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Una selección de las mejores películas del año, curada por nuestro equipo de programación. Esta competencia se lleva a cabo de manera alternativa a la competencia oficial y es exclusivamente en línea.
How joyful it is to have the opportunity to lead the programming of a Latin American Festival for the first time. After having been responsible for the selection of numerous line-ups in various festivals around the world, Mirada Corta is a new challenge for me that I experience with great excitement. This involves curating a selection of the most vibrant international films and, at the same time, discovering Mexican films to give them international exposure. The task is to bring together these films in a unique event, with the purpose of being celebrated by an unparalleled audience, undoubtedly one of the most passionate and cinephile audiences I have had the pleasure of knowing: the Mexican audience.
Mexico has been a global reference in cinema for decades, but beyond blockbusters and major productions, emerging Mexican artists have achieved a unique level of sensitivity when it comes to storytelling. Always mindful of the importance of entertaining the audience, yet never forgetting the responsibility to educate and alert film enthusiasts about the reality in which we live. This has led them to fearlessly provide a space for brave voices to have a prominent place in the film industry.
Cinema has the magical ability to transport us to a unique universe where anything is possible, immersing us in a singular reality: that of the big screen. Today, with great pride and joy, I invite you to enjoy the best Mexican and international short films of the year in every fan’s favorite place: the movie theater.
Viva el cine, viva la cultura!
Mariano Cabaco
Invited Programming Director
2024 Edition
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 24th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 26th – 6PM
Climate change, environmental crisis, and our own relationship with nature are the themes of these wonderful films that showcase the importance of respecting our world.
While playing in the forest, three children stumble across a character that looks like Godard’s Pierrot le Fou. The latter listens to the news on the radio announcing a series of environmental disasters. Distressed, the children connect to a tree that sends them on a mission to reboot planetary consciousness.
At first, they thought it was just a summer storm. Almost two years later, plants are dying and the birds are gone. The sun shines at full capacity roughly 30 percent a year and when it does, it is very dangerous for humans causing a rare, and times, often fatal skin disease. Troubled people are consigned to healing centers, and an acute sense of watchfulness permeates the society. On a once thriving rooftop garden, four people struggle for normalcy, not only within the parameters of the impending environmental disaster, but with the vagaries of their own human nature: MATILDA is a doctor who once thrived within the medical community, but upon the loss of a special patient she had come to love, she struggles with long term grief. Her estranged husband, TEDDY, also an attorney has been assigned to a special rehabilitation center for people like himself who outwardly express their negative feelings. JO is their neighbor who volunteers at the makeshift Coping and Caring Centers for those in need of being held. PHIL, her husband, has been assigned to city surveillance helping to monitor the well being of others by reporting suspicious behavior that could lead to self harm.
Visionary creates grassroots social enterprise to prevent whale extinction. Now the organization races against time to battle new threats using research, education and conservation methods to help sustain a delicate balance between humans and marine life.
In a small fold of the Angochagua mountain range, La Rinconada undergoes a transformation. The community, the routines, and even the houses don't seem to be the same as before. Through construction as a process, housing as an object, and dwelling as a phenomenon, the community tells the story of change, what remains, and what was not forgotten.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 24th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 26th – 6PM
Family, friends, lovers, or strangers, this collection of shorts will make us laugh and stir emotions. Laughter keeps us alive.
A pedantic mother-to-be hires a stranger to role-play as her unborn daughter.
Two friends Sam and Ethel play a fun game to reconnect at their local beach.
Ernest, a street manager, leads a well-ordered life. One morning, on his way to work, he misses his bus and finds himself trapped in a strange psychoanalysis office where he has to hold sessions. What will he learn about himself through his eccentric patients?
It's the first day of spring: Numerous couples come to visit the old photo booth in the park. While capturing memories, they don't hesitate to kiss wildly, eat and sing inside the booth. What nobody knows: Behind the mirrored glass, the Photo Booth Lady lives and works taking photos. She is increasingly annoyed by the tedious visitors and the day doesn't seem to end.
Three educated (and bored) twenty-somethings are working a dead-end job in a gas station. Their futures are grim. When a group of bank robbers turn up fresh from a heist and fresh out of fuel, things get a bit more interesting.
Rick, a young man with a ton of talent, is considering suicide to escape from life's roughness towards mistakes. A strange middle aged man tries to convince him not to, and a heated debate ensues.
Anna-Lisa, an old and unmarried woman, is ill and can barely move around the home. Tired of life, she decides to burn her diaries. Unable to do it herself, she invites her niece, Malin, who is not aware of what is expected of her. Malin fights against her desire to preserve the stories and to respect her aunt's will. Based on true events, the film conveys the importance of enjoying life while we can.
She invited guests to her birthday party, but nobody came...
When Mikke’s mother gives birth to a fourth child who appears to be half cow half human, his world and that of his two brothers is turned upside down.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 24th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 26th – 8PM
Films that portray young characters fighting on the path of self-discovery. This group of filmmakers is not afraid to showcase the intimacy of the youth.
As a campus bully, He Zhenye has long been involved in a campus bullying campaign against Lin Sheng based on gay discrimination. However, unlike other bullies, He Zhenye has a secret in his heart that he, like Lin Sheng, is a gay man. During the confrontation with Lin Sheng, He Zhenye achieved self-identity and rescued Lin Sheng from various dangers. In the end, the two successfully resisted oppression in their respective ways and achieved two-way redemption.
A lyrical portrait of the evolving relationship between young trans soulmates Ada Avery and Lio Francis over the course of one transformative year.
Amidst a night of heartache and longing, two Asian girls, Lucy and Vanessa seize an opportunity to get closer through laughter, tears, and shared dreams. As their connection deepens, Lucy must navigate her hidden feelings toward Vanessa while exploring the possibility of a profound and unexpected love. Along the way, Lucy reveals her desire to create a story about their journey, and the film becomes the realization of her deepest aspirations.
Nicolas is out clubbing with the sole purpose of drowning his sorrows in booze and the embrace of nameless men. His night, however, is interrupted when he and his friends ran into Luka, an attractive and carefree guy with whom Nicolas has history. This unexpected reunion brings back old feelings and changes the course of Nicolas’s night.
Sly, a shabby door-to-door salesman must grapple with his fading pride as Jent, his nonstarter son, tags along with him to sell used smoke alarms. When Sly’s pride is damaged during a sale gone wrong, Jent must harness the moment as an opportunity to vie for his father’s respect.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 24th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 26th – 8PM
Documentaries are always important, not only for allowing us to learn and discover the unknown. Art, music, poetry, and personal portraits take center stage in these films.
Legendary visual artist Nancy Burson sparked a technological revolution by using computer morphing techniques to blend art and science, but claims she didn’t do it alone. The complex truth behind Nancy's beliefs and how they shaped her career evokes questions about the nature of creation and of reality itself.
A poetic exploration of a father-daughter relationship. Anahita grows up in front of her father's camera. A dreamy life fulfilled with love and poetry evolves into a nightmare in which she witnesses her identity get lost as her father dies of cancer. In her quest to understand death, she dives into a rollercoaster ride of unknown emotions and embarks on a voyage of acceptance. From death into an immortal world.
