Animation Short – Official Selection – April 2022
12 & 1/2 cents | United States | 2022 | 03’
Director: Nick Beaufait
Producer: Kyrie Collier
Synopsis: A backpacker waits at a decrepit bus stop for his journey to continue, but the quarter he finds will afford him a change in destination…
The way to a man’s heart | Germany | 2021 | 11’
Directors: Jule Körperich, Karin Demuth
Writer: Gregor Hennig
Producer: Jule Körperich
Synopsis: The animated puppet film „the way to a man’s heart” tells the story of a dog who falls in love with a single gentleman. As a sign of his love, he leaves a dog turd in front of the man’s door every morning. The story unfolds about misunderstandings and the failure of gestures where there is no match. The film’s cute aesthetics stands in strong contrast to the drama of the conflict in which both protagonists become entangled.
THE EYE: CALANTHEK | United States | 2021 | 09’
Director: Aaron Sims
Writers: Aaron Sims, Vivian Yoon
Producers: Karen Dufilho, Jill Gilbert
Synopsis: An intergalactic maintenance worker travels to a distant planet to fix a fallen drone, only to discover a hostile force that won’t let her leave.
Experience the World – The Train | United States | 2022 | 07’
Director: Duro Howard Jr.
Writer: Brad Pike
Producer: Brad Pike
Cast: Brad Pike
Synopsis: Experience the World is a soft spoken journey through the activities we experience every day but with an absurdist twist. Our first entry, The Train, follows you as you ride the Chicago red line train home at rush hour–until it takes an unexpected turn into cosmic horror.
I LOST THE WAY | Greece | 2021 | 08’
Director: Panagiotis Rappas
Writer: Panagiotis Rappas
Producer: Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos
Cast: Floros Floridis, Michail Marmarinos, Klaudia Delmer
Synopsis: Two parallel monologues. Two men of different ages, talk about their lives and what haunts them. One, almost middle-aged, feels he has lost his way. Full of anxiety and metaphysical agony, he desperately seeks to find the path of return that will lead him to his paternal home and the years of innocence. At the point where he started his impasse, so far, wandering. The route looks like a strange dream. People, animals, machines, change form, properties, and actions in a nightmarish cluster full of paradoxical images, charged with passions and unacknowledged guilt. The other, an elderly man, is nearing the end of his journey. Locked up in a small room, isolated, accompanied by memories and ghosts from the past, he has stopped being anxious. He watches the outside world through the window, with the same stoic calm that he also watches what happens in the strange circus that performs in his small room. Everything that his imagination, memory, and sensitive psyche puts in front of him. With laconic sentences that are more reminiscent of oracles, he raises questions about an absurd and perhaps futile world. An almost nightmarish world, the world that spent its life vulnerable to the alterations of time. They are both the same person. The poet M. Sachtouris in different phases of his life. The questions he asks are not philosophical declarations or logical findings, but images. Images that seem to come from a dream and end up in his poetic iconography. At the end of the imaginary journey, the poet “finds”, among the ruins, his mother, and the room he recognizes as the home of his childhood. He returns to the womb without finding an answer to what tortured him along the way, since “there is no sanguine answer” because everything “is a vast void rather like a tomb”. Panagiotis Rappas May 2021
Children Short – Official Selection – April 2022
The Emperor and Truth Potion | United States | 2022 | 14’
Director: Yifan Chen
Writer: Yifan Chen
Producer: Yuxin Chen
Cast: Tori Bowman, Robert Crump, Dean Feldman, Keith Hulett, Leah Elm, Corey Foxx
Synopsis: It is a stage-liked and vintage style set based on the fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to tell that Jimmy, a 14 years old boy tries his best to poke the lie that the emperor is not wearing new clothes when everyone else tries to ignore the truth.
Going | United States | 08’
Director: Carson G Smith
Writers: Carson G Smith, Joshua S Aucker, Nathaniel Merves
Synopsis: Reluctant to look at the past, a young man recalls an old memory that should not be forgotten.
Documentary Short – Official Selection – April 2022
Alaska | Switzerland | 2020 | 29’
Director: Louis Hans-Moëvi
Writer: Louis Hans-Moëvi
Producer: Joëlle Bertossa
Synopsis: From the garden of his house in the Swiss countryside Luca, 19, dreams of another life, deep in the hostile northern wilderness. This fantasized territory could ba named “Alaska”. But around skulls, brains and deer skins, hasn’t he already reached his destination?
