Animation Short – Official Selection – August 2021
Guts | United States | 2021 | 03’
Director: Byung Gun Park
Writer: Byung Gun Park
Producer: Ringling College of Art and Design
Cast: Rex Anderson, Christopher Santiago Fauria
Synopsis: The clumsy boy, Danny, is enjoying a bike ride. However, the peers nearby him make fun of him that he has no Guts to ride without training wheels. Then Guts shows up from Danny’s mouth and Guts starts training him to ride a bike without the training wheels, by taking them off. Will Danny make a ride?
The Leaf | Canada | 2021 | 02’
Director: Leonardo Queiroz de Sá
Writer: Leonardo Queiroz de Sá
Producer: Leonardo Queiroz de Sá
Synopsis: An indigenous child and a magic leaf are the only hope to save the Tree of Life and the forest from destruction. She takes lessons from her tribe’s shaman and carries the jaguar’s strength with her. With her little friend, an ocelot, she must cross a burning forest and face terrible machines to succeed. A little adventure of courage and hope.
Know You Well | United States | 2021 | 10’
Director: Micheala Wadzinski
Writer: Micheala Wadzinski
Cast: Lindsey Marie Parodi, Simon Gissler, Kalen Rae Garnett, Eric Weber
Synopsis: Going to college can be isolating, but when four students find one another they will form a bond that will help them through almost anything.
Blinded By Love | United Kingdom | 2021 | 03’
Director: Yige Yang
Synopsis: A man feels responsible for a vulnerable seedling and is willing to go to great lengths to protect it from all the dangers in the world around them.
Why Do Butchers Close So Early? | United Kingdom | 2021 | 04’
Director: Inez Skilling
Writer: Geronimo Bennington-Poulter
Producers: Emma Lazenby, Jeremy Routledge, Sophie Freeman, Jess Bartlett
Cast: Danny Kirrane
Synopsis: Why Do Butchers Close So Early is a film written by Geronimo Bennington-Poulter and directed by Inez Skilling. Told through 2D Animation, it is the story of a butcher consumed by the horror of his trade. Yet, through the sinister monologue, can a different, perhaps even more unsettling tale be unpicked?
Anywhere But Here | United Kingdom | 2021 | 04’
Director: Maitry Rao
Writer: Maitry Rao
Producer: Maitry Rao
Synopsis: Anywhere But Here (2021) is a metacommentary film about wanting to go places and see new faces, but being prevented from doing so by the pandemic. The narrator unravels a bittersweet resolution in the self-reflexive filmmaking process as we dive deeper into her dreamscape.
Children Short – Official Selection – August 2021
Dream to the Sky | Canada | 2021 | 03’
Director: Khadija Boulazhar
Synopsis: Detalia, an easily fascinated young inventor, finds herself obsessed with birds. As she follows them one day, she gets hit with the realization that she can not fly as they do… this sparked the idea of what her future invention should be: A flying machine.
Welcome Home | United States | 2021 | 10’
Director: Dana Crypto
Writer: Dana Crypto
Producer: Dana Crypto
Cast: Single Dad and his two children
Synopsis: The power and importance of the role of a single Parent in a child’s life and the outcome of when the punishment does not equal the crime.
The Butler and the Ball | Canada | 2020 | 12’
Director: Andrew Chan-Possemato
Writers: Andrew Chan-Possemato, Albert M. Chan
Producers: Andrew Chan-Possemato, Albert M. Chan
Cast: Andrew Chan-Possemato, Richard Possemato, Sabra Embury
Synopsis: An urban fairy tale about a lonely boy who enters a contest to become the new butler of a grieving, reclusive singer; the first film by nine-year-old writer/director Andrew Chan-Possemato.
Little Warrior | Taiwan | 2020 | 14’
Director: Yen-Chun Chen
Writer: Yen-Chun Chen
Producers: Ting-An Lin, Shu-Wei Hsu
Cast: Yu-Xiang Zhu, Ophelia Ho
Synopsis: The ten-year-old boy took his first chance to stay at home alone, because his mother couldn’t take care of him due to overtime work. For the first time being alone in an empty room, the boy could only stay with his favorite doll. He became more and more scared and even had the illusion. At this moment, he tried his best to fight against fear.
The Story of a GOTS Seed | Belgium | 2021 | 07’
Director: Dinie van den Heuvel
Writer: Dinie van den Heuvel
Producer: Julia Gaydina
Synopsis: Where do the T-shirts come from? A short stop motion story on the sustainable fashion journey of cottonseed. From a farm to a shop, watch the beautiful transformation. Discover what Global Organic Textile Standard means for the planet and its inhabitants.