Can a picture contain all the beauty of a flower?
Between technology and emotions, Algorithms of Beauty questions the limits of our gaze when faced with AI images.
This film is a personal portrait of the controversial Japanese artist Tatsumi Orimoto who is globally famous for his 'Breadman' performances and a series of deeply intimate works made with his elderly mother Odai, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Orimoto is constantly making new work and thinks of daily life as art itself. Told in his own voice, Tatsumi's extraordinary story raises difficult questions about what art can be and how we respond to it. Through his highly individual and provocative work, he uses the power of drawing, sculpture and performance to challenge the fine line between private life and public action.
A successful painter prepares a retrospective of all his work. During the preparations, the painter enters into a deep personal crisis that leads him to question his past and try to create one last and disconcerting work.
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 24th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 26th – 8PM
It doesn’t matter where on the map it is happening; these filmmakers are not afraid to raise their voices to represent minorities who are striving to be heard.
The world of gems narrated through the personal stories of the people who live on them: from those who dig in mines to the ones who deal with the trade of gems and their exportation. Between hardship and dreams, on the background of the breathtaking Madagascar landscape, "ALO", with the people belonging to this world, represents a choral portrait of a reality that is both charming and contradictory.
The author's grandparents were Aromanians, a Balkan minority of nomadic shepherds, without territory and written language, wandering between mountains and seas.
Their story is told from the subjective point of view of the artist, who passionately reproduces in staged scenes this perpetual tragic wandering, also full of hope and courage to live.
In The Mezquital Valley, Mexico, the inequality distribution of environmental services has modified the collective environment of thousands of people who struggle to survive in an ecosystem that they did not choose.
The reality in Ukraine split into before and after the war. Every citizen is trying to contribute to the nationwide resistance. Many people retrained for the needs of the military. Sculptors and metalworkers now make anti-tank obstacles. In the art workshops, among the artwork, anti-tank obstacles are being produced. The artists make the anti-tank obstacles, surrounded by the sculptures of angels, Cossacks, and famous Ukrainian personalities. Statues stand in the corners like a silent army. Multiple copies of Jesus Christ, like a terracotta army, froze in various poses and waiting. Masters weld metal for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A look into the lives of the Ulaan Taiga rangers who have dedicated their lives to the national parks and protected areas of Mongolia.
Through the eyes of four inhabitants of the Mayan Jungle, the roots of a culture threatened with extermination are unearthed. The preservation of culture resembles the transplantation of a kapok tree.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 24th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 26th – 8PM
Icons or not, these characters are real fighters. In this selection of shorts, we will understand the meaning of being stronger than we are.
Anjela Pencheva has suffered from Cerebral Palsy since birth, but the difficult diagnosis has never broken her spirit and has turned her into a writer, an actress and a dancer. Through her work and with her computer generated voice, she participates in various initiatives for the rights of the people with disabilities and inspires everyone who has met her.
We don’t see much of Huguette in our family home movies.
This is the story of a woman, a mother, a grandmother who has been worried all her life.
Two childhood friends, both now stand-up comics, explore their past trauma together.
At 96 years old, Magician Mr. Delhi lives for the love of magic and his wife. For him, magic means the only link with reality and he will fight against time and the difficulties of old age to continue surprising curious eyes hungry for illusion.
A sus 96 años de edad, el Mago Mr. Delhi vive por el amor a la magia y a su esposa. Para él, la magia le significa el único vinculo con la realidad y luchará contra el tiempo y las dificultades de la vejez para seguir sorprendiendo a los ojos curiosos y hambrientos de ilusión.
When Antonio receives improper care from his doctor and loses his sight, his sister puts her life on hold and moves to Texas to take care of him full time. A story of the generational history of caretaking in an immigrant Mexican family - and the weight, love and breaking points of familial sacrifice. This is a documentary film I made of my mother, uncle, and grandparents.
Abstinence is refraining from satisfying a craving.
Teetotalism is the total, definitive abstinence from alcohol.
In other words, a life sentence!
4801 nights documents an introspection and a wandering, a fall and a rise, during a trip to
the polar circle.
Legend has it that the polar night can drive those who venture there to sanity or madness.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 24th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 27th – 3PM
“Experimental is a combination of visual arts, music, film, but most of all, an exploration of undiscovered or unknown places. Filmmakers trespass any limit to propose something different.”
In High Winds & Slippery Surfaces a fleeting body fights to maintain control of their movement as they find themselves in an unstable and unpredictable environment. The film experiments with the friction between physical action, sound and space to awaken the kinaesthetic sense of the viewer.
Repeated disruption in the flow of action and sound together with the abrupt changes between involuntary and choreographed movements creates a dark, unsettling viewing experience as the sonically immersive environment takes the viewer beyond the screen supporting a greater sense of awareness of the space surrounding them.
High Winds & Slippery Surfaces was a 'One Minute' commission by GOAT media and Screen.dance.
Three objects are used in a different way from that for which they were created. Something unheard of happens: these objects are endowed with voice and consciousness. In their reflections permeate the absurd arguments that support and promote gender violence.
Alex returns to an old ruin and starts reminiscing over their past. They embark on a dreamlike journey through the five stages of grief. It is a last goodbye to the one they used to love and the one they used to be. And at last, they can let go.
This is a "semi-finished film". The main character experiences a deep disappointment about what has happened, but the viewer doesn't know exactly what occurred. The viewer is invited to "cook" the film themselves by filling in the missing pieces with their own information about an event in their life that once led to similar experiences.
don't play with no chicken
she scares me
have a dog in the forest
i can puff like an owl
can you see me?
they run away
shouts a me
no fun
it creaks at night
we hide
bark tastes like bugs
they point fingers at
sky yesterday
when you eat it
soft like me
are we scary?
we are scary today
Former saboteur gets back on saddle. Every trick will be exposed.
When Byron Sanders, a superhero-obsessed Black kid from South Dallas, seizes an opportunity to go to a predominantly White private school, his reckoning with race and class puts him on a path to becoming CEO of one of the most influential nonprofits in the city.
Lucia Octavio boards a bus in the middle of a mountainous border town and wakes up naked when the bus arrives at the station. Confused and alone, yet determined and brave, Lucia confronts the attackers that threaten her.
Caught in a room the protagonist, Clarice, unfolds a vision of her own identity through a mirror interrogator.
At the end of the horizon a singing cicada is born. Its flying is short, yet its chanting is eternal.
Mr. Munro is a short film inspired by the photographic work of David Picard and Andrew Ly. It is a visual poem that follows a mysterious character dressed as if the swamp is his world, wearing garments and carrying a demeanour evocative of an uncanny mix of Patrick Bateman and Edward Scissorhands. Mr. Munro speaks in verses, describing his journey from inner darkness to inner light. ChatGPT provided the poem, which was then edited by Juliette Garcia León for human touch and relatability. This structure of writing made way for creating a storyline that feels uncanny-canny.