Animal Planet | Spain | 2021 | 14’
Director: Coralie Hina Gourdon
Writer: Coralie Hina Gourdon
Producers: Coralie Hina Gourdon, La Selva Ecosistema Creatiu
Synopsis: Victor lives surrounded by animals on a remote volcanic island that he perceives as a foreign planet. His dogs, cats and sheep live with him and help him go through the everyday life of his exile that was forced on him because of a terrible event from his past as an animal right activist.
The 13th Note | United States | 2022 | 23’
Director: Karim Khorsheed
Writer: Zach Mullins
Producers: Jeff Spike Wong, KAT Troulinos, Lee-Chi Chin
Cast: Rusty Cooley, Yan Shen
Synopsis: Traditional Classical compared to Speed shred metal, music that moves the soul differently in everyone.
Experimental Short – Official Selection – April 2022
Pulsion | France | 09’
Director: Vincent Menjou-Cortes
Writer: Vincent Menjou-Cortes
Producers: Salut Martine, Ketchup Mayonnaise
Cast: Mehdi Kernachi, Léon Diana
Synopsis: Two young men sitting at the top of a hill. One of them is reading a book, the other is immersed in his thoughts. Both are waiting. A sign? An event?
Bestiary unknown | United States | 2022 | 03’
Director: Alice Langlois
Synopsis: A strange museum’s collection of creatures and artifacts comes to life, showing a small glimpse into their hypnotic, whimsical world. These delightfully unsettling vignettes capture the forgotten, decayed, and beautiful remains of hundreds of natural and man-made found objects gathered over many years.
Light- bearer | Canada | 2021 | 13’
DirectorȘ Billy Marchenski
Writer: Billy Marchenski
Producer: Billy Marchenski
Cast: Billy Marchenski
Synopsis: A fallen being is tormented by memories of paradise
Garden | Brazil | 2021 | 15’
Director: Matias Borgström
Writers: Matias Borgström, Luna França
Producer: Matias Borgström
Cast: Henrique Reganatti
Synopsis: By creating a universe composed of real and modifiable environments, the author seeks to reconcile, through a poetical and experimental approach, his routine of confinement with the life in his garden, previously invisible to him. Thus, “jardim” represents the meeting of two different dimensions that cohabit the same space.
VOLAGE | France | 2021 | 11’
Director: CEYDA YAGIZ
Writer: CEYDA YAGIZ
Producers: CEYDA YAGIZ, MÜGE BÜYÜKTALAS
Cast: MARIE WAUQUIER, KAMILYA K.
Synopsis: In a small party, party-goers experience something unusual within the forest.
Where there is wind | China | 2022 | 27’
Director: Pei Ge
Writer: Pei Ge
Cast: Pei Ge, Betty Ge
Synopsis: Conversations between a father and daughter unfold everywhere. They talk about tomatoes, kites, garbage, baby teeth, the Dead Sea, a missing hedgehog named Tuan Tuan and a mechanical beast with the same name, as well as a dream that father and daughter shared. Meanwhile, something is happening in a fish tank.
Macrocosm | United States | 2021 | 03’
Director: Clayton High
Writer: Clayton High
Producer: Clayton High
Cast: Clayton High, Connor High, Eli Kenny
Synopsis: Two friends play video games together after school.
The 13th Note | United States | 2022 | 23’
Karim Khorsheed
Zach Mullins
Jeff Spike Wong, KAT Troulinos, Lee-Chi Chin
Rusty Cooley, Yan Shen
Traditional Classical compared to Speed shred metal, music that moves the soul differently in everyone.
Fashion Short – Official Selection – April 2022
Franciacorta – A Golden Feeling | Italy | 2021 | 02’
Director: Enea Colombi
Producer: Clara Alison Gloceri
Cast: Veronica, Kristijan, Svetlana, Dece
Synopsis: Directed by the young Italian talent Enea Colombi, Franciacorta: A Golden Feeling is the new fashion film released by the The Franciacorta Consortium, in collaboration with the National Chamber of Italian Fashion. Produced by the Milan-based creativity factory The Blink Fish, the video celebrates the opening of Milan Fashion Week with beauty, movement and style. The video also marks the tenth anniversary of partnership between Franciacorta and the National Chamber of Italian Fashion. Franciacorta: A Golden Feeling works as a bridge between the two organisations whose shared values include an appreciation for the craftsmanship, originality, elegance and quality of the Made in Italy. A journey into a new dimension, Franciacorta: A Golden Feeling becomes an ode to the beauty and dynamism of the fashion world.
