Amateur Short – Official Selection – July 2021
Seule | Canada | 2021 | 05’
Director: Abigail Whitney
Writer: Abigail Whitney
Producer: Abigail Whitney
Cast: Jasmine Ward
Synopsis: Seule is a fashion film about a young woman arriving in Toronto for the first time. But the city’s on lockdown-there’s no one to be found anywhere, she’s now left on her own in the empty streets of Toronto.
On the Slope | Turkey | 2021 | 03’
Director: Beyza Yazgan
Synopsis: This is my first animation on a track from my solo piano album ‘To Anatolia’. This surreal story starts with me performing the piece and then the journey will take us to the imagined landscapes and feelings that evoked by the music. The story represents transformation, freedom, the circle of life and being one with universe around us.
Animation Short – Official Selection – July 2021
Save Ralph | United States | 2021 | 04’
Director: Spencer Susser
Writer: Spencer Susser
Producers: Jeff Vespa, Lisa Arianna, Spencer Susser
Cast: Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff, Tricia Helfer, Liv Tennet
Synopsis: Save Ralph is a stop-motion animated documentary-style short film written and directed by Spencer Susser and produced by Jeff Vespa in partnership with Humane Society International (HSI) and the Arch Model studio of puppet maker supreme Andy Gent. The film features HSI’s campaign spokesbunny Ralph, voiced by Taika Waititi, as he goes through his daily routine as a “tester” in a lab. In addition to Taika Waititi as Ralph, the film stars Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff and Tricia Helfer, with additional versions in Spanish, French, Portuguese and Vietnamese with Rodrigo Santoro, Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, George Lopez and others voicing the characters in those languages.
Hold Me | China | 2021 | 06’
Director: LINGE LIU
Synopsis: I came out to my mom in the summer of 2019, she revealed a secret by giving me a treasure that she had been kept for 25 years…
Pimento! | United States | 2021 | 06’
Director: Caleb Carl Nelson
Writer: Caleb Nelson
Producer: Caleb Nelson
Cast: Abigail Hendricks, Jeffery Todd Parrott, Caleb Nelson, Amelia Hernandez, Destin Lorde Teamer, Paul Springer
Synopsis: Pimento! Follows a tiny goblin’s misadventures as she’s sent out on a special errand: stealing from the sprawling human-populated metropolis Ballyhoo! Only time will tell if she’s enough of a monster to commit heinous crimes—or if her moral compass will stand in her way!
Gruf and Me | Israel | 2021 | 10’
Director: Dovi Keich
Writer: Dovi Keich
Producer: Dovi Keich
Cast: Alina Deoxy, Zohar Bar Shalom
Synopsis: Gruf is a graffiti character that comes to life in animation. Gruf falls in love with the street artist who created him. He desperately tries to find her in the shabby streets of Tel Aviv and discovers that inter-dimensional love is not easy.
The Sea of Thoughts | Croatia | 2021 | 08’
Director: Hana Tintor
Writer: Hana Tintor
Producer: Draško Ivezić
Synopsis: One morning a woman dives into a sea of thoughts where the boundary between reality and imagination is lost, facing her insecurity and fears.
What’s There | Macao | 2021 | 04’
Producer: Emmanuel Benbihy
Synopsis: The push and pull of the universal breath. Life cannot be without death. From destruction sprouts creation. Unable to unify without separation. A blinding light results in a chaotic trance. There’s a lover’s fight within a cosmic dance. What’s There? is a poignant visual meditation that focuses on the relationship between opposing universal forces and why they are nothing without the other. We explore how struggle begets beauty as well as how change is the only true constant. As soon as you have life figured out, the proverbial rug is pulled from under you. Change crashes upon you without pause like waves on the bay. Bright and shining examples of human kindness are found sparkling within the warzone. Love and hate are children of the same mother. Where do torment and forgiveness meet? The universal push and pull of our day to day realities are magnified and ruminated upon in this cerebral animated work that plays with the very medium it’s drawn on. Our perceptions shape our existence. So then what is existence? What is this primordial canvas we are layering all of our perceptions upon? How do we find out What’s There?
Pursuit of Heavens | Macao | 2021 | 03’
Producer: Emmanuel Benbihy
Synopsis: Eaten by time and bounded by space, You can read from the lines on my face. Was told of a place that awaited us all. The world was a circle, and now it’s a ball. And before all of that it was only a dot, Raw material from which existence was wrought. Pursuit of Heavens, is an interdimensional exploration that stems from the most dangerous question of them all: “Why?” You’re told to look up, but that is only relational. You go up far enough until there is no up anymore, only the infinite and ever-growing vacuum that houses all life. Where does ultimate reality reside? Is it folded somewhere inside? Are we already there and too close to see, and losing the forest for the trees? Join Tommy as he unravels the fabric of spacetime and travails to the very source of all of existence while the world melts around you.
Down With Goliath | United States | 2021 | 03’
Director: Ernetta D. Procter
Writer: Ernetta D. Procter
Producer: Ernetta D. Procter
Cast: Ernetta “Phenomenon” Procter
Synopsis: In this animated short film against the backdrop of a 1990’s Chicago Southside, an adolescent (nameless) black girl is educated by her southern grandmother on the sacrifices that it takes to survive as a woman in their violent, crack infused environment. With her grandmother’s mobster-esque support and a sawed-off rifle in a Malboro duffle bag, she emerges victorious from the fight of her life, only to realize that the world was no longer a suitable opponent for a gladiator like her. Everything had become “Down With Goliath.”
BRAKE | United States | 2021 | 05’
Directors: Aja M Weary, Amanda Richardson
Producer: María Andrea Acosta
Synopsis: BRAKE is a 2D-3D hybrid Animation about a man that endures sensory overload from attempting to travel. He and his service animal are denied entry which sends him into a panic. His service animal works to get him back to his senses.