The visuals are accompanied by evocative music and sound design, creating a unique and surreal atmosphere. Experience the strange story of Mr. Munro and his journey through this captivating short film.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 24th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 27th – 3PM
Panic, fear, and, of course, adrenaline are the basis of this block of scary films. Lock the door, have a phone near you, and try to enjoy the scariest movies of the season.
After several failed rounds of IVF, an artist retreats to her remote cabin to throw herself into work -- only to be met by a dark, sinister presence that ultimately forces both a confrontation and a choice.
In Colin Greenfield's striking debut with Discrete’s "In My Room", we witness a haunting portrayal of a solitary construction surveyor, masterfully played by Ben Apgar, adrift in the catacombs of a condemned edifice. Greenfield conjures a surreal, labyrinthine underworld bathed in chiaroscuro, where the boundaries between corporeal and cognitive fray. Discrete’s pulsating score underscores this slow-burn descent into psychosis, merging seamlessly with Greenfield's arresting visuals. The piece resonates with both eerie quietude and palpable dread, encapsulating a vertiginous plunge into the maws of the unknown. A riveting visual-sonic amalgam, it beckons viewers into an unsettling realm of isolation and otherness.
A dry wood mother decides to carve her root baby into a human due to the loss of her flesh body parts.
A down on his luck Office clerk finds a cheap apartment, but there is a catch; it's haunted. Can he learn to live with his ghost roomate?
WORST CASE SCENARIO is a comedy horror about a group of friends who, while waiting for one of them to return from a beer run, play a game called Worst Case Scenario, in which each person narrates the worst possible thing that could have happened to him, until, finally, when their friend arrives home safe, the real danger is just beginning.
A global catastrophe is ending life on Earth and inside one of the only safe places that remain, a boy seeks to break his confinement to help his father return with him.
After living through a tragic accident Jorge embarks a family on a dreamlike journey in order to recreate the dinner he was never able to have with his family and thus rebuild his fragmented existence.
Nancy works in a small gas station shop. Disillusioned, not even the news of an apocalypse seems to worry her. But the sudden arrival of a mysterious customer could change all that. Will Nancy finally find meaning in her life? Or in her death?
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 24th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 27th – 3PM
These films portray the relationships between soulmates connected on various levels. Love, romance, and sensibility are the protagonists of this collection.
What is the difference between a writer and a housewife? How can you write a novel when you feel suffocated by love? A young woman living in her own Garden of Eden with her boyfriend in Jerusalem has taken a vow not to leave their apartment until she finishes her novel. But her narrative is disrupted by the arrival of her boyfriend’s famous brother. Told in a personal voice-over, we follow the writer as she makes choices between the familiar home and the unknown world outside.
A love story that never was in a city that does not know how to talk. When Jill dares to chat with stranger Jack, a spark ignites and he rises to the challenge. But is the city ready to converse?
Anna, a lonely computer coder, has been nurturing an illegal romance with an AI in a computer simulation for the past six months. When her company uncovers the affair, she’s forced into a desperate battle to save her precious relationship.
Jitka and Jaromir, a married couple in their seventies, live their routine-filled day-to-day life while constantly getting on each other's nerves.
Upon hearing on the radio that the end of the world is coming, they start working together to get ready for the apocalypse. When the day finally comes, they have to deal with a surprising twist of events, which ends up being a beginning of a new, unexpected adventure.
A couple’s post-theater dinner date turns confrontational as the pair discuss the merits of Samuel Beckett’s Rough for Theatre II. Things escalate to the point of disclosed trauma, bitter recriminations and hurled bread rolls — and it becomes clear they have a few issues to work out.
A lonely bassoonist lives his life meticulously, mired in routine. Each day, he plays a single note in an orchestra and leaves the stage while the rest continue. One day, his exit is accidentally delayed and he hears a breathtaking violin solo, which changes his life forever. A Christmas love story.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 24th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 27th – 3PM
Sometimes, an accidental meeting can lead to an everlasting relationship (or not), but that unique sensation of being in love is universal. Enjoy and discover a lovely selection of shorts.
Nature, miles away from civilization, is the home of Adam Hahn, the film's protagonist. Every day he sets out on long walks into the unknown, where he gathers ingredients for his work and enjoys undisturbed silence. Adam does not seek the company of people, but his wife Magda is the exact opposite. She has never got used to the tight conditions of the isolated cottage and at every opportunity escapes to the big city called Metropolis. Can they find a compromise and save their relationship? Despite seemingly living next door to each other, they are already inwardly distant, and any further attempts at harmony between them fizzle out into pervasive loneliness. The question is whether they remain completely alone in it.
When they discover a bag of white powder on a plane, the cracks in a newly engaged couple’s relationship are forced wide open, in this tense and darkly bizarre story - with a twisted smile.
A happy marriage, a beautiful dress, a romantic wedding night, the children, the time of happiness... Years passing and leaving traces, lies, broken promises, distance, betrayal... Chronicle of a death foretold, autopsy of a marriage like so many others, or may be not.
Valentin Mironovich Novikov and his wife Elena Alekseevna Novikova are sick with Covid-19, and at it's peak, Valentin has appendicitis. The ambulance manager, an acquaintance, refuses to send a carriage, and Elena takes Valentin to the hospital on her own. On the way, she calls the surgeon and family friend Mikhail, who refuses hospitalization, referring to the safety of the patients in his department.The doors of the hospital are locked right at the moment of the appearance of Elena and Valentine. The last chance is to go to Vladimir Sergeevich, an old retired doctor with Alzheimer's. Valentine, accepting his fate, asks to be taken home, but Elena, in desperation, decides to take the last opportunity, and Valentine dies halfway through.
Can one accidental meeting at a street light cause several worlds to collide?
Elena, a young HIV positive woman meets Fillip, a young romantic man at an intersection in the city of Skopje. They spend the next couple of days walking around the city and getting to know each other while forming a special bond. Their strong feelings for each other makes their limited time together longing for more and leads to revealing more about themselves than they normally would, since both believe they will never see one another again. And what if their once in a lifetime encounter at the street light was just a possibility for creating a story, which might have never even happened?
This Saturday is a Turkish wedding day at Espace Venise (France). Huddled in a car in the parling lot, Fatih, 21, wants to get married. He has set his sights on Ipek, Recep’s sister. But neither Murat, his best friend, nor Recep, nor even Ipek are aware of this yet.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 24th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 27th – 6PM
Partners in crime. Years pass by, and storms may collide, but love is still there. These characters will honor love and persistence in a unique way.
Hana and Yusuke, a married couple living in Tokyo, have felt distant from each other since an incident occurred three years ago, and have since been spending lots of time apart.
Unable to bridge the distance, they find themselves coming to a karaoke parlor in anticipation of their divorce settlement.
While Hana sings half-heartedly in desperation, Tokyo suffers a blackout due to a stretched electrical grid.
At the same time, Hana suddenly collapses.