ARTISTIQUE | Czech Republic | 2021 | 04’
Directors: Kristýna & Kryštof Jankovec
Producer: David Vojtovič
Synopsis: The short film celebrates the synthesis of interior design, fashion and visual arts. This cinematic invitation to the Artistique design showroom represents an immersive aesthetic and emotional experience. Every element of design in the film manifests it’s incredible ability to become a source of storytelling and mirrors the power of our own imagination.
Natura Magica | Nigeria | 2022 | 05’
Director: Omowonuola Motunrayo Olaogun
Writer: Omowonuola Motunrayo Olaogun
Producers: Chidiebere Emmanuel Agbaeze, Omonownuola Motunrayo Olaogun
Cast: Oyindamola Okufuye, Victoria Eze, Imrana Abdullahi, Michael Benedict, Zainab Ogunlade
Synopsis: In Africa, the art of hand crafting on fabrics dates a few centuries back. Preserving the heritage of hand woven cotton and the tradition of hand made prints from Mali to Nigeria by passing on the savoir-faire to today’s younger generation is an epitome of sustainability.
Mini Short – Official Selection – April 2022
Dawn | United Kingdom | 2021 | 03’
Director: Nikolai Brokolovsky
Writer: Nikolai Brokolovsky
Producers: Nick Hudson, Karolina Przygoda
Cast: Amy Benkenstein
Synopsis: Following a night out, a young woman takes her usual walk home.
Brother | ScanNcut DX SDX2250D | Germany | 2021 | 03’
Director: Frank Christian Wagner
Writer: Frank Christian Wagner
Producer: Frank Christian Wagner
Synopsis: This advertising film builds the roof of a campaign we created and shows in a magical and entertaining way how you can express your creativity with the new brother ScaNcut Disney.
Moon Knight | United States | 2021 | 02’
Director: Akshay Tiwari
Synopsis: A dynamic vignette about the bizarre and fractured realities of Marc Spector a.k.a Moon Knight. Inspired from writer Jeff Lemire and artist Greg Smallwood’s epic comic run on the character, it is a journey through death, doubt and delirium which culminates in symbolic rebirth.
Booksmart | France | 2022 | 03’
Director: Côme Ferré
Writer: Côme Ferré
Producer: Claude Fayolle
Cast: Liam Biermans
Synopsis: Since he wants to know everything about everything, this 8 years old boy spend all of his time reading books. But there are things no book can explain…
Music Video – Official Selection – April 2022
Leyya – Someone/Fix it | Austria | 2022 | 08’
Directors: René Rodlauer, Sophie Lindinger
Writer: Sophie Lindinger
Producers: Sarah Zaza, Sabine Tatzgern
XX LAB, A Scream into the future | France | 2021 | 04’
Director: Anne RAFFIN
Writer: Anne RAFFIN
Producers: Helene ORJEBIN, Nicolas MONGIN
Synopsis: A dystopian story where the human race’s heroic struggle for social freedom remains inevitably the key element for its ultimate survival.
Good X Back | United States | 03’
Synopsis: After a breakup, Chris is eager to snatch the good feelings, but it’s slipping away, driving him mad.
Pra Melhorar | Brazil | 2022 | 05’
Director: Mariana Jorge
Producer: Simon Fuller
Synopsis: A family thrive through stormy times, keeping united and positive until the sun comes out and nature start blooming and revealing the beauty of small things, love and friendship. This video talk about Hope in dark times.
TENSION | Serbia | 2022 | 03’
Director: Timna Tomiša
Writer: Timna Tomiša
Producers: Sofija Petković, Iva Mišović
Cast: Iva Mišović, Jakša Filipovac, Tamara Pjević, Jelena Bulatović, Dejan Bošković, Branko Mitrović, Sunny Mišović
The Rasmus – Jezebel | Finland | 2022 | 04’
Director: Jesse Haaja
Writers: Jesse Haaja, Lauri Ylönen
Producer: Jesse Haaja
Synopsis: Midnight, it’s time to put your face on. I’m just the first shot on your hit list, a predator on wheels. Woke up with bruises on my body. Hands tied, like Jesus on the cross. Jezebel, I don’t know how you got in my blood.