Children Short – Official Selection – July 2021
Colourful feathers | Mexico | 2021 | 04’
Director: Maribel Suárez
Writer: Maribel Suárez
Producer: Esteban Azuela
Synopsis: A group of white chickens cackle in a pastureland with their chicks, when they see a blue chicken arrive. They show their discontent and refuse to share their shelter. But when a fox prowl near the place, the white chicken finally accept the blue chicken in the group.
Catherine II. The fall of the Great | Russian Federation | 2021 | 29’
Director: Арчаков Андрей Сергеевич
Writer: Арчаков Андрей Сергеевич
Producer: Баринова Виолетта
Cast: Lebedeva Olga, Velikoredchanin Sergey, Gaydukovskiy Vadim, Poylov Aleksandr
Synopsis: The film Catherine II, The Fall of the Great tells about the last years of Empress Catherine the Great’s life. In 1796 it was the 34th year of Catherine ruling Russia. Anticipating her imminent death, she realizes that a serious problem is about to happen. Her son Paul, who is to inherit the throne, does not love either Russia or his mother, considering her to be guilty of the death of his father and after ascending the throne he intends to destroy everything she has created. Ekaterina Alekseevna will have to make a difficult decision about the succession to the throne – to declare her beloved grandson Alexander Pavlovich as the heir and thereby destroy Paul’s life or to admit the pernicious rule of the son.
Commercial/Ad/TVC– Official Selection – July 2021
JUST BREAK AWAY | Canada | 2021 | 05’
Director: Sean Kalra
Writer: Sean Kalra
Producers: Yael Carnet, Laura Carnet
Cast: Denzel Onaba, Mansa Aki Gibbs, Benjamin Ayesu
Synopsis: A young boy finds the inner strength to prevail over his surroundings by walking in his late father’s footsteps.
Cafés Le Bonifieur | France | 2020 | 02’
Director: Michel Garcia Samino
Producer: Michel Garcia Samino
Synopsis: An advertisingl for the famous French coffee brandmark: “Cafés le Bonifieur”. The request was to show the process from the factory to the cup! A super interesting shooting which allowed me to bring the “coffee b roll” to television and to the cinema.
Documentary Short – Official Selection – July 2021
TANAKA’S DIARY | Germany | 21’
Director: Filip Jacobson
Producer: Karolina Galuba
Synopsis: A story about the Japanese tourists on a trip in Europe in 1970 told by 8mm footage.
Queen for a Day | Germany | 2020 | 19’
Director: Inna Knaus
Writer: Inna Knaus
Synopsis: Going towards her final exam Inna, a film student, realizes, that she has a creative block and doesn’t have a film to present to her professors Wim Wenders and Pepe Danquart. She reflects on her life and her studying years and comes up with a plan to somehow pass the exam.
Stolen Apes – Buanoi | United States | 2020 | 12’
Director: Colin Sytsma
Cast: Sinjira Apaitan
Synopsis: The only gorilla in Thailand was trafficked and has been enclosed in a concrete cage on top of a shopping mall for the last 33 years. Recently the singer Cher has come on board our team working to free Buanoi and shut down Pata Zoo. She tweeted our film twice on her platform of over three million twitter followers in December of 2020.
Yoshi Funabashi | Italy | 2021 | 04’
Director: Mattia Ramberti
Writer: Mattia Ramberti
Synopsis: A stylised portrait surrounding Yoshi Funabashi, founder of Studio Ypsilon: a luxury atelier designing Italian classics with a Japanese touch. By mixing his sophisticated heritage with a fascination for Italian music, Yoshi’s character becomes the embodiment of the “Opera Connoisseur”.
Believe | France | 2020 | 28’
Directors: Michel Garcia, Mathilde Saint-Arroman
Writer: Michel Garcia
Producers: Michel Garcia
Cast: Eric Dargent, Philippe Naud, Serge Lougarot
Synopsis: In the heart of the French Para Surf team. Meeting with some atypical athletes during the World championship, just a short period before France got under lock-down. Tension, doubt, confidence and happiness dictated the 10 days spent in California, just before the worlds pandemic. When some “different” athletes go beyond their limit to get medals. A life adventure, a surf adventure.
The last Fisherman of Méjean | France | 2020 | 16’
Director: Jan Jäckle
Writer: Jan Jäckle
Producers: Jan Jäckle, Valentin Feraud
Synopsis: In the little creek of Méjean located in the south of France, Alex lives his last days as a fisherman. For hundreds of years, only fisherman lived in the creek and local fishery has perpetuated itself down through the generations. Through the centuries there was always one fisherman sorting his nets out in the harbor of the beautiful village…. Until the summer of 2020 when everything would change …
Dajla: cinema and oblivion | Spain | 2020 | 15’
Director: Arturo Dueñas
Writer: Arturo Dueñas
Producer: Arturo Dueñas
Synopsis: Life is going on in Dakhla, one of the Sahrawi refugee camps in southern Algeria, forgotten for 45 years. The celebration of a film festival, the Fisahara, breaks the monotony. The event ends, life (and oblivion) continues.
A Calmer Place | United Kingdom | 07’
Director: David Warren
Writer: David Warren
Producer: Michael Jackson
Cast: Robert Flood
Synopsis: A wild swimmer tells the story of his struggle of dealing with his mental health during the lockdowns. After access to wild spaces was taken away it became more difficult to deal with the anxieties he faced. With the lockdown came a new appreciation and understanding of the importance of being able to be alone in wild spaces and out in the water.
Lolo | United States | 2021 | 11’
Directors: Keone & Mari Madrid
Writers: Keone & Mari Madrid
Producers: Keone & Mari Madrid
Cast: Arturo Madrid
Synopsis: Arturo Madrid, a 76 year old Filipino-American man, reminisces on the hardships, wonders and reality of migrating from the Philippines to the United States.
