The short animation The Route, written and directed by Babak Beigi, has been selected as one of the 26 finalists at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2025 (TAAF2025). This prestigious festival, scheduled to take place from March 7 to March 10, 2025, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, is one of the most renowned international events dedicated to animation.
Previously showcased at the Tehran International Short Film Festival, Seoul Indie-AniFest, and Animafest Zagreb, The Route now stands out among 997 submissions from 70 countries, securing its place in the festival’s competitive section.
A Dark Journey into a Dystopian World
Set in a bleak dystopian landscape, The Route follows a truck driver tasked with transporting condemned souls to their final reckoning before the firing squad. Initially, he numbs himself to the horrific reality surrounding him. However, one fateful night forces him to confront the chilling truth he has long ignored.
In addition to directing, Babak Beigi handled editing, animation, character design, compositing, and storyboarding for the film. The production team includes Raha Zandiyeh, Pooria Khalaj Tehrani, and Babak Beigi, with Denag Malekian as the background painter, Zohreh Aliakbari as the sound designer, and Tohid Foruzan composing the music.
Tokyo Anime Award Festival: A Global Stage for Animation
Held annually in Tokyo, TAAF serves as a platform for discovering innovative and independent animation works from around the world. With strong backing from the Japanese animation industry, the festival fosters new talent, artistic exchange, and international recognition for exceptional films.
The selection of The Route among hundreds of submissions is a testament to its outstanding storytelling and production quality, further solidifying Iran’s presence in the global animation scene.
The Competition Heats Up in Ikebukuro
The selected films will be screened during TAAF2025 from March 7 to March 10 in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, where industry professionals, critics, and animation enthusiasts will gather to celebrate the best in independent animation.
A New Milestone for Iranian Animation
Raft Film, the film’s distributor, celebrates The Route’s inclusion in TAAF2025 as another step toward global recognition for Iranian independent animation. Will The Route shine in the festival’s final competition? The answer awaits in March 2025.
The Route, written and directed by Tehran-born animator Babak Beigi, has been officially selected for the 2025 Open World Animation Festival (OWAF) in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Screening on November 9 in the “Iranian Independent Animation” showcase, the short depicts a truck driver who transports prisoners to their executions until one night
The animated short film The Route, directed by Babak Beigi, has been awarded the Special Distinction of the Jury at the Insomnia International Animation Festival 2025 in Russia. Praised for its “ruthless psychology and relentless pursuit of dramatic experiments,” the film adds another milestone to its growing list of international
The Route, directed by Babak Beigi, will screen in the International Competition of the 13th Insomnia International Animation Film Festival (July 17–21, 2025) in Kaluga and Moscow, Russia. The festival’s open-air setting and commitment to truly independent animation offer a fitting stage for the film’s chilling vision of dystopia and
The animated short film The Route, directed by Babak Beigi, has been officially selected for the main competition at the Imaxinaria Animation Festival 2025 in Spain. This marks another milestone for the film, which has already gained recognition on the international festival circuit. Distributed by Raft Films, The Route explores