Narrative Short – Official Selection – April 2022
Tutu | China | 2022 | 25’
Director: Lu Zou
Writer: Lu Zou
Producer: Lu Zou
Cast: Tianmi Zhou, Xudong Huang, Tianchen Huang
Synopsis: Late summer, Tutu, an 8-year-old girl whose parents are almost never around, spends her entire summer holiday within the residential compound, accompanying by her pet rabbit alone. One day, the rabbit committed suicide by jumping off the balcony……
Real Heroes Don’t Die | United States | 2021 | 17’
Director: Roman Mitichyan
Writers: Roman Mitichyan, Michael Pashan
Producers: Roman Mitichyan, Armen Sargsyan
Cast: Grigor Ogaryan, Michael Pashan, Mkrtich Elbakyan, Drew Taylor
Synopsis: Real Heroes
Don’t Die is a proof of concept dark comedy centered around WWII Veteran Khachik and the retellings of his adventure filled experiences captured by Nazi soldiers. After his escape, he found himself in possession of a key to unfathomable Nazi treasure in the oddest of objects. This short film sets the scene following Grandpa Khachik’s grandson’s journey to uncover his family’s past and the treasures that lie within.
Stalled | United States | 2022 | 04’
Director: Enrique Cruz Torres
Writer: Enrique Cruz Torres
Cast: Joseline Mendoza, Guillermo Portillo
Synopsis: An estranged father teaches his daughter how to drive stick shift while rediscovering their relationship.
The Elevators | China | 2022 | 11’
Directors: Haitao Hu, Jin Yang
Writer: Haitao Hu
Producers: Chenhui Wang, Haitao Hu
Cast: Yiyi “Dingdang” Xu, Yang Wang, Feiyang Liu
Synopsis: Xiaotong said something that annoys her father, which then leads to the quarrel between her parents. For a six-year old girl, a carefree childhood begins to fade away.
The Department of All Things Lost and Found | United States | 2021 | 17’
Director: Orlando Javier Torres
Writers: Orlando Javier Torres, Yinuo Wang
Cast: Yinuo Wang
Synopsis: Wei tries to retrieve her wireless earphones lost on the airplane. To her surprise, the Department of All Things Lost and Found miraculously recovers them. And it doesn’t stop there. As her temporary cat sitting turns into months of jobless, aimless limbo, she keeps receiving lost items from the department, and each one seems to bring back a piece of forgotten memory.
Booksmart | France | 2022 | 03’
Director: Côme Ferré
Writer: Côme Ferré
Producer: Claude Fayolle
Cast: Liam Biermans
Synopsis: Since he wants to know everything about everything, this 8 years old boy spend all of his time reading books. But there are things no book can explain…
No/Low Budget– Official Selection – April 2022
The 13th Note | United States | 2022 | 23’
Director: Karim Khorsheed
Writer: Zach Mullins
Producers: Jeff Spike Wong, KAT Troulinos, Lee-Chi Chin
Cast: Rusty Cooley, Yan Shen
Synopsis: Traditional Classical compared to Speed shred metal, music that moves the soul differently in everyone.
Macrocosm | United States | 2021 | 03’
Director: Clayton High
Writer: Clayton High
Producer: Clayton High
Cast: Clayton High, Connor High, Eli Kenny
Synopsis: Two friends play video games together after school.
Forever Young
Director: Michel ARRIBEHAUTE, Nicolas ARRIBEHAUTE, SACHA ARRIBEHAUTE, ROBINSON ARRIBEHAUTE
Writer: Michel ARRIBEHAUTE, Nicolas ARRIBEHAUTE, SACHA ARRIBEHAUTE, ROBINSON ARRIBEHAUTE
Producer: Michel ARRIBEHAUTE, Nicolas ARRIBEHAUTE
Cast: SACHA ARRIBEHAUTE, ROBINSON ARRIBEHAUTE
Synopsis: This is just the story about 2 creative kids who want to create their first Short film…
This is just the story about 2 dads who got nothing else to do…
The Birth
Director: Xupeng Feng
Writer: Holli Harms, Haohao Yan
Producer: Kalen Eriksson
Cast: Katherine Cooley, Michael Newman, Aria Publicover, Alban Lazri
Synopsis: Annie suffers from the late stages of Dementia during the shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. To ease her of painful reoccurring memories, Julia arranges a birthday party for Annie.