Experimental Short – Official Selection – July 2021
Camiseta’s | Argentina | 2020 | 03’
Director: Gerónimo Gassmann
Writer: Gerónimo Gassmann
Producers: Lucía Dellacha, Joaquín Saenz Valiente
Cast: Juliana Facchinello
Synopsis: When we think about what defines us, we usually look inside and leave the surface aside. Without realizing it, this aspect is the consequence of all our internal earthquakes. This film tries to reflect that process of introspection through a body and three spaces and what it means to be in that shirt.
V=(4/3) πr^3 | China | 2020 | 20’
Director: Ruiqi LU
Writer: Ruiqi LU
Synopsis: In the winter, a ballerina tripped over two glass beads whilst dancing and then gave birth to a baby whose eyes are marbles. When the baby grows up, two children took her eyes by mistake.
Les Dieux Changeants | Italy | 2021 | 04’
Director: Lucio Arese
Producer: Lucio Arese
Synopsis: Les Dieux Changeants is an experimental short film which depicts the destruction and collapse of ancient Greek and Roman statues. It creates a visually intriguing legacy: the static millenary beauty of those marbles being suddenly put into motion by a physical event, the hit of a bullet. Realized with refined CGI, philosophical and thought-provoking, the meaning of Les Dieux Changeants is left open to interpretation.
Elephant | Hungary | 2021 | 08’
Director: Richard Kassai
Producer: Annamária Orosz
Cast: Tamás Péch
Synopsis: A story based on an ancient dervish tale which is about the complexity of the part and the whole relation.
Kids Say Whatever | Netherlands | 2021 | 11’
Director: Lasse Jonas Rogie
Writer: Lasse Jonas Rogie
Producers: Lasse Jonas Rogie, Thomas Spiekhout, Zita de Vos, Sam Peetz
Cast: Claudia Kanne, Elisha Mercelina, Max Kanne, Ntianu Stuger
Synopsis: Insecure about her stiff body, timid teenager Jana desires to follow her dream of becoming a fluid dancer. But having lost her older brother who was the only one nudging her in that direction, Jana is on her own to do so. She decides to give it a careful shot by attending an informal dance party. However, Jana gets surrounded by professional dancers who evoke a terrible anxiety in her. Kids Say Whatever experimentally explores the power of our innermost dreams against our deepest fears.
The Wake-Up Call | United States | 2021 | 12’
Director: James Kahn
Producer: James Kahn
Synopsis: Evoking Rod Serling and Edgar Allen Poe, “The Wake-Up Call” is the story of a rich man in crisis, tumbled down the rabbit hole of reevaluating his life – until he comes out the other side, shaken but wiser, and with a new sense of peace as the groundwork for starting to change.
Haunted by the Future | Denmark | 2021 | 10’
Director: Christian Lollike
Writer: Christian Lollike
Producer: Simon Lajboschitz
Cast: Ann Crosset, Mercedes Claro Schelin
Synopsis: ‘You’re in your living room holding your phone. Through the camera, everything looks normal. Suddenly, the screen begins to flicker. You sense a figure. A ghost. And then a girl’s voice starts whispering to you …’ Haunted by the Future is a horror story that revolves around climate justice. Written and directed by Christian Lollike, the story unfolds as a virtual theatre in your own home. Via the app, fiction collides with the audience’s reality. The characters in the story move virtually around the audience’s room and speak directly to them. The main character, the voice of a young woman, haunts your future through volumetric recordings and binaural sound design. The acclaimed Sort/Hvid [Black/White] theatre and XR company Khora have joined forces to imagine and create this volumetric AR app that can transform any room into a stage. As a holographic theatre experience, the app experiments with an entirely new format, the first step towards further experiences of this kind.
GloryHole | Belgium | 2021 | 19’
Director: Xavier istasse
Producer: Xavier istasse
Synopsis: A reflexion about the deep nature of men
Hepatica 01100100 01100001 01110100 01100001 | Norway | 2021 | 05’
Director: Terje Tolleshaug
Writer: Terje Tolleshaug
Producer: Terje Tolleshaug
Synopsis: Plants and electronics
Father | Germany | 2020 | 26’
Director: Suzanna zawieja
Writer: Suzanna zawieja
Producer: Suzanna zawieja
Cast: David Fleschen, Peter Hehner, Michael Dierks
Synopsis: “Father” is the story of a young musician and his extraordinary relationship with a tiny, white, wriggling animal: the maggot. In an unusual way, we investigate deep-seated trauma and try to understand why it hums in Richard’s head. A Film full of music, visual impressions and a lot of Flies…
The secret of the fruit | South Africa | 2020 | 23’
Director: Adriaan De la Rey
Writers: Robin Burke, Adriaan De la Rey
Producers: Adriaan De la Rey, Robin Burke
Cast: Adriaan De la Rey, Jacinda Barker, Morne Delport, Marrisa Adriaanse
Synopsis: A man performs a seance in an attempt to release a couple caught in the ruins of a town.the lovers are pursued by a faceless enemy. Will his seance be successful? Or will he only be able to watch as they repeat the same cycle.
HELENA | Brazil | 2021 | 07’
Director: Geebran Warchausky
Writer: Geebran Warchausky
Producer: Kaka Cestaro
Cast: Laura Fajngold
Synopsis: HELENA’s vision of her life is manifested through a vision that fails to define the non-existent as real. Her meeting with different situations to start a new path.
Translation | United Kingdom | 2021 | 07’
Director: Julian Wiltsher
Cast: Sam
Synopsis: Translation'(2021), an exploration of the phenomenon of script or text becoming film, told from the perspective of a disillusioned writer. – – – An Unreel Production: Directed by Julian Wiltsher, Sound by Dylan Jed, Actor Sam Lubkowski
Fashion Short – Official Selection – July 2021
Nostalgia | Portugal | 2021 | 05’
Director: Anastasia Raykova
Writers: Anastasia Raykova, Angela Franklyn
Producers: Anastasia Raykova, David Royzengurt
Cast: Rina Grishina, Elizaveta Moryak, Alina Nizova
Synopsis: ‘Nostalgia’ is a short study of female friendship. After many years away, Adele returns to her hometown and meets her childhood friend, Nina. Growing up together they shared all their most joyful, happy and crazy moments. But the meeting turns out to be just a figment of Adele’s imagination as she passes by the familiar house filled with happy memories.