Debut – Official Selection – August 2021
The Gambling City | Sri Lanka | 2020 | 16’
Director: Prageeth Maniyangama
Writer: Mola Senevirathne
Producer: Nuwan Alwis
Cast: Daya Wayaman, Chamara Priyasad, kumari Dissanayake
Synopsis: “The Gambling City” short movie unveils the unflinching reality behind a funeral taking place within a highly underprivileged lumpen working class community, settled in the shanty shelters of the coastal belt in the city of Colombo. They live in the ghettoized outskirts of a futuristic dreamscape, with just a walking distance to the largest economic urban project of South Asia; ‘The Port City’ and to which the gigantic shadows of all the noble ministers’, judges’ and president’s fall, whereas these humans are born even without the right for fulfilling the basic exigencies of their lives, except their innate right for voting for their rulers. An old man in the community suddenly passes away and a petty bourgeois merchant in the coffin selling business, along with his helping hand grabs the opportunity of organizing his funeral on behalf of his family members. Eventually, the funeral turns out to be a ‘great gambling feast’ of the ‘merchant-vultures’ and the wily gamblers of the area. The corpse of a dead man claims a great capitalistic value in the gambling city. On the other hand, life leaves no choice for the living, other than bidding even the last thousand notes left in their pockets for the mega gamble in order to survive till tomorrow. As the police seize the place, the gamblers flee away while at last the inert corpse of the dotard gets arrested as the accused for the illegal gambling business. Thereupon, the old man’s wife and the son engage in a relentless struggle with the symbolic law of the police institution for granting the bail for their beloved’s body before it rots inside the jail, delineating the tragedy of such disadvantaged social outcasts who are victimized within the contemporary socio-legal structures in the country.
Love in the Digital Era | Russian Federation | 2020 | 11’
Director: Ilya Vikulov
Writer: Ilya Vikulov
Producer: Ilya Vikulov
Cast: Anna Panfilova, Mark Gavrilov, Anna Kosenko
Synopsis: Nearest future. The girl is waiting for the captain of the media police, who is leading her case, in the hope of a joint escape, because the captain is the father of the unborn child. Religious conversations with the nurse caring for the heroine gives a new meaning to her life.
Who’s Whose | Czech Republic | 2021 | 15’
Director: Laura Salagnac
Writer: Laura Salagnac
Producers: Sam Duckett, Rutger Lysen
Cast: Melina Åkerman Kvie, Steen Agro
Synopsis: A shy young woman gets offered a once in a lifetime opportunity by her hero and mentor to exhibit her work at his upcoming exhibition. All is too good to be true. On the day of the exhibition, she is inflicted with humiliation after humiliation and plunges into a feminist nightmare.
Documentary Short – Official Selection – August 2021
Progress | United States | 2021 | 08’
Cast: Larry Schiller, Charlie Schiller
Synopsis: “Progress” is a short documentary profile of Larry and Charlie Schiller, owners of Schiller’s Architectural and Design Salvage in Tampa, FL. The film traces the lineage of one of the more unusual items on offer to consider the allure of old objects, take stock of how far we’ve come, and ask what has been lost and gained in the process.
GIRLHOOD | Greece | 2021 | 30’
Directors: Vania Turner, Maria Sidiropoulou
Writer: Vania Turner
Producer: Onassis Culture
Synopsis: Three teenage girls find refuge in their friendship as they struggle with gender expectations, eating disorders and an addiction to social media amid a long, emotionally stifling quarantine in Greece. “Girlhood” follows Vera, Christina and Nefeli, three seventeen-year-old girls in Athens who come of age during the pandemic. From the first frame, we’re invited into their worlds as they talk about their frustrations and dreams. These intimate, sometimes painful conversations are threaded with the Instagram, YouTube and TikTok videos shaping their self-image in quarantine. Tough, responsible, and mature beyond her years, Christina shares a room with her brother, helps her mother with the housework, and yearns more than anything to leave home and gain her independence. Brave Vera is insecure about her weight and longs for acceptance, while also yearning for a more inclusive world. And strong-willed Nefeli, a competitive dancer, discovers feminism and stops hanging out with boys. This coming-of-age story shows teenage girls trying to figure out how to love themselves as they transition from girls to women in a society that remains deeply patriarchal. Even as their faces are glued to a screen during quarantine, they find refuge in their friendship as they finish school and begin the road to adulthood.
In The Right Place | Netherlands | 2021 | 29’
Director: Sam van Zoest
Cast: Bogdan Andrei, Sabine Klasen
Synopsis: After leading a volunteer organisation at a refugee camp for three years, Bogdan returns to the mainland to start a new life.