Short Comedy – Official Selection – April 2022
Casanoir | United States | 2022 | 22’
Director: John “JT” Schindler
Writer: Jonathan Geffner
Producer: Isabel Scott Ingram
Cast: Jonathan Geffner, Katharina Schmidt
Synopsis: “Casanoir” is a parody of the 1942 classic movie, “Casablanca”. It features NYC detectives Trillo & Suede – a ventriloquist and his wooden partner. Written and created by real-life ventriloquist Jonathan Geffner, who is also the lead actor and executive producer.
Waiting for Deading | United States | 2021 | 28’
Director: Paul Sestakov
Writer: Paul Sestakov
Producer: Javier Bonafont
Cast: James C. Leary, Angel Cruz, Scott Silverman
Synopsis: In this absurdist tale, two freshly appointed Grim Reapers of Beckettian nature attempt to carry out their very first assignment but things turn from bad to even f-ing worse once this bickering duo stray from the protocol. Absurdism / Comic Fantasy / Dark Comedy
Like a Forest | Germany | 2021 | 15’
Director: Zara Demet Altan
Writer: Zara Demet Altan
Producer: Zara Demet Altan
Cast: Lilian Takli, Lara Kurt, Benjamin Efimov, Karim Alsadi, Lara Jurisch
Synopsis: On one day in summer, everything seems to go really wrong for Ada, Ben, Ali and the others in the class. But some days, wishes come true. And on this day, the children really learn something. Together.
The Spider and The Fly | France | 2022 | 01’
Director: Niccolò Verrecchia
Writer: Niccolò Verrecchia
Producer: Niccolò Verrecchia
Cast: Gustav Fiere, Julie Thérond, Jennifer Karen, Matthieu Papillon
Synopsis: Anthony (17) is a teenager living in the suburbs who recently got the tattoo “What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly” on his upper arm behind his mother’s back. As he admires the tattoo in his room, his mom, Jessica, comes to inform him that her friend Nancy and her son Charles will be coming over for dinner. She tells Anthony to wear the shirt Nancy gave him for Christmas and he reluctantly accepts. During the dinner, Anthony struggles to hide his tattoo from his mother and the guests, having to bend awkwardly in order for the sleeves to cover it up. As the dinner goes on, Nancy won’t stop talking about Charles’ achievements, as Anthony and Jessica are forced to clap and listen. When Nancy finally asks Anthony about his life, she dismisses him and goes back to discussing Charles, who isn’t able to get a word in himself. Anthony finally loses his patience and calls out Nancy for her incessant talk about Charles, however, while doing this, his tattoo peeks out of his shirt, sparking Nancy to call him a delinquent and a thug. Jessica is shocked over the reveal of the tattoo, however, when Nancy insults Anthony, she defends him and reveals that she had seen a tattoo on Charles the prior Summer. Stunned that her precious Charles has a tramp stamp of a heart with “Mommy” written in it, Nancy and her son leave the house embarrassed. Jessica and Anthony share a tender moment as she inspects the tattoo and accepts her son for who he is.
Short Dance/Musical – Official Selection – April 2022
ESCAPE ROOM | Poland | 2022 | 14’
Director: Anna Bajjou
Cast: Barbara Bujakowska, Karol Miękina
Synopsis: “Escape Room” is an adaptation of a choreographic piece originally presented on stage. “I dreamed that there was empty room left after us” was choreographed and performed by Barbara Bujakowska and Paulina Wysocka. Transforming the piece into a moving image in actual political and social situation and the choice to perform the role of Paulina by Karol Miękina brought to light new meanings and interpretation possibilities of the meeting with the „Other” (Kapuściński, Levinas).
EDGE | Poland | 2022 | 10’
Director: PAULINA SWIECANSKA
Cast: Claire Saintard, Marek Klajda
Synopsis: “EDGE” is a story about a relationship between two people, balancing “on the edge”. It is full of various emotions and set in an environment affected by the global pandemic and women’s protests in Poland. We wanted not to give easy answers, but rather provide keys to interpretation for possible stories that could have happened and happened in one of the most difficult moments in the modern world. The film uses the Modal Underground dance technique, which is very physical and based on close contact. Balancing on the brink of perdition and destruction in many fields of human existence, is an always present element of our times. Which, without radical actions and awakening of consciousness, can lead to a catastrophe. EDGE portrays tense human stories, but it is the viewer who writes his own ending, in accordance with his own conscience and worldview.
