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SHORT to the Point – July 2022 Nominees

Animation Short – Official Selection – July 2022

Mumpitz | United Kingdom | 2022 | 04’
Director: Susanne Deeken
Writer: Susanne Deeken
Synopsis: ‘Mumpitz’ is a study and exploration of traditional stop motion techniques, using paper cut outs, drawings, ink drawings and collages. A stream of consciousness narrative takes the viewer through a labyrinth of floating imagery, forever changing and morphing from one character to the next, one scene to the other. The journey eventually coils back to the beginning in an infinite loop.

Tippy Topper | United States | 2022 |6’
Directors: Isis Rubio, Paige Thorsen
Synopsis: A fledgling jello gets too curious about his final destination in a massive food processing plant, a mistake that sends him on a unexpected adventure.

Stop it! End that! Cease! | Romania | 2022 | 05’
Director: Eugen Munteanu
Writer: Eugen Munteanu
Producer: Eugen Munteanu
Cast: Rebecca Pavel, David Luncă, Eugen Munteanu, Ana Bucur, Iulia Bărbulescu
Synopsis: A girl with long sleeves is being followed by a boy trying to steal them. The obstacles on their path show the boy’s disadvantage and, at the end, the girl helps him snap out of it.

Sayang | Canada | 2022 | 07’
Directors: Sophia Santos, Ethan Chouinard, Gabrielle Edmiston, Yeh-Ming Bobby Chen, Teresa Furtado, Eleanor Kawasaki, Daniel Vargas, Kevin Rojo Mercado, Xin Yue Guan
Synopsis: A married woman is plagued by lost memories of her husband, which seem to be tied to a nail on the crown of her skull.

A Moveable Feast | China | 2021 | 04’
Director: Yixue Wang
Writer: Yixue Wang
Producer: Yixue Wang
Synopsis: A Moveable Feast is an animation about animal protection. In a de-anthropocentric view, it shows how the animals living freely in the forest become a feast on the table. By comparing the natural environments before and after, the work emphasize the goal to strive for a world of peaceful coexistence between humans and the natural environment.

Curiosa | United Kingdom | 2022 | 10’
Director: Tessa Moult-Milewska
Writers: Tessa Moult-Milewska, Matthew Dicky
Cast: Sychelle Kristina Yanda
Synopsis: Curiosa tells the story of overly curious Mary, who visits her boyfriend’s flat for the first time, just to discover it’s been stripped bare of all personal belongings. After being denied an explanation, she climbs into his head.

Mosaic | Switzerland | 2022| 08’
Director: Eleonora Berra
Writer: Eleonora Berra
Producer: Elena Pedrazzoli
Synopsis: Three beings pave the floor of a cave with gemstones that they are collecting. When a part of the cave’s ceiling collapses because of an accident, the three see each other for the first time in daylight and realize that parts of their skin sparkles. However, one of them doesn’t sparkle. This difference will impact the group and lead to a conflict between the three.

JUMBO | Hong Kong | 2022 | 04’
Director: Lily Hoi Man Lai
Writer: Lily Hoi Man Lai
Producers: Stephanie Divinagracia, Tailey Clark
Synopsis: A staving girl is trying to create a growth potion to make a jumbo soup dumpling meanwhile her cat is not happy with his foods

Documentary Short – Official Selection – July 2022

Cancelled | Germany | 2022 | 18’
Director: Daniela Opp
Writers: Daniela Opp, Kai Roennau
Producer: Daniela Opp
Cast: Marit Persiel, Astrid Schulz
Synopsis: For a long time, her father was just a blind spot. Only a box of Super 8 films set the puzzle of memories in motion. And a story emerges – in all the colors of the 70s.