First Week Out | United States | 2021 | 21’
Director: Charles Fritschner
Producers: Dugan Bridges, Remo Wakeford, Erica Hilbert
Cast: Larry Williams, Lee Robbins, Dudley Arnold, Tony Kitchens, Thomas “Hutch” Hutchinson
Synopsis: Larry Williams spent the last 42 years in prison. We follow his first week of freedom.
In 1979, Larry Williams entered prison and was released 42 years later. FIRST WEEK OUT is a short documentary (21 minutes) that follows Larry’s pivotal first week of freedom. Follow Larry in his first week out as he tries to make sense of his past, navigates life in a re-entry home, reunites with an old prison friend, applies for a job, meets with a new mentor, and forges a path forward. Research has shown that the first week out of prison for formerly incarcerated men and women will define their future success or failure. After serving their sentences, it is vital for individuals to have an opportunity to become a functioning member of society. Every week there are more than 10,000 people in America like Larry experiencing their first week out of prison. Within three years, two out of three won’t make it and will end up back in prison. We wanted to tell Larry’s story to encourage viewers to join the thousands of people and organizations across the country helping individuals like Larry beat the odds.
Experimental Short – Official Selection – August 2021
LONRA | El Salvador | 2020 | 20’
Director: Marlen Viñayo
Writers: Salvador Salazar Arrue, Jeremias Gutierrez, Paola Miranda
Producer: Asociacion Cultural Azoro
Cast: Paola Miranda, Jeremias Gutierrez
Synopsis: Based on a story written by Salvadoran writer Salarrue. This is not just another story, which is told in the past, it is not a unique story, since sadly it is repeated every day. It is a little glimpse of the life of a girl, almost a woman, Juana or Juanita as she likes to be called. One windy afternoon day, her smile was erased along with his childhood, that day her song was no longer heard and nothing was the same again.
Invades | China |02’
Director: Wenting Song
Writer: Wenting Song
Producer: Kai Han
Cast: Songci Li
Synopsis: Invades is about a sexual fantasy of a girl who has been single for a long time. In her fantasy, a boy invaded her body and her life. She had sex with him and met him in a coffee shop, but he didn’t seem to know her. The boundary between reality and illusion has become very blurred, everything is unpredictable, leading to the eternal unknown.
Point Zero | Germany | 2021 | 21’
Directors: Alexia Rubod, Clara Badulescu
Cast: Clara Badulescu
Synopsis: ‘Creation as Self Exploration’
This project is to be regarded as a reflection of the isolation resulting from this last year’s ongoing global situation and the feelings arising as a consequence. Its main goal is to portray the disconnection and reconnection to oneself, through the reappropriation of the body in all its dimensionalities. Putting fore the nonlinearity and paradox of the duality of human experience, showing various aspects of the ongoing transformation and becoming of the body – from darkness to light, from resistance to release, from inaudibility to audibility, from despair to joy, from fear to surrender – in an attempt to materialize what Carl Jung referred to as Metanoia.
Hidden Identities | Germany | 2021 | 02’
Synopsis: Hidden identities is an Experimental short about a painter, dancer, and musician named Selassie. The film introduces a song called “Never Seen Before” from his new mixtape Hidden identities.
She’s ready | Germany | 2021 | 09’
Director: Nina Cavalcanti
Producers: Nina Cavalcanti, Dedé Veloso
Synopsis: A provocation. A film that raises questions and plays with the fine boundaries that separate reality from fiction. Performance within life. Rituals and movements as dance.
Mini Short – Official Selection – August 2021
Slurp | France | 2021 | 03’
Director: Jules Jolly
Writer: Jules Jolly
Producer: Vincent Vermandel
Cast: Margaux palyska, Bastien Bouillon
Synopsis: A couple at the table. Isn’t diner the best time to say things ?
Synaesthesia | United Kingdom | 2020 | 01’
Director: SHINY
Producer: Luana Alb
Cast: Lily Campbell
Synopsis: Synaesthesia: A condition whereby senses can be confused with one another i.e. sounds can be perceived as colours.
Meat Market | United Kingdom | 01’
Director: Will Kenning
Writer: Andrew Lynch
Producer: Adam Gregory Smith
Cast: Paul F. Taylor, Elizabeth Gutterbock, Sadie Clark, Tegan Cecil, Joes Samuels, Kyle Ross
Synopsis: A mysterious burger bar attracts men with an insatiable hunger for women.