Gwen and Paul are life-loggers and life partners locked inside during a global shutdown until Gwen discovers a blip in her life and must leave. Trouble ensues when she doesn't make it out the door but instead ends up right where she started as the days bleed together and reality crosses wires with dreams. Is Gwen simply forgetting? Or is there something more sinister happening?
Chao Jiang and Wan Lin used to be a perfect couple. However, five years ago, their marriage ended in constant quarrels. Chao lost custody of their child because of his unsuccessful career in photography, therefore, Chao decided to leave Wan’s hometown and go back to Beijing to rebuild his career, so that one day he can have his child back. Now, Chao almost has the most successful career, and he is about to revisit Wan’s hometown because of an invitation to his boss’s daughter’s wedding. While it looks like he is close to have his child back, Wan sends him an invitation to her father’s funeral…
Carmen suffers a panic attack after facing the prospect of opening herself emotionally to her partner Lucía. A couple of soccer commentators relate the attack as if it were a game. Carmen will have to make a decision that will forever change her relationship.
On their way back to Mexico city from a short vacation, Esther and Leonardo reminisce about their youth and their relationship before parenthood. As they get loser to the city, the conversation grows strained, and Esther confesses that she regrets becoming a mother.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 24th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 27th – 6PM
One of the most powerful blocks of the season. These films will say STOP out loud, portraying once more the injustices and abuses that still pretend to rule the world. Women who are empowered and not victimized, just ready to say no more.
An emotionally charged music video explores the relentless tug of war between love and toxicity in a couple's turbulent relationship, demonstrating the heart-wrenching paradox of their bond.
The true story of a young collegiate woman who tried to find justice for three years for her shelved rape kit—only to become the key witness in the Senate hearing to end the rape kit backlog. Can she trust the system that betrayed her?
A prestigious film director is publicly accused of rape, and he makes a documentary to prove his innocence.
Through photographs, dreams and unanswered questions, Paulina's presence lives on in the daily life of Margarita, her mother. In an immeasurable search for justice for her daughter's death, Margarita discovers that her voice can form part of a larger struggle that has emerged in the face of the current wave of femicides in Mexico. 'The Echo Of Her Voice’ shows us the strength of the mother-daughter relationship that knows no bounds.
Women's voices rise to deliver testimonies of victims of sexual violence. It is by reconstructing a story with these fragments of experience that a societal portrait is painted over the course of the documentary. Like a mosaic, the pieces stick together to build a unique story that could be that of any human. The images are meant to be a reappropriation of the female body in order to offer it a place as a body-subject and never again as a body-object.
"Artist" is a visually captivating film that delves into the mind of a female artist preparing for her first gallery show. Her Master Piece—an abstract sculpture of a woman's body—has consumed her for months. However, as the opening night nears, her frustration over a small imperfection reaches a breaking point.
Elena, a Mayan Tsotsil woman from San Andrés Larraínzar, Chiapas, is challenged by the uses and customs of her people when an almost entirely male community assembly appoints her as a municipal trustee. As an authority, she introduces us to the complexity of the system of sociopolitical organization in San Andrés. During her term of office, the traditional practice of masculinity begins to be questioned.
A woman living with her husband’s abscence rethinks her priorities after an incident with their children.
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 25th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 27th – 6PM
Competition can be challenging, motivating, but also dangerous. These stories portray the experiences of strong characters in the first person. Beyond the sport and the competition, these films invite us to get to know the inner lives of the protagonists.
A former boxer struggling with the loss of his father hikes to the Wisdom Tree in Los Angeles, California.
Jason, 27, lives in a social housing flat with his mother, who is seriously ill. During the week, he takes care of her and works at a factory. On weekends, he is a pro wrestler in local galas. Jason is passionate, but to ensure the show, Aldo, his promoter, asks him to lose his fights. Too often.
Sarah Nemetta is a boxing trainer who has been injured and who fills her frustration of not boxing in clandestine street fights organized by Sandro. Emma, one of her students, will follow her in her excesses. Will Sarah teach her student the noble art of boxing or the violence of the street?
Eric, a regional rugby coach, is willing to do anything to win. Even if this implies to risk the physical integrity of his players...
Brigie, in her thirties, is trying to get rid of the wounds she can no longer hide. She tries fencing and decides to fight a battle that could set her free.
A spunky girl helping her mother in the fields must choose between putting soccer or family first.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 25th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 27th – 6PM
It doesn’t matter if we’ve met before or not. It doesn’t matter who you are or who you want to be. What matters is today. These unique stories will introduce a variety of unseen characters.
Professional doofus Wade Nelson, a customer service rep at a gun manufacturer, picks up a career defining phone call. On the line is an unhinged man harboring an appetite for his destruction. Realizing his life is at the mercy of a man with nothing to lose, Wade must now face danger for the first time in a profession he's made by selling it to others.
A disagreement between two passengers in a subway wagon quickly escalates into hostility. The protagonists of this public clash are three complete strangers whose lives have been pushed to the verge of delirium by the Covid-19 health crisis.
A spider sticks onto a lint roller. Johann, the supposedly single retiree, pulls out all the stops to free the spider alive. As he receives a response to a fan-letter from his idol, Johann is reenforced to free himself from his own life and pursue his dreams.
During Halloween, a cow destined for slaughter escapes and the hunt for her is broadcast live on television as holiday entertainment. Meanwhile, Yusef, a young man working at a waste recycling plant, finishes another dreary workday. After experiencing a series of setbacks, he is overwhelmed by frustration and despair. While wandering through a cemetery, Yusef stumbles upon a freshly dug grave and lies down in it. The moment of serenity is shattered by the appearance of Boq, a strangely talkative man who approaches the grave and extends his hand towards Yusef.
A young taxi driver from Medellín faces chaos after an exhausting night. While he struggles to make it on time to see his daughter, he puts his determination to the test as he confronts uncontrollable situations that lead him to introspection.
Urban noir fable with a supernatural wink. The story of a sweet potato vendor in Mexico City that drives the streets at night stalking a lonely and decadent exotic dancer.
Manuel lives his way, he exercises and trains his pitbull dog. However, Margarita, a women twice his age, will finally make him question his identity.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 25th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 27th – 8PM
Suspense and tension take control in this thrilling block. Inner fears or real threats, these filmmakers will take the audience on a trip overdosed with adrenaline.
Alone in his recently deceased fathers apartment, Olly is struck by a crippling dissociative panic attack. With over-the-phone support from his sister, Olly finds a version of calm, but a sinister, abstract presence continues to take hold.
Wilderman García (Wild District, Narcos), performs this film inspired by the monologue by William Shakespeare's masterpiece “Hamlet”. It is a very contemporary twist on the same precepts but in the context of current geopolitics. Both stories deeply touch on tragedy, personal convictions, revenge, and moral corruption, as well as man's alienation and existentialist diatribes from him. Hamleyed is a young man with a desire to take revenge as a terrorist. His own reflection in a mirror rebukes him "to be or not to be".
When an ambitious young Mexican diplomat loses his career and is reduced to caddying at a golf resort, he kidnaps an arrogant American businessman in a misguided attempt to buy his old life back, unprepared for the battle of wills that ensues.