Painting Pain | Greece | 2021 | 22’
Director: Antonis Kartezos
Writer: Antonis Kartezos
Producers: Cinéma Expérimental, Vassilis Grigoriou, Antonis Kartezos
Cast: Nikos Koniaris, Stella Tripolitaki
Synopsis: The film approaches the work of the Greek artist Nikos Koniaris. The particular way in which the painter depicts human suffering is presented through a film – a hybrid of real recording and directed material. The grief, the sick body, is reflected in self-portraits, portraits of dying strangers and paintings of dead models. The paintings, apart from his work, also express a different version of himself. Αll together contribute to the depiction of man as a “garment of pain”

Experimental Short – Official Selection – July 2022

On The Other Side | Canada | 2021 | 08’
Director: Patrice LaCroix
Writers: Patrice LaCroix, Naïma Moreira Laliberté
Producers: Maude Lahière, Patrice LaCroix
Cast: Naïma Moreira Laliberté
Synopsis: A pandemic strips a young equestrian athlete named Naïma of a chance of competing in the Olympics. This unwelcomed pause triggers a domino effect, where the pressure to perform is released, and her wild imagination takes over to lead her into a journey where she revisits the dream paradox.

Hold the Lighthouse | Canada | 2021 | 10’
Director: Thomas Soto
Writer: Thomas Soto
Producer: Marie-Christine Toupin
Cast: Jacques L’Heureux, Édouard Biron-Laroque
Synopsis:A septuagenarian and his 8-year-old grandson are isolated in a small village in Gaspesie. The grandfather’s Alzheimer progresses and feel a certain attachment to his love, his wife, a memory that lasts. She stays in his mind, while the rest crumbles. The grandson tries his best to be a support, a safe place, for his grandfather as the film of his memory slowly burns..

The One Who Went South | Iceland | 2022 | 8’
Director: Steiní Kristinsson
Writer: Steiní Kristinsson
Producer: Steiní Kristinsson
Cast: Stefán Benedikt Vilhelmsson, Pétur Eggerz
Synopsis: A young man returns to his childhood home to improve his relationship with his father. However, when he arrives, everything seems different.

88 | Japan | 2022 | 05’
Director: Seojin Park
Writer: Seojin Park
Producers: Jeremiah Jude Dennis
Cast: Luke Pender
Synopsis: An experimental film about an artist that falls into a deep psychosis from an out-of-control passion for art and seeks to find balance in life

An Exploded View | United Kingdom | 2021 | 20’
Director: Emily Bignell
Writer: Neil Edwards
Producer: Georgina Weller
Cast: Nick Brimble, Sherry Baines
Synopsis: In an attic full of history and wonder. Amber (16) searches to find her grandfather Ernest’s most treasured item, hoping that it will bring him comfort and joy as he lies desperately ill in hospital. What she stumbles upon is a lifetime of memories, unearthing Ernest’s passion for and commitment to engineering. Never has Amber so deeply considered the role of an engineer, their importance in her home town of Grantham or the world changing effect that that the notion to simply ‘improve something’ can impose. An exploded view is an imaginative and experimental film which fuses illustration, animation and shadow performance.

Fashion Short – Official Selection – July 2022

People Wonderland and Attention | China | 2021 | 4’
Director: Bessy Huang
Writer: Bessy Huang
Producer: Bessy Huang
Cast: James Ducker, Josha Gwynne, Marin Kawamori, Sim Zeng, Michelle Burckley, Michelle Cverly
Synopsis: After three years learning in styling and production. I prepare to do an Autobiographical short film for my final project. 2020 will be a severe year for anyone. We were forced to stay at home for a long time. During this abnormal time, I spent the longest time with myself. The resulting psychological pressure made me have many strange dreams. It also allowed me to conduct long-term psychological counseling and treatment. While examining myself, I found that my personality has a great need for attention. The result of the diagnosis by the psychologist is: when I lack attention, I will have the fear of death. The whole work will revolve around my personal experience, dreams and self-psychological exploration.