A Year Of Sundays.. | 03’
Director: Jeremie Dameme
Producers: Jeremie Dameme, Ava Mihaljevich
Cast: Juliet Doherty
How much? | France | 2021 | 02’
Director: Arthur Fanget
Cast: Lise Arsene, Laurine Pelet
Synopsis: Lise and Laurine like to play a game : “How much money would it take..?”
Tim The Bastard | United Kingdom | 2021 | 02’
Director: Oliver Gabe
Writer: Oliver Gabe
Cast: Carlos Falkingham
Synopsis: A mad old bastard reminisces and rejoices in the hell-raising, teeth-pulling, patricidal-antifreeze-feeding rumours that surround his name. Is his solitude self-imposed, or can we find some sympathy for the so-called monster?
How to Wash your Hands during the Downfall of Civilization | Argentina | 01’
Director: Federico Sproviero
Wrriter: Federico Sproviero
Producer: Federico Sproviero
Synopsis: Luna washes her hands while everything falls apart.
Music Video – Official Selection – August 2021
Forced To Bend | Germany | 2020 | 06’
Director: Astrid Schäfer
Writer: Astrid Schäfer
Producer: Lisa Baumgarten
Cast: Valentino Dalle Mura, Aviran Edri, Konstantin Stell, Ilka Willner
Synopsis: After serving a prison sentence, the protagonist meets his friends and his mother again. Torn between their different expectations of him, he struggles to free himself of his previous life and find his own way.
Prayer | India | 2021 | 05’
Director: Luke Sydney
Producer: Luke Sydney
Synopsis: “Prarthaney” is a prayer, a conversation between man and his creator. It is sung in Tulu, one of the oldest Dravidian languages, that’s spoken in the coastal belt of Karnataka, India. Shot entirely with drones, the music video assumes a bird’s eye view showcasing God’s perspective as humanity calls out for salvation as a last resort from a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
Ride | Spain | 2021 | 04’
Director: Jaume Porcel Cladera
Producer: Jaume Porcel Cladera
Cast: Dominic Massó, Tino Lucena, Ferchu Vallejos, Juan David Ayora
Synopsis: A music video that aims to demonstrate the fragility between life and death and how human connections are sometimes more important than external factors. By playing with what is and isn’t reality the concept of this music video hopes to evoke restlessness in the viewer and complement the song “Ride” which it is based off of.
Graceful Child | United States | 2021 | 04’
Director: Christian Whittemore
Producer: Will Ammann
Cast: Dylan Devol, Keenan Woodall, Ben Oliphint, Will Ammann, Jack Larkin
Synopsis: Four travelers follow a faint noise through the desert.
MATADATA-Consciousness Transfers to Origins | Latvia | 2021 | 05’
Director: BINGI BONGI
Writer: BINGI BONGI
Producer: MĀRCIS LĀCIS
Synopsis: TRIP /NEW AGE GRETEL&HANSEL
Be Mine | United States | 2021 | 04’
Director: Cory Kerr
Producer: Mary Ann Redmond
Cast: Mary Ann Redmond, Dan Leonard, Scott Ambush, Deren Blessman
Synopsis: An animated music video of the band driving through the desert while airship pirate foxes attempt to bomb them.
Narrative Short – Official Selection – August 2021
Apibeurzdé | France | 2020 | 20’
Director: Basile Charpentier
Producers: William Rougier, Swann Riemain
Cast: Philippe Rebbot
Synopsis: Pascal, 45 year old divorcee, leads a remote and outlandish life in the deep Corsican countryside. Today is the birthday of his beloved son. Pascal still doesn’t have a present. Three pennies in one pocket, his love and good will in the other, Pascal mounts on his moped accompanied by his dog and sets out to find a small gift.
My Pretty Paracosm | Netherlands | 2021 | 08’
Director: Antonia ackermans
Writer: Antonia ackermans
Producer: Antonia ackermans
Cast: Ainy Medina, Jessica Bank
Synopsis: A young woman struggling with writer’s block is confronted with her negative mirror image and fictitious main characters. Together all three discuss the issues in her writing.
Fall From a Height | Australia | 2021 | 13’
Director: David Bensen
Writer: David Bensen
Producers: David Bensen, Cosima de los Arcos
Cast: Steven Rooke, Chelsea Yusuf
Synopsis: A powerful drama about Damien, a man out of work approaching middle age and under pressure to find money, who questions himself as to life and the decisions he’s made that have led him to where he is. An impulsive decision to rob a petrol station brings him the unexpected life change and insight he needs. The film is beautifully poetic contrasting its cinematography with a deeply touching narration that offers a strong message for anyone feeling overwhelmed, to think differently about themselves and what the purpose of life might be.
