Awards

• Best environmental short film — Genoa International Film Festival, Genoa, Italy, 2026
• Best Thriller — Last Hope International Film Festival (LHIFF), Da Nang, Vietnam, 2026
• Best Director — Last Hope International Film Festival (LHIFF), Da Nang, Vietnam, 2026
• Best Actress — Marie Nicolle, Last Hope International Film Festival (LHIFF), Da Nang, Vietnam, 2026

Selections

• Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, France, 2025
• Aguilar de Campoo Film Festival, Spain, 2025
• International Short Film Festival - Film Front, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2025
• Festival Cortos Rodinia, Valladolid, Spain, 2026
• Genoa International Film Festival, Genoa, Italy, 2026
• Ravenheart International Film Festival (RIFF), Oslo, Norway, 2026
• Last Hope International Film Festival (LHIFF), Da Nang, Vietnam, 2026
• Pollino Film Fest, Pollino National Park, Italy, 2026
• Moonville Film Festival, Brighton, United Kingdom, 2026
• Continuum Showcase, Ithaca, United States, 2026
• BUT International Film Festival, Breda, Netherlands, 2026
• Corrosivo Film Fest, San José, Costa Rica, 2026
• YAMI International Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan, 2026

Bestiary traditionally refers to a medieval collection of descriptions of animals, both real and mythical. These books were never merely works of zoology. Instead, they used animals as symbols, attributing to each creature human qualities, moral lessons, or religious meanings. The film's title immediately frames what follows not as a story about animals, but as a philosophical parable dense with symbolism. We have grown accustomed to seeing ourselves as both a part of nature and nature's ultimate achievement and the planet's rulers. Bestiary invites us to imagine what might happen if those who cannot defend themselves finally found a way to fight back.

The film blends elements of mysticism, horror, and a social drama of generational conflict, while underneath it all, the film remains a philosophical parable. Its deliberate pacing, nearly monochromatic color palette, and carefully composed cinematography create a constant sense of unease. There is very little blood or explicit violence on screen, yet the tension emerges from the atmosphere, the silence, and the anticipation. The adults respond to everything they do not understand with violence, shooting first and attempting to eliminate the threat. Against this backdrop, the children stand apart, instinctively siding with the animals from the very beginning. They become a symbol of hope that the relationship between humanity and nature can still be reimagined.

The ending is direct yet powerful: if humanity refuses to reconsider its place in the natural world, nature may do it for us. At the same time, it is the children who leave us with the hope that this outcome is not inevitable. That hope keeps the film from becoming too didactic and gives it greater emotional and philosophical depth. In the end, Bestiary is more than a story about the conflict between humanity and nature. It is a cohesive artistic statement in which both the screenplay and the visual language serve the film's central idea with equal strength.

— Nailia Masharaeva

• Broadcast on Ciné+ Frisson