After a tragedy Andrzej is trying to move on. But revenge stands in the way of life. Only one question remains - a shotgun or a hammer?
On a stormy day, Émilien visits his farmer father. Once there, he discovers an empty dairy farm. The cows have disappeared. His father is missing. There is blood on the barn floor.
In a dystopian society a grandmother wants to spend more time with her granddaughter, but a series of events turns what seems to be a perfect afternoon into something else.
When a radicalized, homeschool teen becomes convinced that a girl he met while volunteering at a homeless shelter is being groomed for human trafficking to liberal elites for a satanic ritual, he mounts a misguided quest to save her.
(Dark Comedy, Satire, Thriller)
An alternate state of consciousness is induced in a bitter little girl by her maid so that she can confront and, hopefully, overcome her deepest fears.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 25th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 27th – 8PM
People talk, and talk. You can do it in a group, with a therapist, in a theater, or in front of a mirror. Reflecting is the key to moving on in life.
How’d You Sleep? is a comedic, slice of life exploration of one person’s battle with chronic insomnia. Our main character, let’s call them Dreamer, has the nightly misfortune of tossing and turning, lucid dreams that jolt them awake, racing thoughts and racing heartbeats. They’re haunted by the fear of the looming future, as their insomnia makes following their waking dreams feel impossible. Over the course of a night we get a glance at the surreal, frustrating, humiliating, ridiculous ways that Dreamer tries to cope, to make it through the night and ultimately tries to fall asleep.
A group of people will be confronted with their sorrow and inner demons in the worst group therapy of their lives.
After a bad show, Celeste gets one last chance to prove herself. In her desperation she loses herself in her character.
Magdalena is a small-town theatre actress, playing unrecognisable roles. She travels to a nearby village to take care of her father-in-law, who has suffered a stroke.
Due to a swine fever outbreak, the village has been blocked. After a long thought, she decides to save the pig, even though, if caught she will face a fine that she is unable to pay.
On her journey to save the pig, Magdalena finds the empathy of people in unlikely places.
Natalia and Malina lead completely different lives. Malina is a rebellious girl searching for her path and trying to figure out what she really wants. Natalia is a famous actress, and a respected mother and wife living in a luxurious residence. When, as usual, Malina turns to her sister for help, she meets with an unexpected refusal. But spending a few hours with Natalia helps her realize that her sister’s life is full of mysteries.
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 25th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 27th – 8PM
Filmmakers that take the risk to make their stories their own and create a new universe with new rules. Films full of complexity and fascinating aesthetics will invite us to think outside the box.
In an isolated post-war nation, an ordinary unfulfilled office worker joins a rebellion fighting against the authoritarian government’s criminalization of all forms of communication to liberate the people and save her brother.
In the near future, society is managed by strict sanitary rules. Compulsory vaccination allows the control of an increasingly submissive population. Clara, 26, a former resistance figure and notorious criminal, is actively sought and hunted by the police. When she decides to break into the home of Amir, 55, a security guard at a state laboratory, it is to save Léa, her daughter of a few months.
Inside a theater, the mythological clash between Saturn (father) and Jupiter (son) is staged in a modern, human key. On stage the two actors confront each other physically and verbally. But nothing is as it seems.This is a true story that happened in Auschwitz that Sami Modiano, one of the last survivors of the Nazi Concentration Camps, told the author of this short film.
In a not so unfamiliar dystopian world a perpetual ritual faces people with the dilemma of kill or be killed. Or is there a way to break this vicious cycle?
A palace ravaged by blood. A slaughterhouse holds all the passions of mankind. A woman, wandering the premises of an abandon slaughterhouse, a reminiscent of her palace, 'bleeds out’ sins and stereotypes, questioning the story granted to her: When Agamemnon returns from the Trojan War, Clytemnestra murders him in revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia. Years later, their son, Orestes comes home to avenge his father’s death.
After festival rejections, a director revises his intensely personal short film about trauma, suicide, and the Holocaust, and transforms it into a painful, blunt and funny dissection of the film and his life.
"Mother" tells the story of Vitaly Ivanov - a miner on the Ukraine/Russian border who discovers a ringing phone - and tragically so much more - in his backyard. "Mother" is based on the true-life story of the miners of Rozsypne, Ukraine who combed the fields in Donetsk to retrieve the bodies of the victims of the MH17 disaster.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 25th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 27th – 8PM
This group of filmmakers raises their voices for others, stating louder and with no fears the abuses that society goes through. Repression, dictatorships, violence at any moment in history are brought to the audience by these directors to make sure we do not forget.
A group of young people on their way to a demonstration in Guadalajara, México are suddenly kidnapped by the same forces they were trying to protest. As the group is plunged into darkness, not knowing if they will ever see the light again, the memories of a young man — and the many that became victims before him — emerge. A reflection of police brutality in today’s world.
Animated documentary that tells the story of María, a mother who discovers that the Morelos Prosecutor´s Office buried her son and 115 more bodies in a hidden and irregular mass grave. María and her sister forced the government to open the grave and succeed in removing those he had buried there. Maria is guided by the rain, when it rains means that her son Oliver sends her signals that she is on the right track in her struggle to return the missing persons home.
An Afghan journalist embarks on a journey to find out who murdered her family 30 years ago, only to uncover hundreds of civilians killed in a secretive American backed program.
In the guts of Mexico, Marina, a young outlandish accused of being accomplice to a hijacker has been taken by Federal Police agents during a raid. Her endurance is being put to the test as she refuses to cooperate with the troopers interrogatory in a visceral display of violence, pain and physical waste. Marina conjures poetry as a unique possibility to hold on to life until a female Commander of alluring mystique arrives to take control of the operative.
A conflicted process server is finding himself torn between helping two very different victims of domestic violence. The choice he makes, ultimately threatens to derail his ethical foundation and his career alike.
In the unforgiving embrace of a desolate desert, a resolute young Latina faces off against her relentless foe. As the layers of her tumultuous past are unveiled, the narrative takes us deep into the lives of two brothers in a secluded village, weaving a tapestry of destiny, survival, and the haunting echoes of violence. With each revelation, tensions surge, and Fernanda's enigmatic mission becomes a palpable force, leaving both characters and viewers grappling with the harsh realities of their circumstances.
Requiem is set in 1605, against the backdrop of the witch trials. It's a coming of age story, following Evelyn as she engages in a game of cat and mouse against her father, Minister Gilbert, in order to be with Mary, the woman she loves.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 25th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 28th – 3PM
Powerful and strong characters that fight against a system, searching for the most appreciated value: truth. No matter where the story is set, these characters will not stop until they find the truth.
A photojournalist is threatened by extremist groups in her Serbian home, and flees to Germany with her daughter. But then she also experiences increasingly strong threats and attacks in her new home.
The story of an Iranian woman, Tina, who questions her decision to keep her child due to the women's movement in Iran and the fact that the child is a girl.
"Confrontation" is the story of a man who fight to prove the innocence of his sister, accused of the murders of her daughter and her husband. In 2021, 106 106 countries have completely abolished the Capital Punishment for all crimes, while 54 countries retain it. We can have certainties but where do we stand when we are personnally concerned ?