RAW | United States | 2020 | 11’
Director: Drake Shannon
Writer: Drake Shannon
Producer: Joanna Koss
Cast: Anja Akstin
Synopsis: During a military patrol, past and present are blurred by a horrifying transgression.
The Woes of Angele // Les maux d’Angèle | France | 2020 | 24’
Director: François Zaïdi
Writer: Léa Deneuville
Producers: François Zaïdi, Céline Dabin
Cast: Jean-Marie Lhomme, Deirdre Zaïdi, Léa Deneuville
Synopsis: The 8 years old Angèle lives alone with her uncle Tom, after the tragic loss of her father, while her mother’s health declines. As he also struggles with his own demons, the girl tries to mend her failing speech, helped by female figures that remind her of her mother, soon to be gone.
Suburban tale | Hungary | 2021 | 23’
Director: Péter Goretic
Writers: Kocsányi András, Péter Goretic
Producers: Zsolt Kapin, Török Éva
Cast: Katalin Ágoston
Synopsis: In a peaceful neighbourhood, somewhere in the suburbs lives Patrik Kévés and his pregnant wife Mariann. Just like every other night, Mariann looks forward to see his public safety officer husband after his duty. But this night turns out to be much different to every other. Patrik tells his wife, he is going to leave her. The woman loses her temper and hit her husband in the head with a frozen catfish. Patrik drops to the ground, and our story takes a few other interesting turns…
Wichita | United States | 2020 | 06’
Director: Sergine Dumais
Writer: Bo Price
Producer: Bo Price
Cast: Maxim Roy, Jeremy Sisto
Synopsis: Sara is in bed with her lover when her husband calls. When he asks for something in his sock drawer, she runs home, stalling for time, asking endless questions about Wichita, Kansas.
Creatures of the night | Greece | 2021 | 16’
Director: Memi Koupa
Writer: Memi Koupa
Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa Blonde Audiovisual
Cast: Orestis Tziovas, Kostas Berikopoulos, Anna Kalaitzidou, Nasia Sydeta, Anastasis Laoulakos, Christos Kragiopoulos
Synopsis: Athens 2022. A series of natural disasters and massive disruptions has left the citizens of Greece’s capital city tormented by angst and insomnia that persists for months now. Amidst all this a charitable robber and anarchist – the Pink Bunny – is roaming the dark, empty city streets. No one can really tell whether this elusive night creature is just another urban legend or if he really exists. During one night, a few sleepless Athenians will experience the rare sighting of the film’s hero and for the first time in a while, they will feel connected in their hearts. Together they will finally fall asleep.
The Babylon Gardens | Egypt | 2021 | 12’
Director: Karim Moussa
Writers: Henry winchester, Christine Kamal, Hagar Solemy
Producer: Youssef Wally
Cast: Maged ElMekkawy, Tara Emad, Firas Alsaeed
Synopsis: (For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the world, and forfeit his life ) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are a true jewel of the ancient Middle Eastern Sumerian history—but behind their beauty lurks a captivating power. When a fierce uprising brews, the fate of the gardens hangs in the balance as one of their rulers, a conceited nobleman who was overtaken by his lust for possession and power, pouring his cruelty and malice to dominate, banishes his own son accusing him of betrayal. Between being vengeful, following the same path of his father, or merciful lay a real inner battle for the outcast son.
10 Eggs | Bulgaria | 2021 | 06’
Director: Rositsa Trayanova
Writer: Rositsa Trayanova
Producer: Dessy Tenekedjieva
Cast: Borislav Dimitrov, Svetlana Yancheva, Ivaylo Petrov, Penko Gospodinov, Anna-Maria Nikolaeva
Synopsis: Issa, a 30-year-old African man holding a bag of eggs, gets on a busy tram in Sofia, Bulgaria. Seemingly unfriendly and rude, his only wish is to protect the eggs in his bag so that he can take them to his family that lives in a refugee camp. He goes as far as to almost pushing an elderly woman to take the free seat, repeating over and over to anyone who approaches to be careful, because there are eggs in the bag.
When I Explode | Netherlands | 2020 | 08’
Director: Angelo Raaijmakers
Writer: Angelo Raaijmakers
Producer: Angelo Raaijmakers
Cast: Thomas Höppener, Claire Bender, Sabri Saad el Hamus
Synopsis: Chris’ thirtieth Birthday party is turned upside down when he finds out there is a ticking bomb growing in his stomach. Bomb expert Alim is brought in to defuse both the bomb and the tension.
No/Low Budget – Official Selection – August 2021
I hope this film isn’t about me | United Kingdom | 2021 | 05’
Director: Harry Plowden (he/him)
Synopsis: An animation sort of about nightclubs.