SZPULE | Poland | 2021 | 10’
Director: Maria Bijak
Writer: Tamara Alina
Cast: Ilona Gumowska, Dana Chmielewska, Anna Kamińska, Katarzyna Leszek, Ewa Noras, Sabina Romańczyk
Synopsis: Szpule is a short dance movie, inspired by women, their ability to function in complicated times, crazy situations, and finally to stand up for themselves and act together. The reality in Poland nowadays and the historic event of bobbin fillers’ strike in Żyrardów (1883, the first modern strike in the Kingdom of Poland) pushed us to speak up. We don’t agree for women to be decided for, to be underrated, and that’s why this movie exists. Movement, music and pictures create an oneiric and powerful story of women who decided to speak up and act in their own name.
Gillian | United Kingdom | 2021 | 09’
Director: Rebecca Frances Dale-Everett
Writers: Rebecca Frances Dale-Everett, Katie Fay Dale-Everett
Producers: Katie Fay Dale-Everett, Rebecca Frances Dale-Everett
Cast: Gillian Escott
Synopsis: ‘Gillian’ is a creative documentary about an older woman and the pressure she put on herself to strive for perfection during her career as a professional ballerina. This is the second film in a mini short film series that aims to increase the representation of sixty-plus women onscreen and celebrate and explore their relationship to dance and the impact it has had on mental and physical wellbeing. The creation of this film gave Gillian, through reflection, the tools to come to terms with her past (processing pressures, injury and the anxiety involved in her professional dance career) and embracing and celebrating the new direction that her relationship with dance took.
Fruition | Uruguay | 2021 | 24’
Director: Naiara Bermúdez
Writer: Naiara Bermúdez
Producer: Naiara Bermúdez
Cast: Paula Thut, Kimberly Arocha, Marcela Wainstein, Bruno Balcon, Maria Noel Uhalde, Martina Passeggi, Eliana Prada, Naiara Bermúdez
Synopsis: What does this old jail in Montevideo hide behind its walls? Eight people find themselves trapped in a prison. Despite their differences, they will do their best to try and overcome this unexpected incident. A story about the feeling and reality of being trapped. The journey of overcoming obstacles through unity and hope, told from a colorful and fruity perspective.
Short Drama – Official Selection – April 2022
Stateless | France | 2021 | 28’
Director: Bastien Solignac
Writer: Bastien Solignac
Producers: Sylvain Maugens, Cobalt Films (Paris)
Cast: Stefan Crépon
Synopsis: Etienne,18, tries to find his place within his family. The father, a former skinhead, can’t bear any longer his son’s behavior. He finds him indolent, lazy, dreamy, a night bird. Yet the young man is looking for his father’s admiration, while opposing him at the same time. This paradox, this identity crisis will bring Etienne to a point of no return one morning when his father asks him to come and help him dismantle a small camp of refugees just outside the village….
Twist and shout | France | 2020 | 15’
Director: Vincent Menjou-Cortès
Writer: Vincent Menjou-Cortès
Producers: Quentin Montant, Alain Menjou
Cast: Bartholomew Boutellis, Julie Roux, Pierre-Benoist Varoclier
Synopsis: A couple in crisis and a depressed seducer. A decisive encounter.
SOLO MODE | The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 2021 | 30’
Director: Tamara Kotevska
Writer: Tamara Kotevska
Producers: Ilija Tiricovski, Tamara Kotevska
Cast: Aleksandar Mikic, Vesna Stanojevska Mikic, Ivo Mikic, Ena Mikic
Synopsis: During COVID 19 pandemics, a worried husband and father invents a family board game so he can strengthen the bonds of his family, but instead, he ends up creating “a board game for one”.
Ten Essentials | United States | 2022 | 13’
Director: Travis Greene
Writer: Peter LeFevre
Producers: Aly Trasher, Eddy Acosta
Cast: Eddy Acosta, Galen Howard
Synopsis: A man wakes up in the desert chained to a corpse.
I’m Home | Taiwan | 2021 | 16’
Director: Hsuan-Wei Wu
Writer: Hsuan-Wei Wu
Producer: Yi-Hua Pan
Cast: Neo Lee, Tie-Hsiang Ban
Synopsis: After graduation, Jay reluctantly returns home to reunite with his father, from who he has grown apart. After a long day of exploration in the old house that he does not recall, Jay recollects pieces of memories from his parents’ old collections and photos that prove his father’s love for him.