No-Land: Life in 2223 | United Kingdom | 2022 | 4’
Director: Lei Jiang
Cast: Annie Zhao
Synopsis: Human civilization was born in the ocean. Science research shows that all lives including human were originated from the ocean. The future of human being would be closely related to the ocean as well. Many forecasts show that in 2050, the rising seas will erase a large number of coastal cities. In the year 2223, the evolved humans are starting to build ‘No-Land’, a hypothetical underwater residential area in a parallel universe, set in the situation of the disappearance of land. Lei invites the viewer to enter this fantastical world and meet three underwater citizens. Licht (appear as Lux in its virtual form) as your neighbour, Lacey as a landlord and collector, and Lachesis who runs a delivery service. The fashion performance film illustrates characters and their surroundings through the use of colours, materials, the form of their bodies, and methods of filming. Lei depicts the scenario using mixed techniques including digital experiments from character modelling to digital fashion creation, and physical making processes from fish leather tanning to analogue photography, to celebrate the malleability of future human identities.

Music Video – Official Selection – July 2022

Mirage | Spain | 2022 | 7’
Director: Gairah Praskovia
Writer: Gairah Praskovia
Producer: Gairah Praskovia

Demon V – Fvck | France | 2022 | 03’
Director: Rodrigue Huart
Producer: Tuan Ho
Synopsis: Demon V spends all of his time on the internet, in his big city building. All he does online is saying « FVCK » to everybody, everywhere, in every way possible, elevating trolling to an art form. That’s going to make him an internet rising star.

COPIKORRUPT – SEEMS LIKE HUMAN CORRUPTED | Russian Federation |2022 | 03’
Directors: Igor Eyt, Alexandr Krasnovitskii
Writer: Artur Danielian
Producer: Igor Eyt
Synopsis: The video Seems Like Human Corrupted is a story of the emotional state of a person, who has highly developed psychological traumas, a person who is forced — by family and society — to look at life through the lens of his fears.

Narrative Short – Official Selection – July 2022

Daughter of the Sea | United States | 2022 | 20’
Director: Alexis Garcia
Writer: Alexis Garcia
Producer: Debora Perez
Cast: Princess Nokia
Synopsis: After the death of her grandfather, a young woman experiences a spiritual awakening when she is called by Yemaya, the orisha Goddess of the Sea.

Shadows | Estonia | 2022 | 13’
Director: Jamilia Azizova
Writers: Jamilia Azizova, Alexander Obmanov
Producer: Jamilia Azizova
Cast: Alexander Obmanov, Jamilia Azizova
Synopsis: Blessed event of expanding family life turns into a nightmare of fighting for their lives and dreams, that leads them to the edge of the sea and changes their lives forever.

STALAG III-C | Belarus | 2019 | 12’
Director: Jason Rogan
Writer: Jason Rogan
Producers: Jason Rogan, Yury Gromik, Constantine Samarin
Cast: Sam Falconi, Vadim Gitlin, Henri Falconi
Synopsis: In the final days of World War II, US paratrooper Joe Boyd leads a daring escape from a Nazi POW camp, only to face a more horrifying evil beyond the prison walls. Inspired by true events. STALAG III-C was filmed entirely on location in Minsk, Belarus.

Home by two | Netherlands | 2021 | 05’
Director: Bart Dokter
Writer: Bart Dokter
Producer: Bart Dokter, Rutger Veenstra
Cast: Janni Goslinga, Susan Radder
Synopsis: Maaike and her daughter Sytske get into an argument about their differences in coping with their recently broken family. Will this argument tear them apart for good?

SLAP | Israel | 2022 | 9’
Director: Daniel Bettoun
Writer: Daniel Bettoun
Producer: Yuval Sol Boker
Cast: Tamar Reilinger, Roi Gazit
Synopsis: Maayan (27), an extreme and energetic film school student from Tel Aviv, goes out late at night with her friends Inbal (27), Yoni (30) and her partner Itay (30), to film a project for a directing class. Maayan decides the peice will recreate the trauma she went through while braking up with her abusive ex-partner, but the performance of the lead actress comes across inauthentic and Maayan decides to play the lead role herself. Concerned with that idea, Itay confronts her about it yet Maayan is unwilling to compromise and steps into the shoes of her main character, and goes through the painful trauma once again.

Sisters | United Kingdom | 2022 | 16’
Director: Christopher Norton
Writers: Lizzy Norton, Christopher Norton
Producers: Lizzy Norton, Christopher Norton
Cast: Ella Downey, Louise Thomas
Synopsis: Rachel is forced to return home to confront her past and those she left behind whilst coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.

