The best drama award went to English short work A Circle, and the best animated drama was earned by Australian movie An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It. The other highlighted awards also included Chinese entry Shu An, which won best documentary, and Mexican short film Living All of Life, which earned best screenplay.

Ye Yuxin, who co-directed Goldfish Pot with two classmates from her animation major at Nanjing University of the Arts in East China's Jiangsu province, says she was excited about winning the award.

The short animated drama, which spans 10 minutes, took Ye, and another four creators, around one year to produce. Spoken in the Nanjing dialect, the movie examines an issue typical among Chinese families: The tension between a child obsessed with painting and a demanding mother just concerned about academic success.

Li Ran, the festival's executive chairwoman and dean of the International School of the academy, says the festival has ignited a craze among students. This was exemplified by the fact that most of the short film screenings were fully booked shortly after the online registration was launched.

"While the overall quantity of short movies created by students around the world saw a drastic drop over the recent three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival has still drawn a lot of foreign young talent," says Li. "With their creativity nourished by different cultures, the shortlisted entries have become a precious resource to draw a lot of Chinese students, enlightening their vision and creation."

She adds: "We have also invited established filmmakers to give lectures and share their experience in artistic creation."