Guilty | Russian Federation | 2021 | 02’
Director: Andrew Arrakis
Writer: Andrew Arrakis
Producer: Roman Krupin
Cast: Rina Samoylova
Synopsis: Fashion video with social background. The idea of this video appeared against the backdrop of a huge scandal caused by the phrase of the host Regina Todorenko about a specific case of domestic violence: what did you do so that your husband would not beat you? This caused a storm of indignation in me. The image on the poster reflects the essence of my vision of this situation: a woman as an object of violence has turned into an accused. I developed this idea and put it in a fashion setting. The video shows how any self-expression of a woman is faced with condemnation and shaming. And even when a girl strips naked, condemning words are still found. She is judged for the courage to look the way she wants, for the courage to be herself. My attitude to this is reflected in the girl’s reaction: rejection of this state of affairs. Because being yourself is not the privilege of the elite. This right is given to everyone from the moment of birth. Freedom in one’s beliefs, love, choice makes a person complete. Be free inside and out. Take care yourself.
Mini Short – Official Selection – July 2021
{Be Authentic_ | United Kingdom | 2021 | 02’
Director: Michael Coppola
Writer: Michael Coppola
Producer: Nicci Brighten
Cast: Nicci Brighten
Synopsis: {Be Authentic_ is a 90-second micro-short film combining retro visuals and enchanting sound design with a modern diary-entry voiceover. We follow curious and free-spirited Bea on a solo day trip along the coast of North-East Italy as she escapes the pressures of urban living to reconnect with her authenticity and creativity. The snapshot story unfolds in the form of a sensory journey that inspires us to contemplate and appreciate the simple wonders of life. After all, it is these experiences and memories that make us who we really are. When getting away from it all and slowing down becomes a movement beyond Covid-19 lockdown and quarantine, it reminds us of the restorative benefits of much needed alone time as a pathway to true happiness and a way to collect material for those all-important memory banks. But is everything as it seems? And can we really believe our senses, or is our mind’s eye simply deceiving us?
Collector | United Kingdom | 2021 | 02’
Director: Cal Lomax
Producer: Jelena Sibalija
Synopsis: Inspired by Cabinets of Curiosities’, Collector explores how we have come to understand the act of collecting; seeking to challenge how we perceive the ‘commonplace’ of the world around us and explores the hidden connections between all things. Forms and states transform over time, but what impact does our digital evolution have on such forms and collections. Azoth co. is a powerhouse in the advancement of digital and physical asset integration, transmuting collections for collectors; influencing the natural cycle of transformation.
Splat ! France | 2020 | 02’
Director: Romain Revert
Writer: Romain Revert
Producer: Romain Revert
Synopsis: A 1 minute disaster animated film with a scifi twist !
Absence | United Kingdom | 2021 | 01’
Director: Céline Ribard
Writer: Chris Bell
Cast: Jonah Hauer-King
Synopsis: A 1 minute short poetry film, based on the poem by Elizabeth Jennings and read by Jonah Hauer-King. Shot on super 8.
Down With Goliath | United States | 2021 | 03’
Director: Ernetta D. Procter
Writer: Ernetta D. Procter
Producer: Ernetta D. Procter
Cast: Ernetta “Phenomenon” Procter
Synopsis: In this animated short film against the backdrop of a 1990’s Chicago Southside, an adolescent (nameless) black girl is educated by her southern grandmother on the sacrifices that it takes to survive as a woman in their violent, crack infused environment. With her grandmother’s mobster-esque support and a sawed-off rifle in a Malboro duffle bag, she emerges victorious from the fight of her life, only to realize that the world was no longer a suitable opponent for a gladiator like her. Everything had become “Down With Goliath.”
Music Video – Official Selection – July 2021
TOST | Russian Federation | 04’
Director: Mikhail Gasimov
Writer: Mikhail Gasimov
Producer: Tasha Deeva
Intro | Italy | 2021 | 05’
Directors: The Ghibertins, Federico Cadenazzi, Fabio R. Rossin
Producer: Federico Cadenazzi
Synopsis: ENGLISH Intro is the opening track of The Ghibertins’ forthcoming concept album “The Life & Death Of John Doe”. John Doe is a term used when the real name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. As much as we try to leave a legacy, a sign of our passage on earth, no one will remember us in 200 years. We are all passing through this world, we are all forgettable, we are all John Doe. Nevertheless, the life of each of us is unique and worth telling. The idea behind The Ghibertins’ album is that there is one song for every decade of the protagonist’s life; from his conception to his afterlife. ‘Intro’ begins this unique journey that will allow us to see the fall and the redemption of the main character, putting pen to paper all of the band’s hopes and fears. In the video the protagonist gets created and subsequently abandoned by the violent and abusive father, the prelude to his fall in disgrace. ITALIANO Intro è la opening track del prossimo concept album dei The Ghibertins “The Life & Death Of John Doe”. John Doe è un termine usato quando il vero nome di una persona è sconosciuto o viene intenzionalmente nascosto. Per quanto cerchiamo di lasciare un’eredità, un segno del nostro passaggio sulla terra, nessuno si ricorderà di noi tra 200 anni. Siamo tutti di passaggio su questo mondo, siamo tutti dimenticabili, siamo tutti John Doe. Tuttavia, la vita di ognuno di noi è unica e vale la pena di essere raccontata. Una canzone per ogni decennio di vita del protagonista dell’album, dal suo concepimento fino a dopo la sua morte; questa è l’idea alla base dell’album della band milanese. Intro è la traccia di apertura di questo viaggio unico che ci permetterà di vedere la caduta e la redenzione del protagonista, mettendo nero su bianco tutte le speranze e le paure della band. All’interno del video, il protagonista viene concepito e successivamente abbandonato dal padre violento innescando il preludio della sua caduta in disgrazia.
