12 MIN | MIXED TECHNIQUES | SWEDEN | 2025
DIRECTOR: IDA MELUM | PRODUCERs: Kjersti Greger, Johan Edström, Michelle Brøndum
Surrounded by babies at her sister’s baby shower, EVA (34) is forced to fend off questions left, right and centre about when she’ll be starting a family of her own. As the questions overwhelm her, Eva’s stomach sears with pain. She excuses herself to the bathroom where her flat stomach suddenly swells and she finds herself in labour. Eva pushes and screams as new life is unexpectedly forced out of her. As the pain subsides she finds herself confronted not with a newborn but with OVY, her baby-loving reproductive organs. Mortified, Eva tries to run away but Ovy only pursues her. As they make their way through the town, Ovy does everything she can to convince Eva they should have a baby while Eva does everything she can to convince Ovy there is more to life than being a mum. Little by little they wear each other down and begin to listen to what the other has to say. As they finally see eye to eye, Eva is able to speak her truth.
POSTER
Director's portrait
Director's bio:
Ida Melum is an EE BAFTA and BIFA-nominated, Annie and RTS award-winning animation director based in Sweden. She is an alumna of the prestigious MA Directing Animation program at the National Film and Television School, where she graduated with the stop-motion film ‘Night of the Living Dread’. The film was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Animation, won an Annie Award in 2023 and was selected for over 90 festivals worldwide, and won over 25 awards.
Her upcoming stop-motion short, ‘Ovary-Acting’, was supported by both the Norwegian and Swedish Film Institute and had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2025. The film was also selected for Official Competition at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2025, and 50 other festivals to date.
Her other credits include working as an animator on acclaimed projects such as the BAFTA-winning ‘Poles Apart’ and ‘Facing It’ and the BBC nature documentary ‘Attenborough’s Wonder of Song’. In 2022 she was also hired to create and direct the festival trailer for Fredrikstad Animation Festival.
In addition to her work as a filmmaker and animator, Ida has served on multiple film festival juries, using her experience and perspective to support and celebrate emerging voices in animation.
