Tal Kantor (b. 1988) is an award-winning animation filmmaker and visual artist from Jerusalem, an Academy® Member, lecturer, and mentor.
She is the writer and director of the Oscar®-nominated short film "Letter to a Pig" and the acclaimed "In Other Words". Her films have won numerous international awards and have been screened at over 270 film festivals worldwide.
Tal’s work is characterized by a distinctive hybrid visual language she developed, which blends drawing, photography, video, painting, and animation. Moving between fiction, documentary, and experimental forms, her films explore allegorical, social, and political themes through poetic and visually layered storytelling.
For nearly a decade, she has worked in hybrid documentary filmmaking, integrating animation with live-action and archival materials. She has served as Animation Art Director and Concept Artist on acclaimed documentary feature films, including the Emmy Award–winning and Oscar-shortlisted "Advocate", "Outsider. Freud", "Inbal Perlmutter – If You Let Me Go", and "The Librarians".
Tal lectures at the Screen-Based Arts Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, where she graduated with honors.
Alongside her artistic practice, she mentors emerging and professional filmmakers through workshops, labs, and development programs, and gives lectures and masterclasses worldwide at universities, art and film schools, leading animation and film festivals, as well as cultural, therapeutic, and medical institutions.
Her artwork has been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries, alongside her cinematic work.
Working across film, visual art, and education, Tal continues to develop hybrid cinematic languages and approaches to storytelling in her current and upcoming projects.
Filmography :
Writer Director
2022 | "Letter to a Pig"
2023 | "Yellow Light"
2016 | "In Other Words"
2015 | "Under The Small Sun" (co-directed with 'Shahar Davis')
Art Director (Animation)
2025 | “The Librarians” documentary feature film by Kim A. Snyder
2024 | “Outsider. Freud” documentary feature film by Yair Qedar
2023 | “Inbal Perlmutter - If You Let Me Go” documentary feature film by Avigail Sperber & Sharon Luzon
2022 | “Five Studies” - video dance, collaboration with May Zarhi & Stephane Leonard
2021 | “On This Happy Note” - documentary feature film by Tamar Tal Anati
2019 | “ADVOCATE” - documentary feature film by Philippe Bellaïche & Rachel Leah Jones
Notable Awards :
LETTER TO A PIG (2022-2024)
OSCAR® Nominated - The Academy Awards of 2024 | CESAR AWARD - shortlisted | Grand Prix Anima for Best International Short Film - Anima Brussels International Animation Film Festival | Grand Prix - Animation Is Film Festival | Best Narrative Short Award - Ottawa International Animation Festival | LIV ULLMANN PEACE PRIZE – Short film - FACETS - Chicago International Children's Film Festival | Global awareness award - Providence Children's Film Festival | Best 1st film award - World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb | Winner Best Narrative Short Award - Ophir Awards (Israeli Academy Awards) | Best Animated Short Film Award - Kuandu International Animation Festival | Excellence Award - Japan Media Arts Festival | Pont d'Or - Festival de Cinéma d'Animation de Pontarlier | Grand Prize - Anibar Animation Festival | Golden Egg Grand Prix Award - Küstendorf International Film and Music Festival | Best Animation Short - Jerusalem Film Festival | Best Animation Award - Toko Film Festival | Best Animation Short - Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People | AUDIENCE AWARD - Countryside Animafest Cyprus - Views of the World | AUDIENCE AWARD - REX Animation Film Festival | Special Jury Award - Un festival c'est trop court ! - Festival Européen du Court-Métrage de Nice | Jury Award for Narrative Film - CutOut Fest | Best Director - Centre Film Festival | Best Screenplay Award - PIAFF, Paris International Animation Film Festival | The Best Technique Award - TOFUZI International Festival of Animated Films | Bper Green Future Prize & 2nd Prize for Best Short Film - Future Film Festival | Fantastic Futures Short Film Award - SLASH Filmfestival | Honorable Mention for Directing & Art - Animix - Animation, Comics & Caricature International Festival | Special Mention - 14th Epos festival for culture and art films | Special Mention - Warsaw Animation Film Festival | Special Mention - TRICKY WOMEN | And more… (over 50 awards)
IN OTHER WORDS (2016-2017)
- Best animated film award - PURE film festival, St. Petersburg, 2018
- Winner of the best narrative short film competition – Moscow Jewish Film Festival (MJFF), 2017
- Best Animated Film Award - San Diego Jewish Film Festival, 2017
- Winner of the short film international competition - Miami Jewish Film Festival, 2017
- Framestore Award for the best film of International Student Competition - Sommets du cinéma d’animation, Canada, Nov 2016
- Winner SenEDIT Best Story Award - Contact International Student Film Festival, Turkey, 2016
- The Film Critics Forum Award - The TLV International Student Film Festival, June 2016
- Winner 2nd Prize - 11th Athens Animfest, April 2016
- Winner 1st place - Animazion Jerusalem animation festival, March 2016
- Winner 2nd Prize - Asif – Animix International Animation Film Festival, TLV, August 2016
- Winner 3rd place - EPOS International Art Film Festival, March 2016
- Winner 2nd Prize - Beit Alliance cinema award student competition, JFF, July 2016
- The Honorable Mention - 19th Brussels Short Film Festival, May 2016
- Special Mention - Animasyros 9.0 International Animation Festival, September 2016
- Special Mention - FILMS FEMMES MEDITERRANEE, Oct 8 2016
- The Special Mention - VGIK International Student Festival, November 2016, Moscow
- A Diploma - XIII International film schools festival- "KINOPROBA" Russia, 2016
Artist Residency & programs :
2026 | Berlinale Talents, Berlin, Germany
2024 | Royal Abbey of Fontevraud - Writing & Concept Development residency, France
2019 | CICLIC ANIMATION – 6 months animation production residency, Vendome, France
2017 | New Arrivals – Go Short Festival Campus Development - Nijmegen, Netherlands
2016 | Aesthetics and Bias – Int. art project with the Academy of Fine Arts - Krakow 2015 & Bezalel Academy 2016
Art Shows
2025 | “Images Left Behind” - Hôtel Saint-Simon, Angoulême, France (Collective Exposition)
2024 | “Art Behind the Scenes” - The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LA (Collective art show)
2023 | "Letter to a Pig Art Behind the Scenes” - Weizmann Gallery, TLV
2022 | “Behind the scenes” - The Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Animafest Festival (Collective art show)
“Award-winning Artworks” - The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Japan Media Arts
Festival - Tokyo, Japan (Collective art show)
“Active movement” - The Center for Digital Art, Holon - collaboration with May Zarchi (Group exhibition)
"3 Pandemic Pieces” - Center for Contemporary Art, TLV - Performance & exhibition with May Zarchi
2021 | “24 frames per second” - Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Collective art show)
2017 | “L'heure d'hiver” - Cinema Galleries, Brussels - Bezalel Academy Exhibition - Curator
Notable Animation & Film Festivals :
ANNECY Int’l Animation Film Festival / Ottawa International Animation Festival / Stuttgart Int’l Animation Festival / Animafest Zagreb/ Holland Animation Film Festival / Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival / Küstendorf International Film and Music Festival / Chicago International Children's Film Festival / Monstra animation film festival / Anima Mundi / Japan Media Arts Festival / Seoul International Cartoon & Animation festival / SIGGRAPH Asia / Animation Block Party film festival / Edinburgh International Film Festival / ZINEBI Festival / ATLANTA Film Festival / World Festival of Animated Film in Varna / Odense International Film Festival / and many others...