Shorts Competition

Under a scorching sun, Charlie is bored stiff and dreams of going to the seaside. But she's forced to stay in a dingy motel with her cousin Jess, who slouches in her deckchair. The two teenagers don't get along and bicker at every opportunity.   On the radio, the monotone voice of an eminent researcher in collapseology...

When Heylken is accused of witchcraft, she resists, her headstrong free spirit and powerful voice inspiring young Griet. A mystery and musical period drama, set around 1595, centered on the persecution of witches in the Dutch South.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: Wind of Resistance.

Eva, a PhD student who is deaf, visits Dean Sandrine with her younger sister Anna, acting as her interpreter. Eva is determined to expose the abuse she endured at the hands of her professor, but Sandrine advises against taking action, warning that it will be her word against his—and she won’t win. However, as Sandrine ...

In Europe's oldest forest, a massive fence marks the border between Poland and Belarus, built to block refugees from entering the EU. But what unseen consequences does it have? Bloodline takes a unique perspective, shifting focus from humans to a lone bison stranded on one side of the fence, separated from its herd. As...

In the sea, a man swims. As he swims, memories come to the surface. From his early childhood to his life as a man, all his memories are linked to water. Some are happy, others glorious, others traumatic. This story will be his last swim. It will take us from the source to the river – from the waters of childhood pools ...

A fictional mythological story about the birth and death of our planet. The film depicts the events happening on Earth through the eyes of two naive divine children. One of them is a slightly wild, enthusiastic girl who carries the power of creation, while the other is a kind, gentle, anxious little boy with the abilit...

Olivia, a young woman living abroad, returns to her hometown in Mexico in the hope of reconnecting with her past. But the violence she witnessed as a child has not abated, and the journey rekindles memories that are impossible to reconcile with.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: On Censhorship.  

A bleed on the brain and concussion inspire a crash victim to confront the heartbreak, trauma and confusion of losing connection with the only person he ever really knew.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: Through the Eyes of Others.

Turner Prize-winning artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan describes himself as a “private ear,” investigating sound as evidence. In The Diary of a Sky , he examines the relentless presence of Israeli fighter jets and drones over Lebanon—440 airspace violations in just one month. This essay film presents only shots of the sky, wh...

For him, the jungle has always been God, life, food, health, beauty and tradition. Now, the world in which he built a home for his family turns to smoke and ashes. Don Benjamín is a journey both raw and poetic through a magical region in danger, the Bolivian Amazon.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: Hum...

Courteous formality, allusive sexuality, and mysterious nature entwine at the annual flower show. During the celebration, wild flowers are stomped to the ground. In the woods, nature and fragile leg hairs continue to grow. The poetic film portrays a fragmented story of how girls have been cultivated like flowers for ge...

When a Palestinian filmmaker based in Scotland unearths a rarely-seen Scottish film archive of Palestinian wild flowers, he decides to reclaim the footage. This tender film essay questions the role of image-making as a tool of both testimony and violence when connected to entanglements between people and the land.  Thi...

Two women, one a Stalin devotee and the other a vehement anti-Stalinist, are separated by generations but united by the shared loss of their fathers to war. They grapple with the contested legacy of their village of Gori, the Georgian birthplace of Joseph Stalin, in this duel over historical legacy, memory and hagiogra...

A critical reflection on illegal precious metal mining under harsh conditions with observations of moon exploration. By juxtaposing two motifs—the exploitation of Earth’s resources and miners laboring to extract dwindling gold deposits in Africa—the film raises important ethical questions about the cost of progress and...

On September 22, 1998, the Iranian poet Hamid Hajizadeh and his nine-year-old son Karun, whose name symbolically refers to Iran's longest river, were brutally murdered in their home in Kerman. The documentary film, based on the statements of the survivors, tries to sensitively reconstruct one of the many terrible, poli...

In 2018, two firefighters from the Venezuelan Andes published in social media a video of a donkey as if it were the president of Venezuela visiting their rundown facilities. That same day, they were taken to prison. After almost six years, the people from Apartaderos are afraid of talking about the case. People at the ...

Gaza, December 2023. A confrontation with a disturbing photograph on social media triggers questions about what it means to be an onlooker.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: On Censhorship.

February 27, 1993, Štrpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A passenger train from Belgrade to Bar is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them. This is the true story of a man who could not remain silent.  T...

Left in her aunt’s care on a family ranch at the edge of the burning Brazilian wetland, 12-year-old Mia is desperate for the touch of her mother’s love – but in this volatile natural world, with the impending threat of a deadly Jaguar consuming the family, love comes in unexpected form.  This short film is part of the ...

As people try to adapt to the new reality of present-day Russia, a cartographer encounters a young man who has recently escaped from an adult psycho-neurological facility.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: Wind of Resistance.

Three Venezuelan women cross the border into Colombia to buy a packet of pasta.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: Through the Eyes of Others.

Nanne's son Arnout who has committed a sex offense returns home to the farm after serving his sentence. Will Nanne be able to rediscover compassion for his son while being consumed by a poisonous mix of grief, hate, and self-blame amidst a harsh and conservative Frisian rural community?  This short film is part of the ...

In 1998, two schoolgirls sent a letter to Iran's first-ever women’s newspaper. While they waited for it to be published, they considered making an impossible film.  This short film is part of the programme Shorts: On Censhorship.

A social satire told in five acts delves into our society, its behaviors and flaws. The narrative conveyed through light and attractive visuals serves as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences if we fail to eliminate foolish behaviors, lack of empathy and a lack of responsibility.  This short film is part o...

A gardener tends to a small garden in a field overgrown with weeds. What begins as an innocent encounter turns into a fight for survival and an attempt to preserve the existing world at any cost.  This short film is part of the program Shorts: On Borders. 

Surya, a teenage ragpicker, finds a camera on a huge garbage mountain in Delhi. The camera becomes her window to the untold stories of women surrounding her. Between fiction and documentary, the film focuses on a community of garbage collecters who try to find their place in the world amidst garbage and scorching heat....

São Paulo, July 1998. On the day of the World Cup final against France, Erika Shigeru (14), a Japanese Brazilian teenager who rejects the traditions of her Japanese family, is eager to celebrate a world title for her country. Amid the growing tension during the match, Erika deals with microaggressions and plunges into ...