In an industry dominated by men, a women working at sea is not common. Máxima, a grandmother who represents struggle, will take us to relive her time as a fisherwoman, while her granddaughters predict that the future of many girls born into a family of artisanal fishermen is at stake. The time has come to give added value to the participation of women in fishing.
Chief Bo Dollis Jr. teaches his proteges, Corey, JaCorey, and Alvon, the virtues of being a Mardi Gras Indian, a subculture in New Orleans that instills pride and patience, through the detailed craft of stitching and sewing. This is a film about the process, what happens all the way up to the presentation of the suit, and how the practice is a one-of-a-kind creative and cultural outlet for the younger generation involved.
A young mother struggles with her mother’s death as her daughter struggles to share her mother's love with an incoming baby.
In the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl atomic fallout time seems to stand still in Germany.
Like disconnected ghosts the teenager Phillip, his overbearing father Henning and the polish housekeeper Ada live together in a Wilhelminian style villa. In this environment of toxic nature and masculinity, Phillip decides to go on a boat trip with Ada, triggering a symbolic stream of consciousness.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 25th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 28th – 3PM
On a farm, in a village, or in a forgotten place, brotherhood, friendship, and family love are the protagonists of these charming stories.
To finally feel independent, Franziska breaks off contact with her neighboring parents and fights alone for her self-catering farm. But as the winter arrives and the calving of her pregnant cow Mia draws closer, loneliness and a longing for warmth and family grow. A story about cutting the umbilical cord.
Toño, a young farmer who is from the ch'ol community, lives with his sister Rosa who he is responsible for after the lost of their mom and the absence of their father; the young farmer works in a corn field, and because of his salary he can barely pay the bills. One day his father gets ill, and this situation, which seems to be out of his hands, ultimately, becomes a very personal issue that he'll have to overcome.
In a neighborhood lives Keziah, a young boy with his mother and their roommate, Tata. Fascinated by Tata, a bar dancer and singer, Keziah mimics her, even wearing makeup outside. Feeling judged but not understanding why, his mother steps in to protect him by distancing him from Tata.
Tina, a recently widowed farmer, doesn't want her daughter to move back to the city and leave her alone. When Seamus arrives on the farm talking about a date, she decides to intervene.
A girl from Japan, Rie visits Gunsan, Korea to deliver her grandpa's unsent letter. Trying to find Kimura Keiko, the addressee of the letter, Rie wanders about Gunsan where old Japanese-style houses are still left. With a help of a local boy, Minwoo, she gets closer to the addressee yet acknowledges what her grandpa did during the period of Japanese colonialism.
Martín lives in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, in an industrial neighborhood.
His dog, named PINGÜINO, is terminally ill, so he decides to take time off work to look after him. In addition to denying the seriousness of what is happening to him, this situation leads him to confront his girlfriend and friends.
Martín will go through his days, between the care and treatments for Pingüino, the pressure of going back to work and carrying on a relationship with his girlfriend Laura, who constantly questions the time invested in his dog.
The situation gets even more complicated when Penguin gets worse and must face an urgent operation that puts into debate what is the value of love towards animals.
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 25th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 28th – 3PM
Animation proposes to the audience to get rid of any limitation and invites us to submerge on a trip where everything is possible. From social claims to history, from love to fun, animated short films always have the power to make the impossible possible.
Tom is gathering bits of glass in a ditch among burdocks and grass. Tom is looking through a bit of glass at insects buzzing all around him. No, it’s not that. Tom got lost in a forest. Tom came to the house where a cannibal Ogre lives. Tom is about to be eaten up for dinner. But no. Tom has managed to escape. He is running away through forests and fields. The Ogre in a long black coat is after him. Or rather the whole Small World, in which he is running, is trying to catch him. The Small World fits easily inside the belly of the mantis at which Tom is looking through a bit of green glass, the bit of green glass he has found in the ditch near his house among burdocks and grass.
In the land occupied with the sprayers army, no one has the right to grow any kind of plants either in public or private.
So many of the people and soldiers do not even know how dose a plant grows or look like, until one day one of the soldiers finds a seed buried deep down in the dust and his curiosity is just the beginning of something extraordinary, something big, something revolutionary
It was supposed to be a simple mission! A quick pit stop for the spacecraft. But when Nate's shadow comes to life, electronics start going haywire. Now he's stuck out in the middle of space with the robot assigned to him, Cosmo, until the hyperjump is fully charged.
An impatient fighter pilot bombs cities every day. He returns to his little girl every night after completing his mission. The girl loves to fly, but the father doesn't fulfill his daughter's dream because of the bitter memory of his wife's death. The war is getting closer every day. A day an incident changes their life, forever.
The animated short film "Mariupol. A Hundred Nights" tells the story of a little girl who wakes up from explosions and tries to survive in a burning city in the first days of the russian full-scale invasion. To escape, she has to go through the destroyed streets to meet the unknown and trust in destiny. Later, as an elderly woman, she will return to Ukrainian Mariupol to remember everything. Animated short "Mariupol. A Hundred Nights" is dedicated to Mariupol and its defenders. In memory of all children who have suffered or died during the russian invasion in Ukraine.
When the zombie apocalypse hits, heroes Kitty and Girth must race against the clock--and a ravenous horde of zombies--to save the day.
A little-told chapter in the story of black holes begins in 1930 Madras, India. 19-year-old Indian physics prodigy, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Chandra), is awarded a scholarship to go to England to study with Sir Arthur Eddington, the world’s most famous astronomer. While on his sea voyage, young Chandra makes a major discovery that goes against everything his new advisor believes: that sufficiently massive stars, when they use the last of their fuel, must be crushed by gravity and collapse to something far more dense and mysterious than any object anyone has known. After years of work to refine this result under his mentor's watchful eye, at the most public of forums, Eddington denounces his protégé and his work, shattering him, driving Chandra from England to the United States. Despite his humiliation, Chandra perseveres, but pursues a more conservative path in physics, never again braving the limelight. Nearly a half-century later in 1983, Chandrasekhar is awarded the Nobel Prize for the work begun on board that ship to England. “Shattering Stars” tells the story of ambition and betrayal, of loss and perseverance at the pinnacle of scientific research. Making use of original audio recordings of Chandrasekhar, the film alternates its limited-motion animation between a representational-documentary and imaginative-subjective style.
When a world-famous film star is accused of eating his female co-stars, his career goes down the drain. That wipes the smile off his face!
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 25th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 28th – 3PM
Animation proposes to the audience to get rid of any limitation and invites us to submerge on a trip where everything is possible. From social claims to history, from love to fun, animated short films always have the power to make the impossible possible.
XVII Century. Amidst the mountains somewhere in Mexico, a christian Priest who has fallen victim to a strange illness is taken by his native disciple to the hut of an old indigenous shaman. The Curandera will try to cure the Friar performing an ancient ritual which will have unexpected effects in the mind and body of the evangelizer.
What if, a goat ended the Mayan civilization ?