Like a Forest | Germany | 2021 | 15’
Director: Zara Demet Altan
Writer: Zara Demet Altan
Producer: Zara Demet Altan
Cast: Lilian Takli, Lara Kurt, Benjamin Efimov, Karim Alsadi, Lara Jurisch
Synopsis: On one day in summer, everything seems to go really wrong for Ada, Ben, Ali and the others in the class. But some days, wishes come true. And on this day, the children really learn something. Together.
Short Fantasy/Sci-Fi – Official Selection – April 2022
BENEATH | France | 2021 | 05’
Director: MORGAN LE FAUCHEUR
Writer: MORGAN LE FAUCHEUR
Producer: FRANCK CORBERY
Cast: GUILLAUME NÉRY
Synopsis: The film reveals the Cannes Underwater Museum by Jason deCaires Taylor through the legendary tale of the Man in the Iron Mask, who was detained in the royal prison of the Island of Sainte-Marguerite in Cannes during the 17th century,
Paper Hawk | Australia | 2021 | 14’
Director: Shuwen Qiu
Writer: Shuwen Qiu
Producers: Shuwen Qiu, Tony Yang
Cast: Max Mayer Rayment, Anthony Darvall
Synopsis: An unexpected confrontation between a writer and the protagonist from his novel.
Short Horror – Official Selection – April 2022
Part Forever | Taiwan | 2021 | 13’
Directors: Alan Chung-An, Ou
Writers: Alan Chung-An, Ou
Producers: Hsiao-Ching, Lin
Cast: Ming, Yang, Hsiang, Li, Kevin, Yang, Sidney, Wang
Synopsis: – Taiwanese Traditional Customs – There is a traditional custom in Taiwan that the soul of a dead person would go home to visit his family within three days after his death. Therefore, the family would wait in the mourning hall all night to mourn the dead and express their feelings of remembrance until encoffining. – Synopsis – In the dark hall, candles flickered faintly. A body lay in the middle of the hall. Huei and her husband Wen Hsiung came to say goodbye to Huei’s dearest sister. The seemingly calm and sad farewell ceremony seemed to hide an astonishing and dark secret……
LINO | France | 2021 | 28’
Director: Aurélien VERNHES-LERMUSIAUX
Writers: Aurélien VERNHES-LERMUSIAUX, Stylianos PANGALOS
Producer: Brice RANVEL
Cast: Pierre LOTTIN, Lola LE LANN
Synopsis: Atlantic coast, night of December 31st, 2020. A group of soldiers is mobilized following the discovery of a bombshell on the beach where they now wait for the deminers. Among them, Lino, a young soldier back from a difficult mission abroad, seems to be miles away. A sudden intrusion will change the course of the night and of his life…
Student Short – Official Selection – April 2022
MOM’S CAT | Hungary | 2021 | 18’
Director: Annabella Schnabel
Writer: Annabella Schnabel
Producers: Csaba Pék, Miklós Bosnyák
Cast: Attila Fritz, Ágnes Máhr, Krisztina Urbanovits, Mihály Csernai, Lili Erdős, Crazy Cat Lady
Synopsis: Felix, a thirty-something Furry is still living with his mother. His life changes dramatically when he gets his dream job, which leads him to leave his mother and fulfill his weird coming of age dramedy.
SPECTRUM | Brazil | 2022 | 20’
Directors: Thiago Rosestolato, Raul Paiva Mello
Writers: Thiago Rosestolato, Raul Paiva Mello
Producers: Carolen Silva Meneses, Thiago Rosestolato
Cast: Vinicius Pieri, Mariana Mello, Alexandre Capelli, Fábio Santiago
Synopsis: Fábio, a 12 year old boy, discovers a wishing well in a forest near his house and, from it, starts a series of mysterious encounters with his father, who died years ago.
The Blue Star | France | 2021 | 11’
Director: Roxana Protopopoff
Writer: Roxana Protopopoff
Producer: Roxana Protopopoff
Cast: Yann Ar Branov, Yazz Michaela
Synopsis: Benoit is a member of Tours’ Jeune Chambre Économique, who goes to the Etoile Bleue, the association’s headquarter and former brothel. Once through the door, he is propelled on a temporal journey through the establishment from the 1930s to today.
Part of the Furniture | United Kingdom | 2022 | 16’
Director: Jaina Liu
Writers: Jaina Liu, Matthew McHaffie
Producers: Carolina Ratcliff, Spandana Patanaik, Jaina Liu
Cast: Stephen Bowen, Eleanor-Rose Fusaro
Synopsis: When an office worker discovers the ability to turn into a chair, he falls for a woman who turns into a lamp and must decide if he would like to be a chair or a human being.