The Holy Water | United States | 2021 | 10’
Director: Aleksandra Timan
Writer: Aleksandra Timan
Synopsis: A woman sells her most valuable family heirloom to a televangelist scam artist with the hope of curing her cancer.
Danny Boy | United States | 13’
Director: Cory DeMeyers
Writer: Sammy Horowitz
Producers: Cory DeMeyers, Create and Destroy, Crashsite Films
Cast: Jett Jansen, Sammy Horowitz, Sari Sanchez, Adam Pasen
Synopsis: Old-school Francis and his new-school accomplice Danny have it all planned out: a heist to make them rich, thanks to inside information that their friend Stevie B has provided. Only plans are apt to change, along with Francis and Danny’s relationship, when homophobic attitudes and murderous tendencies meet in a head-on collision.
Short Adventure/Action – Official Selection – August 2021
Urania Leilus | United States | 2021 | 22’
Director: Andrew Serban
Writer: Andrew Serban
Producers: Andrew Serban, Jacob Karim, Nora Bode
Cast: Kate Garfield, Britt Michael Gordon, Matt Riker
Synopsis: A young female journalist is subjected to death threats and intimidation after witnessing human rights abuses at an ICE detention center for undocumented immigrant children.
X-Mas on Fire | Germany | 2020 | 12’
Director: Florian Frerichs
Writer: Florian Frerichs
Producer: Florian Frerichs
Cast: Steven E. de Souza
Synopsis: A heist on Christmas Eve going horribly wrong.
Short Comedy – Official Selection – August 2021
CATARINA | France | 2021 | 17’
Director: Pierre AMSTUTZ ROCH
Writer: Pierre Pierre AMSTUTZ ROCH
Producers: Olivier BERLEMONT, Emilie Dubois, Emmanuel Gétaz
Synopsis: Ruined and left by his wife, Francis is ready to try everything he can. With the help of his friend Simon, he decides to kidnap the wife of the man who conned him, Alex. That guy is crazy about Catarina and keeps telling he would do anything for her. The duo of good-for-nothing somehow manages to kidnap the young woman. The problem is Catarina is actually a Maltese dog, and they just kidnapped Marie, the dogsitter.
¡Cuba No Vaca! | Canada | 2017 | 04’
Director: Erik Anderson
Producer: Erik Anderson
Synopsis: It is said that in Cuba, you cannot buy a cow. Who is it said by? At least several people…
I am Matteo / Io sono Matteo | Italy | 2021 | 01’
Director: Loris Di Pasquale
Writers: Loris Di Pasquale, Alessia Bellotto
Producer: Alessia Bellotto
Cast: Daphne Scoccia, Matteo Nicoletta, Alessia Bellotto, Ciro Scalera, Emanuela Damasio, Pietro Bontempo, Giorgia Ferrero, Loris Di Pasquale, Anna Maria Teresa Ricci, Luigi Felicini, Elisabetta De Vito, Priscilla Petruccioli
Synopsis: Matteo è un promettente regista precario. Improvvisamente è costretto a fare i conti con il male del secolo: il cancro. Matteo is a promising precarious director. Suddenly he is forced to deal with the evil of the century: cancer.
The 22 Floors of Jorge | Colombia | 2021 | 20’
Director: Lucas Zambrano Navia
Writer: Lucas Zambrano Navia
Producers: Juliana Valencia, Lucas Zambrano Navia
Cast: John Alex Castillo
Synopsis: A carpenter is on a simple mission to make his social security payments so that he can receive his paycheck. As the story progresses, this seemingly simple task becomes increasingly difficult and the obstacles set in front of him become increasingly surreal.
Short Drama – Official Selection – August 2021
Night Lights | Denmark | 16’
Director: Jeppe Smedegaard
Writer: Jeppe Smedegaard
Producer: Isabel Pavon Friis
Cast: Jeppe Fogsgaard, Jacob Strange, Jeppe Smedegaard
Synopsis: Peter wants to meet a girl at a bar. Unfortunately his friends can’t behave and get him into trouble.