“Viandes et Poisson” pulls you into the world of experimental hip-hop group Choolers Division, whose members are artists-in-residence at the art brut center La S in Belgium. From a humorous crescendo of energy, they create a new song, setting intuition and emotion to a beat, giving a glimpse into a cacophony of deep friendship and unbridled creativity in a world that often seeks to ignore them.
The schools are in lockdown due to corona, and Lilly (10) must stay at home and take care of her drunk mother. When the bad girl from class sees what’s going on at home, Lilly thinks her secret is in danger. But sometimes help can come from where you least expect it.
A short animated film about forgetting.
“Cooking is caring” says my mother while she enthusiastically juggles pots and pans preparing a family meal. Using food and passed down recipes, personal history is interwoven with gestures of affection and familial unity. A visual ode to the unsung heroes who repeatedly feed and care for us without asking for anything in return.
Panchita is a South American girl living in a poor community with dreams of dancing. This new passion will connect her with the wide world as she transforms her very own surroundings. Panchita! is a TECHO project to bring awareness to their cause.
Ethel's childhood ends abruptly when her mother flies away, leaving Ethel alone to care for an isolated homestead and her younger siblings. As a merciless winter descends upon them, Ethel must decide whether to resign herself to fate or to try her luck in the wide world...
A recently widowed pianist has an unexpected encounter.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 25th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 28th – 6PM
Animation proposes to the audience to get rid of any limitation and invites us to submerge on a trip where everything is possible. From social claims to history, from love to fun, animated short films always have the power to make the impossible possible.
Shooom, a baby owl, hatches just as a storm turns the bayou surrounding her tree upside down. No sooner has she fallen from her nest, then the little fledgling totters off into the mangrove, pushing a second egg from the brood along with her. Come hell or high water, she’s determined to find a mother... even if that mom turns out to be an alligator or a raccoon!
This classic tale of a lamb and wolf takes a turn slightly obscure from its average known story. Set in a desert landscape, Lambs travel to and from their destinations stopping for water along the way. It's been many years and generations since the Lambs' began this journey, but this is the first Lamb attempting the path suffering a slight handicap. In this tale, there is a message to be heard and sometimes that message needs to be pushed just a little harder to be understood.
A lamb with a twitch, a lamb that's not quite there, others who care and a wolf who's hunger just does not listen.
Joe is a crane operator. This crane is made for lifting heavy things, Joe is not. He's an overweight middle-aged man stuck in a daily routine, in a confined space high up in the sky. Nothing much excites Joe, except for this one thing, this one moment which shines a dim light on his otherwise dull existence: lunch-break. As long as he has that, Joe can manage to retain a slither of sanity.
But today disaster strikes...
Emma, a young girl who had just lost her pet dog, finds herself alone at night mourning at her dog’s grave. Suddenly, a comet flashes through the sky and soon the young girl realizes that her dog has come back as a spirit from the stars. They joyfully embrace, and begin to play. However as soon as the fun begins, the dog realizes he needs to go back to his home in the stars. Emma, not accepting this fact, forces him to stay as her dog starts to fade. Seeing her dog dying before her eyes again, she realizes she must let him go. Emma frees her dog, and they embrace for the last time as the dog triumphantly returns to his new home in the stars.
Living in the forest, little spider Temi dreams of catching the Moon. For that, she will do anything.
A man falls in love for the first time but feels guilty about it
An animated short film about my childhood and the relationship I had with my sister when we were kids.
An emotional journey about how simple things can create a strong union between sisters.
The Dog Ate My Homework' is a charming stop-motion short that sends you surfing through the digital whirlpool of the internet. When a charismatic canine gatecrashes 12-year-old Charlie's screen, it's a laugh-out-loud reminder of the power of focus. As the lines blur between online adventures and offline duties, it's a colorful call to not forget life beyond the screen.
The Sound Collector adventures into the woods and discovers that music and sound can change how he feels about the world around him.
Efil Cisó, young heir to the prestigious family of Bouclette’s barbers decides that he doesn’t want to continue with the family tradition and wants to pursue his dream of being a baker.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 25th – 8PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 28th – 6PM
These stories bring arts and dance into discussion. Films that combine the passion of art and the abuses inside these sacrified disciplines. Absolutely stunning performances in a moving selection of films.
After Whim makes it through the unconventional audition for the dance piece SYNCOPE, the choreographer finds himself unsatisfied with her full comitement. But what she and the other dancers experience in the rehearsals is just a glimpse of what his dark vision will demand of them.
“Red Quimera” is an art film about two lost soul lovers of the modern world that finding in each other compassion and a way to communicate, that is unique and special to both of them, a journey between imagination and reality, this film has no words, but steps.
15-year-old Rina, estranged from her mother, fights for a place at her demanding ballet school.
During preparations for the end of the year performance, she is granted a solo role, and decides to persuade her mother to come and see her dance.
On the eve of the premiere, when she is sure that all the stars are working in her favor, Rina is forced to take a closer look at her mother's demons.
A teenager who dreams of being a dancer is forced to confront her own desires with real life.
After discovering a connection between her painting and the human world, a young painted subject leaves her frame and journeys along her gallery's wall in hopes of escaping and reaching a young female artist who has been sketching her.
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 26th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 28th – 6PM
Different stories that will move mountains. These leading characters are under pressure and will fight any battle to survive. Stories of survivors throughout the history of the last century.
In 1902 Switzerland, child laborer Emma is expected to thread needles, but just like children today, she desperately tries to live her dream of playing the violin.
Bonifacio is a man who comes and goes from one era to another: in revolutionary Mexico he tries to hide his son from the army and in 21st century Mexico in a job where he is exploited, a wife who cheats on him and a dying son, it seems that despite the efforts can not live in either of the two times.
A shelter in southern Mexico offers a safe space for migrant and refugee women and girls. Their experience of migration is marked by different viewpoints and the diverse implications it carries for their lives. 'The Sky Is Very Pretty' explores the contrast between the fear of an uncertain future, the desires of a mother and the joy and dreams of her daughters.
Amir and his daughter Fatima embark on a perilous journey to escape 90’s war-torn Syria. Amir makes a difficult decision, sacrificing himself for his daughter's future.
On a Saturday morning in the German province in 1995, a greasy local government employee makes an unannounced visit to a Congolese refugee family with their two children. He inspects the house, checks the rooms and cupboards, the oil heating in the cellar. The family is unsettled and does not know how to deal with him. He shows them how to do things of daily life or how to cut the lawn with scissors. In the process, he becomes more and more intrusive and makes no effort to leave the house again. After he hides in the toilet for an hour, the family is completely irritated. But it is only when he retreats to the parental bedroom that the situation escalates. Finally, the bed collapses, on which the intruder fights the father of the family like a pirate in a storm.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 26th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 28th – 6PM
No matter what, you just keep walking. Teenagers that will face any obstacle in order to enjoy the freedom of being young.
On her first day at a high school in rural Scotland, a London teenager is targeted for her afro hair by cocksure class bully and must harness her inner power.
