San Francisco USA

Student World Impact Film Festival SWIFF 2023 – USA

Konyaaltı International Short Film Festival 2023

MAAC-24FPS INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION AWARDS 2022

CAFF Film Festival Coordinator 2022

First-Time Filmmaker Online Sessions 2021 – UK

The Paus Premieres 2021 – UK

BUG Short Animation

Winner

  • 41st Tehran short film festival 2024 – Iran – Oscar-qualifying
  • Best Animation of 7th “Bmore Horror Fest” 2025 – USA
  • Best Production Design of 7th “Bmore Horror Fest” 2025 – USA
  • Runner Up – Bmore Horror Award of 7th “Bmore Horror Fest” 2025 – USA
  • Best Director of Sanità film festival 2025 – Italy
  • Best Comicon Award of Sanità film festival 2025 – Italy
  • Best Student Film ANIMUR animation festival 2024 – Russia
  • Audience award of 9th Short Focus Film Festival 2025 – UK
  • 4th Monteatro e Dintorni d’Arte 2025 – Italy
  • Best Stop Motion Touchstone independent film festival 2025 – USA
  • Festival Internacional de Cinema de Canoinhas – SC 2024 – Brazil

Nominee

  • 8th GaztefilmFest 2025 – Spain

Finalist

  • World University Animation Awards (WUAA) 2025 – Hong Kong
  • Abertoir Horror Festival 2025 – UK
  • Frame FirstCut 2025 – India
  • New York Animation festival 2024 – USA
  • the Carrara Film Award 2025 – Germany

Semi-Finalist

  • 12th FOLCS international short competition 2025 – USA

Officially selection

  • 51st Student Academy Awards film 2024 – USA
  • 29th Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival – USA – Oscar, Bafta, Canadian Screen qualifying
  • 27th New York International Children’s Film Festival 2025 – USA – Oscar-qualifying
  • 24th DOCUFEST 2025 – Kosovo – BAFTA-qualifying
  • 9th Turku Animated Film Festival 2024 – Finland
  • 30th LISTAPAD Festival 2024 – Belarus
  • 52th Ińskie Lato Filmowe 2025 – Poland
  • 7th Bmore Horror Fest 2025 – USA
  • 23rd Ivy Film Festival 2025 – USA
  • 17th Piccolo film Festival 2024 – Italy
  • 17th ReA Festival 2025 – Armenia
  • 9th Chaniartoon – International Comic & Animation Festival 2025 – Greece
  • 16th The international Animation Film Festival (IAFF) GOLDEN KUKER -2025 – Sofia
  • VGIK International Film Festival 2024 – Russia
  • The Tbilisi International Animation Festival (TIAF) 2025 – Georgia
  • 12th Star Film Festival 2025 – Croatia
  • 9º Festival de Cine Infantil Churumbela 2025 – Mexico
  • 13th Tehran international Animation festival 2024 – Iran
  • Monsters Fantastic Film Festival 2024 – Italy
  • 6th TrikFilm 2025 – Czech Republic
  • Bastau International Film Festival 2024 – Kazakhstan
  • International 2 Sides Short Film Festival 2026 – Turkey
  • 14th CMS, INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL (ICFF) 2025 – India
  • Festival l’Art en chemin 2025 – France
  •  11th FLAME FirstCut 2025 – India
  • CINE MIMMOS 2024 – Portugal
  • Animatica 2024 – Italy