Hey, Mia here! I’ve been meaning to talk about Migrants for a while, and now seems like the perfect time. This stunning 8-minute animated short came out a few years ago, and it’s still one of the most powerful student films I’ve seen in recent years. Created by a team of five talented students from Pôle 3D, Migrants packs a punch in terms of both its technical execution and its emotional storytelling.

The film tells the story of two polar bears—mother and cub—who are forced to flee their melting Arctic home due to climate change. They wash up on a new shore, where they encounter a group of brown bears. What follows is a heartbreaking story about survival, belonging, and the difficulty of coexisting in a world that’s becoming less and less hospitable.

What I love about Migrants is how it conveys such a big message without ever feeling preachy. It’s an allegory about migration and climate change, but instead of focusing on heavy-handed messages, the film draws us in with the emotional journey of its adorable protagonists. The animation is beautiful and effective, with the bears made of knitted materials, and the backgrounds and water created with textures that evoke stop-motion. It feels like you’re watching something handmade, which adds a layer of warmth and authenticity to the story.

The team—Hugo Caby, Antoine Dupriez, Aubin Kubiak, Lucas Lermytte, and Zoé Devise—did an incredible job of blending their technical skills with storytelling. The visual style here is stunning. The polar landscapes are minimalist and serene, while the lush forest they land in is full of rich textures that make you feel like you’re right there in the scene with them. I have to say, the sequence with the plastic-looking water and rain effects is just chef’s kiss—it’s honestly one of my favorite moments in student animation.

But what really makes Migrants stand out is how deeply it tugs at your heartstrings. Even though the film isn’t long, the bond between the mother and cub is so beautifully realized that it’s easy to feel their desperation. The brown bears they encounter are not villainous, but their indifference to the newcomers highlights the challenges that migrants face in the real world—people who, like the polar bears, are just trying to survive in a world that doesn’t always want to make space for them.

It’s easy to get swept up in the film’s technical brilliance, but at its core, Migrants is about empathy. It invites us to care deeply about these characters and, by extension, the real-life issues they represent. It’s a rare film that combines heart and style so effortlessly.

If you haven’t seen Migrants yet, it’s definitely worth the watch. It’s a stunning piece of animation that reminds us how powerful storytelling can be, and how animation can shine a light on the most urgent issues of our time.