Sinking | United States | 2022 | 11’
Director: Dylan Huang
Writer: Dylan Huang
Producers: Alan Chan, Mengting Hong
Cast: Hiro Takashima, Moe Bertran
Synopsis: Sinking is a story about the inner world of a man that’s experiencing Kodokushi. Yamasaki, a nobody disconnect and forgotten by society, Isolating himself inside out, not willing to accept any helps, Sinks deeper into the void as the reality blur with his imagination and eventually is devoured by the madness he built himself.

Pray | China | 2022 | 17’
Director: Lumen Chao
Writer: Lumen Chao
Producer: Lumeng Chao
Cast: Erdenchaogetu, Enhejile
Synopsis: The boy Suder rescued a lamb and prayed for his brother Bilge that all would be well, while the brother wanted to sell the lamb for gambling.

Short Comedy – Official Selection – July 2022

Delivery to Hell | France | 2022 | 25’
Director: Michael Drai
Writer: Michael Drai
Producer: Mael Andre
Cast: Barbara Carlotti, Mehdi Rahim-Silvioli    
Synopsis: A recently deceased bike courier finds himself in the grim reaper’s administrative office. But it’s hard to choose where to spend eternity when you’ve spent your entire life in a state of total indecision.

The Cannibal’s Last Meal | China | 2022 | 25’
Director: Chengxian Quan
Writer: Chengxian Quan
Producer: Da Bo
Cast: Jiapeng Li, Chenghan Wei
Synopsis: In order to let his assassination targets die with satisfaction and no regrets, an OCD killer likes to cook a fine meal for his victims before the final step. One day the killer received a new mission, and what he didn’t expect was that he walked into the house of a picky foodie who is also a ferocious cannibal…

Uhm | France | 2022 | 18’
Director: Léo Lebesgue
Writers: Léo Lebesgue, Kevin Tussidor
Producers: Léo Lebesgue, James Gentry
Cast: Léo Lebesgue, Kevin Tussidor, James Gentry, Guillaume Gaubert
Synopsis: Some are made to create masterpieces. Others try their best.

The Magic Flute | France | 2021 | 27’
Director: Geordy Couturiau
Writer: Geordy Couturiau
Producer: Eliott Brunet
Cast: Esdras Registe, Guillaume Dietrich
Synopsis: While he is covered in debts and has a dying mother, Arnaud meets Momo, a magician from his neighborhood with singular and malicious behavior from his neighborhood who does sleight of hand tricks. But this meeting will not ward off bad luck, quite the contrary… Could the discovery of an old flute be the solution to all their problems and change their fate?

Short Fantasy/Sci-Fi – Official Selection – July 2022

The Wreckers | France | 2022 | 15’
Director: Julien Fontaine
Writer: Julien Fontaine
Producer: Julien FONTAINE
Synopsis: “A young man names Jacques, blended in a group of wreckers in order to wreck and harvest a specific ship. But the night might take a stranger turn than expected and certainly not at all restful for any of our three protagonists.”

3000 | United States | 2021 | 18’
Director: Chin Hsiang Chang
Writer: Chin Hsiang Chang
Producer: Shirley Fan Zhang
Synopsis: In the future, a female synthetic(android) wakes up without any memory finding herself accompanied by another male synthetic(android) in a cabin deep in the woods and tries to figure out what happened.

Stop-Motion/Time-Lapse – Official Selection – July 2022

PIANO | Peru | 2022 | 04’
Director: Mariana Osores Benfenati
Writer: Mariana Osores Benfenati
Producer: Mariana Osores Benfenati
Synopsis: A disheartened man is reunited with an old forgotten talent, that kind of talent that excites us, mentally transports us and fills our souls. Un sujeto desmotivado se reencuentra con un talento olvidado, de esos talentos que nos apasionan, nos transportan mentalmente y nos llenan el alma.

Tab ur et | Romania | 2022 | 10’
Director: Cate Chereches
Synopsis: Abuse, excess, over-consumption; the rise and fall of life.