Comme La Pluie | France | 2021 | 01’
Director: Caroline de Maigret
Producer: Marine Dorfmann
Cast: Yarol Poupaud, Lescop
Bagarre | France | 2021 | 03’
Directors: Steven Briand, Julien Jourdain de Muizon, Jao Eka M’Changama
Writer: Steven Briand
Producers: Yoël Servadio, Jean-Louis Padis
Cast: Aurélia Agel, 20syl
Synopsis: Bagarre, \ba.ɡaʁ\ : french word for « fight », struggle to overcome, eliminate, or prevent. Here it includes violence. No surrender. No mercy. Just violence.
Narrative Short – Official Selection – July 2021
Bisho | Mexico | 2020 | 24’
Director: Pablo Giles
Writer: Ana Mata
Producer: Mariana Rodríguez Cabarga
Synopsis: El perro de la casa vecina no deja de ladrar. Emilio y Susana no pueden dormir. Tampoco se pueden dejar de pelear. Los ladridos tanto del perro como de la pareja llevarán a la ruptura y a Emilio a equivocadamente volcar su enojo, inseguridad y tristeza. Sintiendo una gran culpa, deberá enfrentarse a sí mismo y a una insospechada decisión. The neighbour´s dog wont stop barking. Emilio and Susana cant sleep. They cant stop fighting either. The barking and howling of the dog and of the couple itself will lead to inevitable rupture. Emilio will wrongly pour his anger, sadness and insecurities. Filled with guilt he will have to confront himself and make an unsuspected choice.
Waiting | United Kingdom | 2021 | 10’
Director: Valentina Carrasco Thayer
Writers: Alessandro Piavani, Sam Wightman
Producers: Alessandro Piavani, Sam Wightman
Cast: Alessandro Piavani, Sam Wightman
Synopsis: As London’s streets lie empty, two living statues wait for their audiences to return. Filmed during a national lockdown, WAITING is a darkly comic look at friendship, patience and clinging onto hope in uncertain times.
Biscuit Dust | Australia | 2021 | 14’
Director: Cooper Lindsay
Writer: Samantha Camilleri
Producers: Samantha Camilleri, Arianna Levy
Cast: Samantha Camilleri, Jace Fleming, Stephen Snars
Synopsis: Addy and Andrew are confronted with the revelations of their father’s inner battles and the uncertain future of their fifth generation sheep station.
The School Bus | Turkey | 2019 | 15’
Director: Ramazan Kılıç
Writer: Ramazan Kılıç
Producer: Ramazan Kılıç
Cast: Ezgi Ay, Muttalip Müjdeci, Hüseyin Yıkılmaz
Synopsis: Nebahat, a teacher in her 20s, has just been appointed to a rural village school in Anatolia. She realizes that her students are struggling to arrive at school, hitchhiking tractors, using whatever means they can find. She asks the Ministry of Education for a shuttle, but without a driver, the vehicle is useless. So, she decides to be the bus driver for her students but she does not know how to drive!
Feeling Through | United States | 2020 | 19’
Director: Doug Roland
Writer: Doug Roland
Producers: Doug Roland, Phil Newsom, Susan Ruzenski, Luis Augusto Figueroa
Cast: Steven Prescod, Robert Tarango
Synopsis: Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, is a coming of age story that follows Tereek, a teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.
10:45 | Georgia | 2021 | 14’
Director: George Gogichaishvili
Writer: George Gogichaishvili
Producers: Gega Khmaladze, Magda Datuashvili, Sandro Gabilaia
Cast: Mariam Kvitaishvili, Natia Arbolishvili
Synopsis: An ordinary phone call of two small-town girls during which they reveal their daydreams and plans for the future turns into a painful lesson for them: they can dream of anything big and important but become an ignored small thing for the rest of the world.
Tamouzi | Lebanon | 2021 | 14’
Director: Ali Dekmak
Writer: Ali Dekmak
Producers: Nour Saleh, Nadia Ahmad, Dima Al Ansari, Dana Haidar Ahmad, Dana Mekkawi
Cast: Karim Toutounji
Synopsis: Ali, a 10 year old boy who is obsessed with ninja turtles, is on the road from Beirut to the south with his sisters. Upon arrival, the bombing starts and Ali realizes that he forgot his Sega console at home. This leads him to take the utmost risk and go back to get his game.
TON | Mexico | 2021 | 06’
Director: Salvador Loza
Writer: Salvador Loza
Producers: Gerardo Regatto, Salvador Loza, Jesús Guerrero Laveaga
Cast: César Manjarrez, Juan Pablo Espericueta, Juan Clemente Dávila Cueva, Martín Gonzalez Fuentes
Synopsis: The sudden death of a Salvadoran worker who has just arrived at a construction site will show the disinterest, morbidity and abuse on the part of his employers and colleagues.
Lolo | United States | 2021 | 11’
Directors: Keone & Mari Madrid
Writers: Keone & Mari Madrid
Producers: Keone & Mari Madrid
Cast: Arturo Madrid
Synopsis: Arturo Madrid, a 76 year old Filipino-American man, reminisces on the hardships, wonders and reality of migrating from the Philippines to the United States.