Fanaberia. Switch on the light | Lithuania | 2021 | 19’
Director: Laura Tamošiūnaitė
Writer: Indrė Bručkutė
Producer: Laura Tamošiūnaitė
Cast: Valentinas Krulikovskis
Synopsis: A famous Man starts loosing his sight. He ignores, the doctor’s warning, that he urgently needs an eye surgery and keeps working on his business, but his sight is getting worse. Having pushed himself to the corner, he decides to memorise every single object in his house in order to keep pretend for others that he can see. So he spends his days touching every furniture, curtains, carpets in his luxury furnished stylish apartment. He also memorises every single page of his books- where the certain image is placed. The day, when he gets totally blind, the event starts in his place. The man shows them his art objects, making remarks about the beauty of the furniture and waiting for the positive answers. He does the same with some art books and asks for confirmation, how formidable is a certain illustration. Finally, he proudly declares, that his room gets such a nice sunlight from the outside, but the forgets to switch on the light so the visitors have to attend the performance in the darkness. After having all sold, but unhappy he is obliged to face his son. It is time for a father to switch on his own light.
Nostos | Mexico | 2021 | 29’
Director: Javier Mercado Bellato
Writer: Javier Mercado Bellato
Producer: Andrea Celeste Padilla
Cast: Waldo Facco, Brayan Castro
Synopsis: Carlos is a boy who lives at the coast with his mother. By the unexpected arrival of a stranger, Carlos is forced to change his life. From one day to another, the thing he loves the most is taken away from him. Therefore, he is obliged to share his life with a person he profoundly mistrusts.
THE BURDEN | United States | 2021 | 08’
Director: Allan H. Johnson
Writer: Allan H. Johnson
Producer: Allan H. Johnson
Cast: Nancy Lipinski
Synopsis: A lone woman. A mysterious box. A painful journey.
Short Fantasy/Sci-Fi– Official Selection – August 2021
Erased | Australia | 2021 | 15’
Director: Gabriela Loza
Writer: Gabriela Loza
Producers: Gabriela Loza, Ruth Sligo, Harriet McKern
Cast: Johnny Light, Lauren Orrell, Aria Newton, Mary Regan, Lisa Bailey, Robert Lee, Nick O’Rourke, Eugene Raggio
Synopsis: Eric and Cate live and work on Mars and must fulfil their contract to the all-powerful Erasure Institute. Technology tracks their every word and action, while a mysterious humanoid voice directs their movements. Cate, increasingly haunted by inexplicable memories, longs to return to Earth. Eric struggles to support her through her inner turmoil. The Erasure Institute promises to remove pain and suffering through a painless but permanent procedure, which is “encouraged and sometimes enforced.” Eric is disturbed by an encounter with a woman whose dying words are “don’t erase me”. He begins to suspect that erasure has a darker side. At the same time, Cate is grasping for a lifeline to free her from her mental torment and return her to Earth. Cate begins to believe that voluntary erasure is her only way out. Can love be erased?
Embryo | United States | 2021 | 15’
Director: Noah Logan
Writer: Noah Logan
Producer: Rachel Lebak
Cast: Bethany Paulsen
Synopsis: Taking care of an egg for health class? Easy. Taking care of an actual child? Much harder. Harper Ales is a single mother in a surreal world where babies hatch from eggs, but, even in this world, the struggles of motherhood are just as difficult.
The little fish | Russian Federation | 2020 | 22’
Director: Elena Rusanova
Writer: Elena Rusanova
Producer: Evgeniya Guseva
Cast: Sergei Kopnin, Ekaterina Kopnina, Uliya Salmina, Evgeniy Kikh, Alisa Goncharenko, Konstantin Melnikov
Synopsis: The film tells the story of a boy who is kidnapped by a witch. While being held captive, the boy meets the Witch’s daughter, an enchanted girl who is turned into a fish. She organizes their escape, but the Witch catches the boy and her traitor of a daughter and threatens to roast them alive. The boy manages to run away on his own. He knows that Little Fish is in danger and he returns to rescue her.
When I Explode | Netherlands | 2020 | 08’
Director: Angelo Raaijmakers
Writer: Angelo Raaijmakers
Producer: Angelo Raaijmakers
Cast: Thomas Höppener, Claire Bender, Sabri Saad el Hamus
Synopsis: Chris’ thirtieth Birthday party is turned upside down when he finds out there is a ticking bomb growing in his stomach. Bomb expert Alim is brought in to defuse both the bomb and the tension.
Stop-Motion/Time-Lapse – Official Selection – August 2021
TimeSpace2 | China | 2020 | 04’
Director: Yugao Zheng
Writer: Yugao Zheng
Producer: Yugao Zheng
Cast: Coraline Ko
Synopsis: With daily objects, I create a tiny world to reflect our life during the hardest moment during the breakout, and fill with dreams.
The Adventures of Tobian | China | 2021 | 03’
Director: Shikai Tao
Producer: Shikai Tao
Synopsis: I spent three months to do this stop motion animation and i’m also the Musicproducer and rapper. The hero of the animation ist the giant “Tobian”,The giant Tobian was born in a beautiful afternoon. Then he began his fantasy adventure trip. During the trip, he met many strange people and also indulged in many temptations. but the Ganesh reminded him in time. Finally he reached his destanation….
