Signature collection
New & Next
The next generation of independent cinema.
Open movies made in free software. Films built in game engines by a single artist. Hand-drawn and computer animation in the same frame. New tools are changing who can make films and how films are made, and IFN shows the films and the technology behind them.
New releases
Recent independent films
Released in 2020 or later.
2D/3D hybrid
Hybrid animation
Hand-drawn and computer animation combined in the same film.
2D/3D hybridTag Team
A 2D/3D hybrid student film, made by a team of ten credited filmmakers.
Blender
Open movies, made in Blender
Made in Blender, the free and open-source 3D software.
Unreal Engine · Motion capture
Built in a game engine
Built and rendered in real time in Unreal Engine, a video game engine. Performers’ movements recorded and applied to digital characters.
Unreal Engine · Motion captureThe Minos Paradox
Made almost entirely by one artist, Bruno Cailloux, in Unreal Engine 5 over more than a year, with assets “customized and kitbashed from various marketplaces.” Michel Quach and Benoit Leger performed the stunts in motion capture.
Where technology meets independent storytelling
AI + Emerging Cinema
A new generation of filmmakers is using new tools to tell stories that weren’t possible before: AI animation and AI-assisted filmmaking, procedural animation, Blender, Unreal Engine, virtual production, and experiments no one has named yet.
IFN labels the technology behind a film only when the film’s credits, its makers, or its studio describe it. A film is never labeled AI on a guess.
- 2D/3D hybrid
Hand-drawn and computer animation combined in the same film.
1 film - Visual effects
Computer-generated imagery combined with filmed footage.
3 films - Blender
Made in Blender, the free and open-source 3D software.
4 films - Unreal Engine
Built and rendered in real time in Unreal Engine, a video game engine.
1 film - Motion capture
Performers’ movements recorded and applied to digital characters.
1 film - Virtual production
Filmed in front of digital environments rendered live on set.
No films yet - AI-assisted
AI tools used for part of the work, as the filmmakers describe it.
No films yet - AI-generated
Images or sound largely generated with AI tools, as the filmmakers describe it.
No films yet
AI-assisted and AI-generated films
No film on IFN carries an AI label yet. When one does, it will be labeled AI-assisted or AI-generated, in the filmmakers’ own words.
For creators
Made something independent?
Features, shorts, documentaries, animation, and experimental work are welcome for review. Every film on IFN is shown with its makers’ credits.