Night After Night | China | 2021 | 19’
Director: Danfeng Cai
Writer: Danfeng Cai
Producer: Yuning Chen
Cast: Siwen Chen, Wei Zhao, Shenze Ren
Synopsis: In a small textile town in China, three young people working in a foreign land, each with their own sorrows. A case of cloth theft is quietly going on at night, a case that changes the fate of three people forever…
No/Low Budget – Official Selection – July 2021
Trail Of The Night | Turkey | 2021 | 05’
Director: Kübra Mengi
Writer: Kübra Mengi
Producer: Kübra Mengi
Cast: Alev Mengi, Emre Mengi
Bogdan and Rose | Poland | 2017 | 15’
Director: Milena Edyta Dutkowska
Writer: Milena Edyta Dutkowska
Producer: Milena Edyta Dutkowska
Cast: Maria Ciunelis, Jerzy Rogalski
BALLERINAS DO NOT EAT | Greece | 2021 | 16’
Directors: IRIS KATSOULA, AGGELIKI GRIGOROPOULOU
Writers: IRIS KATSOULA, AGGELIKI GRIGOROPOULOU
Producers: AGGELIKI GRIGOROPOULOU, IRIS KATSOULA
Cast: IRIS KATSOULA, AGGELIKI GRIGOROPOULOU, NIKOS VAIOU, SAVVAS VASILIADES, VAGGELIS LASKARIS, IOANNA CHRYSOMALLI, PANDELIS SARRIS
Hani’s Barber Shop | Israel | 2017 | 05’
Director: Tomer Werechson
Writer: Tomer Werechson
Producer: Werechson Video Productions
Cast: Tamar Rassabi, Itamar Chen Menache, Ronit Ziv
Short Adventure/Action – Official Selection – July 2021
Thinking of a Masterplan | Canada | 2021 | 18’
Director: Nin Meyboom
Writer: Nin Meyboom
Producers: Nin Meyboom, Ethan Fetterly
Cast: Michael Scott, Jessica Myrie, Michael Perotti, Harris Bailey, Mazz Amini
Synopsis: A robbery takes a turn for the worse.
110 | Indonesia | 2021 | 12’
Director: Dhadi Piston
Writer: Budi Aksana
Producers: Budi Aksana, Kurniawan
Cast: Dian Remeh
Synopsis: Callcenter 110 is a number provide by National Indonesian Police like US 911. A caller in a scene find a people fight and he call 110 to report the case. In a second, operator received his call and distribute to all department needed for come to the scene and neutralized the damage.
Short Comedy – Official Selection – July 2021
Quarantine | Russian Federation | 2020 | 15’
Director: Aleksandr Khant
Writers: Vlad Malakhov, Aleksandr Khant
Producers: Irina Bondarovich, Igor Kuznetsov
Cast: Irina Pegova, Roman Fomin
Synopsis: Irina works as an accountant. In the middle of a coronavirus pandemic she decides to go to the office to transfer salaries to the company’s employees. However, her plan falls apart when she meets Boris, the paranoid security guard who protects the office not only from robbers but also from the virus itself.
GO BMW | China | 2020 | 29’
Director: Yang Yang
Writer: Yang Yang
Synopsis: Before the epidemic was over, Yang Shu, a repairman, received a wedding invitation from his hometown. It happened that long Ge, the boss of the repair shop, was on a business trip, so Yang Shu decided to secretly drive his boss’s BMW to the wedding party. Geng Qiqi and Yang Qiqi go to the school together to find their ex-wife, and then they pretend to be their girlfriend when they get married. Unexpectedly, the epidemic closed the city, the wedding did not form, the ex-wife did not come, Yang Shu and Qiqi are trapped in the mountain village, two people design “careful” plan to get out of the village, but because of the village security rich uncle guard strict, they repeatedly failed, at the same time, Yang Shu also received the news that the boss changed the itinerary, suddenly want to come back, finally Yang Shu will drive the BMW into the wild mountain to find a way out, Yang Shu Qiqi two also because straight There was a dispute in the broadcast, which led to BMW bottom trapped in no man’s land. In adversity, the two people saved themselves through live broadcast. This is a film full of humor and excellent interpretation of modern Chinese society under the influence of the epidemic
Buona Notte | France | 2021 | 10’
Directors: Victor Bindefeld, Grégoire Bensimon
Writers: Victor Bindefeld, Grégoire Bensimon
Producer: Alexandre Dahan
Synopsis: On Halloween night, three thugs are on their way to a burglary, they’re about to break into an old house. They get caught by an armed owner, holding a shotgun. One of their phones starts to ring. It’s showtime…
It’s not about Eitan | Israel | 2021 | 09’
Director: Ron Baranov
Writer: Ron Baranov
Producers: Yarden Agian, Ron Baranov
Cast: Nir Barak, Gali Reshef
Synopsis: After a meaningful session at the psychologist, Dean is visiting his father to reflect on their relationship and to better understand if his father accepts him.
Short Dance/Musical – Official Selection – July 2021
The Light A Shadow Finds | United States | 2021 | 04’
Director: Tobin Del Cuore
Producers: Tobin Del Cuore, Taryn Kaschock Russell
Cast: Yin Yue
Synopsis: An empty theater. A dancer enters. Between shadow and light, she moves.
Cascades | France | 2021 | 15’
Director: Dorian Migliore
Writers: Dorian Migliore, Simon Lemonnier
Producers: Dorian Migliore, Simon Lemonnier
Cast: Yann Miettaux, Simon Lemonnier, Lucie Langlois, Lucas Nicolella
Synopsis: Trapped in his daily life, an individual embarks on a symbolic journey to encounter his deepest fears.
INVINCIBLE | United States | 2021 | 03’
Director: Ekaterina Behor
Producer: Ekaterina Behor
Cast: Rosemary Shahani
Synopsis: A girl finds herself after facing her fear while expressing herself in dance
Short Drama – Official Selection – July 2021
Sweetie | Belgium | 2021 | 12’
Director: Joachim Vandenhole
Writer: Joachim Vandenhole
Cast: Jérémie Petrus, Sandrine Desmet, Daniel Sieteiglesias
Synopsis: Sandrine De La Croix is an emerging fashion designer who wants to promote her new glitter jacket during a livestream on the channel ‘Queer it up’. Assisted by stylist Daniel Boom Boom, they give the model Jérémie a total makeover in order to make him a perfect fit with the presentation of the jacket. Through this preparation process Jérémie’s sexual identity becomes more and more the product rather than the jacket.
