Ride Your Horse from IFC 2024 selected for Clermont-Ferrand’s International Competition
A major milestone that brings the film into the world’s most influential short-film festival — with eligibility for the Oscars, César Awards and European Film Awards
The Asian Film Awards Academy is delighted to announce that Ride Your Horse — one of the eight short films developed and funded through the International Film Camp (IFC) 2024 — has been selected for the International Competition at the 38th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, further strengthening its international recognition following its earlier selection for the Competition of the 19th FIRST International Film Festival in Xining. This marks an exceptional achievement for emerging director SONG Dongxu and the IFC programme.
Recognised as the world’s largest and most influential festival dedicated to short films, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival is also France’s second-largest film festival after Cannes. Its prestigious International Competition spotlights 64 selected films from 50 countries, representing the highest calibre of global short-film storytelling. Official selections automatically qualify for consideration at the Academy Awards (Oscars), César Awards, and the European Film Awards, making the festival a vital springboard for filmmakers transitioning toward feature-length projects.
Director SONG Dongxu shared:“I’m truly excited that Ride Your Horse is heading to Clermont-Ferrand! This is an enormous encouragement for my team and me, and I hope the film will resonate with audiences in France. See you in France in 2026! My heartfelt thanks to IFC for the support and guidance — it gave me the courage to bring this story to life.”
Set against the biting winter of Inner Mongolia, Ride Your Horse follows two young men—Aoqi and Chali’gan—as they idle in a cramped shack, dreaming of escape to the warmer South while wavering between the pull of the city and the vastness of the grasslands. Blending humour, tenderness and a touch of absurdity, the film paints a vivid portrait of youth searching for direction and hope.
The International Film Camp 2025 (IFC 2025) successfully concluded this September at Sands China’s integrated resort in Macao, resulting in a new slate of eight selected short-film projects. Each project receives USD 38,000 in production funding and is now progressing through various stages of development and filming. The Asian Film Awards Academy remains committed to fostering emerging filmmakers across Asia, aiming to see more outstanding works—like Ride Your Horse—shine on the global festival stage.
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