The Caterpillar Girl | Netherlands | 2021 | 03’
Director: Aleksandra Bokova
Synopsis: “The Caterpillar Girl” highlights the themes of suppressed identity and struggling to be yourself. I reference the story of my own upbringing, as well as the interviews with other Easter-European women who emigrated from my home country of Belarus. The short film explores the topics of stereotypical representation of women in my society and the desire to leave your “cocoon” in order to transform into the truest version of yourself.
The Cabin Below A Diamond Sky | United Kingdom | 2022 | 20’
Director: Alex Coleborn
Writer: Juliette Holmes
Producer: Lee Preston
Cast: Tom Lister, Elianne Byrne
Lin | United States | 2021 | 12’
Director: Lillian Xuege Li
Producers: Lillian Xuege Li, Yawen Hu
Cast: Lillian Xuege Li, Zhong Guo, Dong Li
Cast: Lan Zhong
Synopsis: How can a woman become herself when she has been shaped and taught to sacrifice for the gaze of others? Lin (Lan Zhong) has many roles — a mother, a wife, a waitress, an immigrant. She is also a woman with a secret who finally decides to quietly rebel.
The Spider and The Fly | France | 2022 | 01’
Director: Niccolò Verrecchia
Writer: Niccolò Verrecchia
Producer: Niccolò Verrecchia
Cast: Gustav Fiere, Julie Thérond, Jennifer Karen, Matthieu Papillon
Synopsis: Anthony (17) is a teenager living in the suburbs who recently got the tattoo “What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly” on his upper arm behind his mother’s back. As he admires the tattoo in his room, his mom, Jessica, comes to inform him that her friend Nancy and her son Charles will be coming over for dinner. She tells Anthony to wear the shirt Nancy gave him for Christmas and he reluctantly accepts. During the dinner, Anthony struggles to hide his tattoo from his mother and the guests, having to bend awkwardly in order for the sleeves to cover it up. As the dinner goes on, Nancy won’t stop talking about Charles’ achievements, as Anthony and Jessica are forced to clap and listen. When Nancy finally asks Anthony about his life, she dismisses him and goes back to discussing Charles, who isn’t able to get a word in himself. Anthony finally loses his patience and calls out Nancy for her incessant talk about Charles, however, while doing this, his tattoo peeks out of his shirt, sparking Nancy to call him a delinquent and a thug. Jessica is shocked over the reveal of the tattoo, however, when Nancy insults Anthony, she defends him and reveals that she had seen a tattoo on Charles the prior Summer. Stunned that her precious Charles has a tramp stamp of a heart with “Mommy” written in it, Nancy and her son leave the house embarrassed. Jessica and Anthony share a tender moment as she inspects the tattoo and accepts her son for who he is.
I’m Home | Taiwan | 2021 | 16’
Director: Hsuan-Wei Wu
Writer: Hsuan-Wei Wu
Producer: Yi-Hua Pan
Cast: Neo Lee, Tie-Hsiang Ban
Synopsis: After graduation, Jay reluctantly returns home to reunite with his father, from who he has grown apart. After a long day of exploration in the old house that he does not recall, Jay recollects pieces of memories from his parents’ old collections and photos that prove his father’s love for him.
Trailer – Official Selection – April 2022
OLLTV Zlomovchannya promo 90s | Ukraine | 02’
Director: Maksym Bychok
Producers: Dmytro Kitsay, Anna Stashenko, Anastasia Goncharova, Danya Zhenchur
Cast: Ksenia Mishina, Lisa Kozlova, Georgiy Povolotsky, Andrey Isayenko, Irina Verenich-Ostrovska, Igor Gnezdilov
Synopsis: The purpose was to attract attention to the problem of human trafficking through ordinary characters’ stories. In the creative brief, we reveal the answer to the question of how real evil looks in our world? An evil that prevents from getting the truth. Silence. Forced silence everyone is involved in. Because they have something to hide. But what will happen if the main character breaks out of this circle of evil?
Moon Knight | United States | 2021 | 02’
Director: Akshay Tiwari
Synopsis: A dynamic vignette about the bizarre and fractured realities of Marc Spector a.k.a Moon Knight. Inspired from writer Jeff Lemire and artist Greg Smallwood’s epic comic run on the character, it is a journey through death, doubt and delirium which culminates in symbolic rebirth.