Blue Morpho | Canada | 2020 | 13’
Director: Sarah Lopez
Writer: Sarah Lopez
Producer: Sarah Lopez
Cast: Kylian Quinn Doré
Synopsis: At nine years old, Milan has to face the death of his mother. Incapable of coping with the grief, he finds himself filled with sadness and anger. In between dreams and reality, he’s able to grasp what’s left of her in the many spaces and objects of the house.
Occupied | Guernsey | 2021 | 22’
Director: Alex Bates
Writer: Alex Bates
Producers: Alex Bates, Phoebe Hazzan
Cast: Sapphire Brewer-Marchant, Harry Giubileo, Dan Le Friec, Harriet Billington, Dave Hyett, Steve Molnar
Synopsis: In the aftermath of the tragic White Rock bombing, the newly widowed Carolyn must navigate life in Nazi occupied Guernsey and try to overcome her grief.
Hey, ma | United Kingdom | 08’
Director: Laurie Barraclough
Writer: Laurie Barraclough
Producer: Xanvier Allison
Cast: Eleanor Shaw, Emily Raymond
Synopsis: After seeing a woman she believes to be her lost mother in a car park, Katrina pursues her through the night to her home longing for a chance to speak to her again.
I’ll Always Forget You | United States | 2021 | 04’
Director: Andrew Barahona
Writer: Andrew Barahona
Producer: Andrew Barahona
Cast: Sunny Masoud, Julian Cavett
Synopsis: Two old lovers meet but one has no memory of the other.
INTACT | France | 2020 | 20’
Director: Loris Hantzis
Writer: Loris Hantzis
Producer: Loris Hantzis
Cast: Nada Belka, Léo Lebesgue, Charles Dupisre
Synopsis: In a long spiritual journey, Laura tries to heal the scars left by sexual abuse.
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.
Myrtle | United Kingdom | 2021 | 16’
Director: Patricia McCormack
Writer: Megan Barker
Producer: Shaheen Schleifer
Cast: Patricia McCormack
Synopsis: Myrtle, a trailer park Mom from Indiana, cooks dinner for her son. But something’s not quite right. This kitchen is anonymous, industrial, and Myrtle’s working to a deadline. As her composure unravels, we realize that 21 grams is all that separates life from death.
Short Horror – Official Selection – July 2021
Drip | Australia | 2021 | 09’
Director: Sidney Fenton
Writer: Sidney Fenton
Producer: Sidney Fenton
Cast: Elle Harris, Yuliya Napier
Synopsis: Logline: All she wanted was a quiet night at home. The home had other ideas. Brief synopsis: When the strange sounds in her new home prevent Elle from enjoying a relaxing night alone, she begins to suspect an evil presence. As she discovers the true intentions of her tormentor, her night becomes a fight to survive.
Chelsea Porcelain | Australia | 2019 | 16’
Director: Kira Zirnsak
Writer: Kira Zirnsak
Producers: Chanel LeMiere, Kira Zirnsak (co-producer), Rachael Williams (co-producer)
Cast: Dora Abraham, Rob Alec
Synopsis: 1889 on the outskirts of Manchester, Chelsea is nearing her twentieth birthday and is distraught with having to choose between pursuing marriage or domestic work. She looks for other options and finds the unorthodox Dr. Balaur, who tells her he can cure her melancholy and provide an alternate means of survival by undergoing a “new procedure” of his own creation.
Short Thriller/Mystery – Official Selection – July 2021
Reverso | Portugal | 2019 | 09’
Director: Victor Santos
Writer: Victor Santos
Producer: Victor Santos
Cast: José Eduardo Silva
Synopsis: April 26, 1974, the first night after the overthrow of the Portuguese fascist regime. A man comes to a small room in a boarding house carrying only one suitcase. Suspicious but tired, he ends up falling asleep to suddenly wake up with the phone ringing insistently. On the other end of the line a voice makes fun of him repeating everything he says.
99 PROBLEMS | United States | 2021 | 17’
Director: Michael G Kehoe
Writer: Michael G Kehoe
Producers: Michael G Kehoe, Tori London, Richard Joel, Rob Harper
Cast: Richard Leacock, Tori London, Michelle Allaire, Will Dixon, Sala Baker, Yan Birch, Dennis Keiffer, Teva Dresbach-Barnea
Synopsis: A stranger offers people an opportunity to change their immediate future, an offer that could save them from danger.
Stop-Motion/Time-Lapse – Official Selection – July 2021
Gerris Lacustris | Poland | 2020 | 06’
Director: Julia Feliksa Wojciechowska
Writer: Julia Feliksa Wojciechowska
Producer: Julia Feliksa Wojciechowska
Cast: The film has no clear plot. It is a collection of dreamlike images, dream landscapes, and the play of lights is supposed to evoke emotions in the viewer and emotions are supposed to lead us through the entire production. What the viewer will feel depends on the individual, and it is the viewer who decides what will be obtained from this animation.
A Flower and Two Chicks | France | 2021 | 05’
Director: Alice Thibault
Writer: Alice Thibault, Pierre Delort
Synopsis: In an egg box, two birds and a flower live together. But sharing the place is not easy for everyone…
Student Short – Official Selection – July 2021
The Dreams Of Lonely People | Poland | 24’
Director: Marek Leszczewski
Writer: Marek Leszczewski
Producer: Maciej Ślesicki
Cast: Adam Szyszkowski, Anna Paliga, Piotr Bąk
Flow | Belgium | 2021 | 27’
Director: Sebastian Schaevers
Writer: Sebastian Schaevers
Producer: Sebastian Schaevers
Cast: Mistral Guidotti, Arthur Loontjens, Maarten Van Lier
Synopsis: The friendship of three is tested when they setup camp by the Semois in the French Ardennes. As they get bored along the riverside they set out to explore the region although they don’t all agree with each other on the way they should be doing that.