Student Short – Official Selection – August 2021
The Lion Blanket | Estonia | 2020 | 15’
Director: Sofia Afonasina
Writer: Sofia Afonasina
Producer: Evelina Romanenkova
Cast: Katariina Unt, Leene Vugts, Tanel Saar
Synopsis: Berta’s sister Helena has gone missing and there is little hope of finding her. Berta visits the morgue, where she views several bodies, each with her own tragic story. How can Helena be one of them?
Being a Ghost | Switzerland | 2021 | 19’
Director: Sebastian Friedmann
Writer: Sebastian Friedmann
Cast: Nicolas Roussi, Jean Winiger, Julie Bugnard
Synopsis: An encounter between two ghosts in a spa. Serge realizes what has happened to him. Martial disapproves of this young rebel who’s disrupting his normal routine. Will they be able to get along?
Heat Death | 2021 | 16’
Director: Wang Miaoyan
Writer: Wang Miaoyan
Producer: Wang Chunhui
Cast: Zhu Yuan
Synopsis: The girl out of school faces the fate crisis，she decided to open the road of resistance in her own way.
The Sky The Limit | China | 2021 | 30’
Director: 刘翌昕
Writer: 刘翌昕
Producer: 王淳
Synopsis: Li Yufeng, color weakness, has eager to sky. High school classmate Qu Junzhe used to fly an aviation model, which made him interested in. In college, Li Yufeng trained to be a pilot of the Aeromodelling Club. After winning the approval of the club president, he forged a model airplane flight license and stepped to the airplane model competition, where he met Qu Junzhe again. When Li Yufeng seemed to win, he got reported… That night, he made his own flight.
BAMI | Belgium | 2021 | 05’
Director: Eline vanderbemden
Cast: Debbie Christiaens, Inge Henrotay, Tyrone Westerlink, Johan van Herck, Maite Redal, Lotte Debruyne, Hebe Roosen
Synopsis: A loving grandmother gets everything ready for dinner with her big family, but this is so much work that she literally has to grow extra limbs. As everything goes wrong in the kitchen, the grandmother gets more and more stressed. She turns into a monster, but with the help of her family, she can turn back into herself.
Circling the Drain | United Kingdom | 2021 | 19’
Director: Jordon Searle
Writer: Jordon Searle
Producer: Jordan Fripp
Cast: Ashley Hodgson, Samuel Jolliffe
Synopsis: A recently homeless man reconnects with a volatile former friend to burgle a home, the events of which uncover old wounds surrounding their friendship.
8Teen | United States | 2021 | 29’
Director: Shao Lin
Writer: Shao Lin
Producers: Kyle Tso-Chih Yeh, Winnie Chen
Cast: Tzu-Chi Pei, Huang Guan Zhi, Lo Yu, Chia-Jung Tsai
Synopsis: Jay lives in a small village with train tracks that lead to the big city of Taipei. At the end of the summer, Jay and his best friends plan to board the train with smiles and dreams of college and beyond. But the pathway to get on the train is complicated. With the absence of his parents and his drunken grandfather breaking a leg, this further obligates Jay to take care of the aging drunkard and the family business. As dreams of a life far away from the village begin to fade, a beautiful girl from the big city enters Jay’s life. Like a mirage, the girl fills Jay with fantasies of hope, excitement and possibilities but once more he is shattered when the girl leaves the village while Jay looks onward into the night and the unknown of where his life will lead.
Feeling | France | 2021 | 17’
Director: Romain Argento, Jérémy Chieusse
Cast: Dorian Le Clech, Philibert Louis, Julie Venturelli, Sylvie Filloux
Synopsis: One party. One bad influence. A lot of bad decisions. How far can a teenager go to try and fit in?
Angst and Other Drugs | Australia | 2021 | 18’
Director: Jarvis Taylor
Writer: Jarvis Taylor
Producer: Sarah Melit
Cast: Hayden Parsons, Kristie Corkill, Bronte Price
Who’s Whose | Czech Republic | 2021 | 15’
Director: Laura Salagnac
Writer: Laura Salagnac
Producers: Sam Duckett, Rutger Lysen
Cast: Melina Åkerman Kvie, Steen Agro
Synopsis: A shy young woman gets offered a once in a lifetime opportunity by her hero and mentor to exhibit her work at his upcoming exhibition. All is too good to be true. On the day of the exhibition, she is inflicted with humiliation after humiliation and plunges into a feminist nightmare.