Ed’s Last Will | United Kingdom | 2022 | 06’
Directors: Lisa Wen Dou, John Xiaoliang Wang
Writer: Lisa Wen Dou
Synopsis: Every Halloween, Death visits earth to resurrect good people. Noticing Mr. Edward’s unfulfilled last wish, Death decides to grant him a chance. After Edward is resurrected, will he be able to accomplish his last wish?

Student Short – Official Selection – July 2022

The Triptych Poetic | United States | 2022 | 09’
Director: Anna Scott Glasgow
Writer: Anna Scott Glasgow
Producer: Eduardo Hernandez
Cast: Ava Koros, Lucy Handy, Maddie Grussing
Synopsis: A mesmerizing and utterly truthful blend of hope and hopelessness.

The Shepherd | Denmark | 2022 |17’
Director: Janis Mikolajczak
Writer: Louis Sund Jongsma
Producer: Mila Kreft-Sietnicka
Cast: Oliver Overgaard, Michael Robdrup
Synopsis: A young priest meets God and is challenged in his beliefs, as he slowly realizes that his life is shaped by a comforting ignorance.

Grandpa Ernest Speaks | South Africa | 2022 | 30’’
Director: Madeleine Bazil
Writer: Madeleine Bazil
Producer: Elizabeth Ann Cameron
Synopsis: In 1939, a young Jewish man named Ernest Lowy makes a bold and narrow escape from his native Czechoslovakia, seeking safety and opportunity for his family as World War II intensifies. In the late 1980s, an elderly Ernest recounts his life story over the course of a 75-minute cassette tape at home in New York City. It’s the first and only time his children and grandchildren hear him speak of the Holocaust, or of his life before immigrating to the US. Another three decades later, filmmaker Madeleine Bazil decides to finally do something with the audio memoir of the late great-grandfather she never knew. We follow Bazil over three years as she charts a journey to retrace Ernest’s steps across two continents: investigating the man himself, as well as how Ernest’s life story and the trauma he underwent have a ripple effect on present-day family dynamics. Collaging together a multiplicity of testimonies, archival artefacts, and perspectives, the documentary exemplifies the fragmented nonlinearity of memory as well as reflects the complexities and layers of our own individual identities. A 29’ poetic and self-reflexive documentary, Grandpa Ernest Speaks considers the nature of posttraumatic memory; how it is transmitted, archived and witnessed; and how each generation and descendant carries and considers memory in their own way.

The Last Blue Rose | United Kingdom | 2022 | 05’
Director: Zhao Wu
Writer: Zhao Wu
Producer: Tony Jin
Cast: Gary Beardsmore, Rebecca Baker
Synopsis: Police Ben, a hidden serial killer, has decided to stop killing. When he is interrogating a witness, he finds that he exposed fatal information in the last murder he has done. What will he do next?

Aller Simple | France | 2022 | 25’
Directors: Jan Amor, Jeanne Lorne
Writers: Jan Amor, Jeanne Lorne
Producers: Jeanne Lorne, Jan Amor
Cast: Jean-Pierre Clami, Veni Lacombe, Yves Caumon
Synopsis: Robert, a veteran shepherd, buries his dog, his only friend. While digging the grave he discovers a buried suitcase of the brand “Aller Simple” (One way ticket). The shepherd ventures to the city to find its owner but what seemed a priori a simple and unimportant errand, will become an endless journey.

Outside the Door | China | 2022 | 17’
Director: Zhuojing Ma
Cast: Mengfan Gao
Synopsis: Wenwen returns to her hometown because of her grandmother’s death, but is refused to attend the funeral on account of her pregnancy. Her parents are not very content with her marriage. Meanwhile, the new family built with her husband is overwhelming her. A new family replacing an old family, Wenwen feels like an outsider just standing out of the doors of these two families.

JUMBO | Hong Kong | 2022 | 04’
Director: Lily Hoi Man Lai
Writer: Lily Hoi Man Lai
Producers: Stephanie Divinagracia, Tailey Clark
Synopsis: A staving girl is trying to create a growth potion to make a jumbo soup dumpling meanwhile her cat is not happy with his foods

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