Lullaby | Estonia | 2021 | 19’
Director: Ville Niemi
Writer: Ville Niemi
Producers: Külli Kaljulind, Ville Niemi
Cast: Mirtel Pohla, Rain Tolk, Arabella Pall, Gerhard Saks, Madis Kareda, Merike Kahu
Synopsis: Mentally ill mother loses custody and refuses to give her daughter away.
Maks | Slovenia | 2021 | 18’
Director: Martin Draksler
Writer: Martin Draksler
Producer: Jožica Blatnik
Cast: Maj Kralj, Nina Rakovec, Gregor Zorc
Synopsis: In the absence of his mother, seven years old Maks decides to find company at the basketball court. Lack of warmth and attention forces him to take matters into his own hands.
Mountain Climber | United States | 2021 | 13’
Director: Rebecca Snowden
Writer: Rebecca Snowden
Producers: Michaela Tonack, Kat Vander Zwaag
Cast: Nikki Wang, Elaine Stueve
Synopsis: In a room closed off from the world, a climber prepares to scale mountains through VR simulations. When they take on the final assessment of their training, a glitch in the system forces them to push their limits and grapple with their doubts, both in and out of the simulated world.
Elephant in Castle | Hong Kong | 2021 | 05’
Director: Florence Yuk Ki Lee
Synopsis: Elephant in Castle is a 2D digital animation, created within the context of two strange years, 2019 and 2020. The work expresses a constant change within the artist’s inner world, to express the emotional, aesthetic, and tactile responses that she has to Hong Kong, the city where she grew up. Stepping into a new decade, the world is coming to an unprecedented and critical moment in history. The work could be a reflection on contemporary political and social shifts conveyed by her sentimental responses to the personal stories and the events/incidents that took place in Hong Kong. The artist was inspired by the research topic and artworks relating to Topophilia. Topophilia, terms from Greek topos “place” and -philia, “love of”, is a “strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place.” People in a city might come from different places originally, but they all form their own paths of connectivity and responses to the places we inhabit, and even to the particular site that they pass through occasionally.
THE CLOCKWORK HEART | Canada | 2021 | 13’
Director: Keely Bruce
Writer: Keely Bruce
Producers: Keely Bruce, Monica Hordos, CJ Kerssens
Cast: Daniel Curalli, Allyce Kranabetter, Kasey Mazek, Patch Donaghy , Sanem Guvenc
Synopsis: A Young Man and a Young Woman are in love, but he presents her with an impossible choice. This choice breaks both of their hearts and sends the Young Man reeling down a dangerous path. He finds help, but in strange and poetic places. This is a story of how love makes madmen of us all.
Mother’s Day | Poland | 2021 | 11’
Director: Patryk Kaflowski
Writer: Patryk Kaflowski
Producer: Krystyna Doktorowicz
Cast: Alina Szczegielniak, Wiesław Kupczak
Synopsis: A short story about mothers in oppressions. The fox travels through the forest in search of food. When she reaches the edge of the forest, she comes across a lonely farm where she witnesses the stormy events involving a young woman expecting a baby.
New Year’s Eve | United States | 2021 | 13’
Director: Zeyingtai Steven Lyu
Writer: Zeyingtai Steven Lyu
Prodcers: Zeyingtai Steven Lyu, Lu Huang, Chen Lv
Cast: Tingqi Han, Chengxuan An, Ming Zhang, Shuo Xu, Hanxu Zhang, Zeyingtai Lyu
Synopsis: In the morning of New Year’s Eve, the old man is writing Chinese calligraphy when he oversees a man in the suit talking to his son and daughter-in-law about selling the old courtyard house. As the dark falls, the family gathered in the dining room for dumplings. The old man’s last attempt to persuade his family that he prefers to live in the old house instead of migrating to America fails. Reveling in the nostalgic memory of lighting firecrackers with his departed wife and juvenile son, he decides to take his grandson to shoot off some forbidden fireworks as a commemoration for the lost time. Their secret plan is exposed when his son comes to call them for dinner. After a long moment on his own, he decides to proceed with his unlawful action and makes fireworks blooming in the sky once again. The sound of fireworks is soon blended with the police siren at far.
Lola | United Kingdom | 2020 | 20’
Director: Miranda Carter-Watson
Producer: Jamie MacDonald
Synopsis: Lola dolefully observes the break up of her family. There’s nothing she can do but sit and watch as her loved ones act out, argue, silently stew and finally leave. A heartrending look at the end of a marriage and a time of transition, through the innocent eyes of the pet dog.
Sea Beyond the Glitz | United States | 2021 | 15’
Director: Anna Maité Kaplan
Producer: Anna Maité Kaplan
Cast: Bruce Beckwith, John Beckwith, John Gosman
Synopsis: On the East End of Long Island, a tenacious group of fishermen struggle to preserve a centuries-old way of life.
The American Thieves | United States | 2021 | 20’
Director: Danial Khan
Writer: Danial Khan
Producer: Danial Khan
Cast: Suhail Kumar, Aleya Jung, Connor Johnson, Logan Shiller, Tommy Montgomery
SSynopsis: An Indian punk musician is forced by his father to continue working at their local grocery store, what he does next changes his entire life.
BRAKE | United States | 2021 | 05’
Director: Aja M Weary, Amanda Richardson
Producer: María Andrea Acosta
Synopsis: BRAKE is a 2D-3D hybrid Animation about a man that endures sensory overload from attempting to travel. He and his service animal are denied entry which sends him into a panic. His service animal works to get him back to his senses.
Night After Night | China | 2021 | 19’
Director: Danfeng Cai
Writer: Danfeng Cai
Producer: Yuning Chen
Cast: Siwen Chen, Wei Zhao, Shenze Ren
Synopsis: In a small textile town in China, three young people working in a foreign land, each with their own sorrows. A case of cloth theft is quietly going on at night, a case that changes the fate of three people forever…