Tosi (Naomi León), a native girl from an indigenous community in Baja California, motivated by her grandmother's delicate condition (Inocencia Sáenz) and frustrated by her brother's (Ratkley López) apathy and that of the other community members, seeks to make a difference in a time when darkness has consumed everything.
Mona is a 10 year old Tongan-Australian girl who begins to realise she's different to her single, white mum and family. Both mother and daughter navigate identity and belonging in Melbourne suburbia during the 90's.
This is the story of Yokozuna, a Japanse-American immigrant with no connection to his past, surrounded by the trappings of American culture on all sides -- British period dramas, weightlifting, inhuman medical care -- and finds no niche for himself to feel at ease. When his beloved dog is attacked on the beach by an errant octopus, he searches for some way to exorcise his grief and rage. In the refuge of his basement, he finds a way to break open his protective armor. This film is a memory of a childhood at the beach, the summer Princess Diana died, as seen through a kaleidoscope -- and the underlying tensions it brought out in my family’s cultural backgrounds.
A father and daughter must cross the border in order to find a better life, but the daughter cannot speak.
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 26th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 28th – 8PM
When you are young, you are unafraid and ready to defy new horizons where you can finally be who you really are.
Alon, a teenager from a small town, accompanies his mother to see a modern dance show in Tel Aviv. Deeply fascinated by the lead dancer, he sneaks away from his mother and the two set off to a voyage into the dark unknown night.
Elias, who has been diagnosed with lung cancer, goes with his best friend Mario to watch a movie at the cinema. The night, at first uneventful and dull, ends up in a disturbing encounter with death, in which Elias will have to face the darkest side of his illness to discover if this final stage of his life brings the peace he so longs for.
Entering adult life Janek works with a psychotherapist through a difficult relationship with his father. When it seems that the boy has found a way to reconcile troubled emotions, the father unexpectedly dies of a heart attack. Janek needs to say goodbye, and an opportunity to do so arises in a dissecting room.
A teenage girl, Lucrecia Llull visits a psychiatrist, Mildred Dogali as she believes she can hear the thoughts of people around her. The thin line between what is real and what is not becomes blurred as a profound connection between the two women is revealed.
When a lonely ten-year-old takes questionable advice from an unlikely mentor, her troubles begin to snowball.
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 26th – 3PM
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 28th – 8PM
Hopes and dreams of teenagers and young people who want to live their lives their way. Friendships, brotherhood, and road trips that will fill our hearts with joy and hope.
The year is 1968. Five teenage boys dream of running a movie theater in which they will not show pro-war films. One summer afternoon Giò, Delfo, Max, Ricky and Paolo learn to become trusted friends, indispensable to one another.
Alonso, ten year old kid, visits his sick grandpa at his house at the beach, where he meets Sarah, a nurse that takes care of him. The boy will live two moments that will change his perspective of life, his first encounter with death and sexual atraction.
While everyone including her boyfriend has gone off to Uni having all the sex, Helen is stuck still working at her Dad's fish 'n' chip shop, dreaming of escape.
In a roundabout attempt to get over his super hot ex-girlfriend, a heart broken yet hopeful young man seeks opinions from his peers on topics like jealousy, public sex, masculinity, and autonomy. Not based on a true story.
Paperboys, Matt and Dewey race the clock to beat a delivery record, but their joyride ends in a problem that tests their friendship.
Anna needs to get home urgently. A disturbing call from her grandmother and she is on her way to the forgotten town of her childhood located in the middle of nowhere. On her way back home, there are strange dances and dancers. Some are professional and pleasant but some are not. Anna is compelled to observe them silently and whilst being distracted she loses her belongings and illusions… Facing even her death, she finally reaches her birthplace only to face her mother’s. On her mother’s funeral, Anna realizes that the dance of her own soul is just about to start.
Tomás, a young mechanic stuck in a side road town, finds the opportunity to go to Mexico City and try to fulfill his dream of being a great bullfighter; but leaving is not easy, first, he must face and cut the ties that bind him to that place where nothing seems to happen.
CINEMA ROOM 1 JANUARY 26th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 3 JANUARY 28th – 8PM
When you are sad, when all is dark, we still believe there is a space for happiness. Hope never dies. The toughest films of the season, portray characters that will face pain in the first person.
Is home a feeling, a memory, or a place?
In this short documentary, the filmmaker travels back to her home country, Russia, to accompany her father on his first return visit to the house he grew up in the town of Klintsy. Klintsy used to be a vibrant city but now it is an emptying small town that was affected by the Chernobyl accident in 1986.The filmmaker’s father sold his family house in Klintsy some years ago and has not visited this place since then. This film looks at the consequences of the disaster through the lens of depopulation and emptying space, highlighting the dynamic world of survival that remains.
A man left alone in a distant planet, struggles to reconnect with his ship as his resources deplete. He has to make a big decision in his last days
father and mother are faced with the painful task of washing and shrouding their deceased transgender daughter. Shrouding is an Islamic religious practice that is deemed obligatory to carry out upon death. But when no one agrees to wash her and shame falls onto the family, how far is the father willing to go to make sure his "son" is washed?
A peasant shoots himself. His family suffers the consequences. After the dead of his father, little Saúl must become a man in order to help his family.
Harold tragically lost his son years ago in a horrible accident. Unable to cope with the pain, he has taken on a life of pretend, spending the intervening years working as a father-for-hire for young men, standing in for their deceased dads at major life events and family functions. While struggling to help guide these lost souls he is forced to confront his own internal deception, and ultimately, come to terms with the loss he has experienced if he is ever to help his clients move on. Shot entirely in the state of Maine.
Emma's father is gripped by a mixture of pain and guilt when he reads the sensitive farewell letter she left in her diary. Justice. It is the only possible answer. Gnawed by a past so close that it still seems reversible, Emma's parents bitterly await the verdict. One word alone will have to repair the offense: guilty.
father and mother are faced with the painful task of washing and shrouding their deceased transgender daughter. Shrouding is an Islamic religious practice that is deemed obligatory to carry out upon death. But when no one agrees to wash her and shame falls onto the family, how far is the father willing to go to make sure his "son" is washed?
Juanita wanders between reality and her dreams to survive the absence of those she loves.
CINEMA ROOM 2 JANUARY 26th – 6PM
CINEMA ROOM 4 JANUARY 28th – 8PM
Family or friends, no labels matter to be beside someone who loves you and takes care. These filmmakers get inside the inner lives of these families in some of the most emotional films of the season.
In a parent-teacher meeting with a distraught mother, a teacher is exposed to a world she readily empathises with. But where does the truth lie?
Anxiety engulfs a woman as she cares for two children and a home in the path of an approaching wildfire.
A mother and son embrace one last time before taking six feet apart and isolating themselves to avoid the risks of a dangerous air-borne pandemic.
On her way to start a new life in Australia, Sonam remembers a trip she had with a ride-sharing motorcycle driver, Bikash, who had been having the same recurring dream as her. As Bikash and Sonam try to find eachother again in Kathmandu, Bikash begins to use his lucid dreams to find her in the real world.
