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The ReA International Animation and Comic Art Festival was held in Yerevan. The event featured full-length animated films and short films by directors from all over the world. We will analyze the most striking films of this festival.

Flow is an animated film by Gin about a cat who tries to survive a flood, escaping from it in a boat with a beaver, a dog, a lemur, and a heron.

The human race has disappeared and the animals are left alone—some quickly adapted, and for others it became a real test. This film tells how the desire for survival can unite warring characters, creating strong friendships between them.

Memoir of a Snail is a work by Adam Elliott, telling the story of a young girl named Grace, who experiences an endless series of failures and collects everything related to snails.

But soon, this simple hobby turns into magic, Ayudeaushka continues to experience tragedies in life, after which she finally decides to start a new life, freeing herself from her past. The film raises such topics as teenage bullying, eating disorders, psychological trauma and crises, mania and suicide attempts. According to the director himself, his work is autobiographical—and through animation, Adam wanted to show his life path, as well as inspire other people to continue living, despite adversity.

A Boat in the Garden is a work by French director Jean-Rançois Laguione. This film is about an established teenager living in post-war France in the 1950s.

The picturesque film opens the backstory of the adventures of Joshua Slocum—the first person to travel around the world alone. The main character's adoptive father dreams of building a prototype of Joshua's boat, and the boy grows up, enthusiastically watching this, which becomes the beginning of a new hobby for the him and the birth of a love for the sea. This adventure story raises the themes of growing up and acceptance, next to which death is always present, and highlights the importance of the father figure, creating an adventure-psychological background.

Sultana's Dream is an animated film based on the story of Bengali writer Rokeya Hossain.

Inspired by the feminist book of the last century, artist Ines—with Spanish roots—goes on a journey through India in search of a utopian country for women, where wars and cruelty are eradicated, men are locked up, and a world full of health, beauty, and love is built.  Director: Isabel Erguera.

The Most Precious of Cargoes is a story about a Polish woodcutter family that takes in a baby abandoned by the railroad.

The film is based on Jean-Claude Grumiergue's novel about the Holocaust, and it reveals the darkest sides of the human soul. Director: Michel Hazanavicius.

The Sirene is a film that reveals an inside look at the horrors of the Iran-Iraq war through the story of an Iranian teenager escaping from a besieged city.

The film tells about the tragedy of war, and also about how—under siege—such qualities as decency, kindness, and a little humor can be more valuable than the desire to sacrifice oneself on the battlefield. This is a story of how one can become the guardian of life on the field of death.

Be it natural disasters, wars, or attempts to escape from reality into a fantasy world, the unique films at the ReAnimania International Animation Film Festival reveal—in an animated manner—the most important concepts, connecting into a single context of triumph over despair.

By Regina Melikyan

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