September 10th, 5:30 P.M.
The Natural Sketches of Plants and Flowers in Voyage
France/Japan, 2020, 0’52”, 2D
director Caori Murata
This film is a poem about humans and plants.
Sueño
Estonia, 2020, 5’02”, 2D
director Maria Rakitina
A boy wakes up in the night and notices a feather on his pillow. He also finds a hole in the pillow. The dream starts, where he is a participant with the naked birds around him.
Two Little People
Australia, 2020, 3’, 2D
director Xin Li
Two little people live in a wheat field. They grow together until the day the man leaves. It is the time all the wheat has been mowed. The relationship between two little people keeps growing in the woman’s heart.
The Last Time I Ever Saw Emma
France, 2020, 6’48”, 2D
director Vincent Marques
Lucas, a 13 years old teen, comes back from summer camp sad because of his failure to confess his love. He consoles himself in his daydreams where he relives his memories and fantasizes about them. But to be able to move on he has to confront this failure and accept it.
Underwater Love
Italy, 2021, 5’45”, 2D
director Veronica Martiradonna, Andrea Falzone, Cristina Fiore
A girl asks herself many questions, faces problems with some monsters, anger makes her turn into a wasp, mingles with her King underwater, cries exaggeratedly, turns all red and at the end she grows, as tall as a giant.
I Call It Home
Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020, 3’, 2D
director Leila Ahang
This experimental animation expresses the inner conflict of a migrant as they try to adjust to a new place. The fish represents growth and development just like a baby develops in the womb. As it discovers a new world, it becomes a new-born baby. It struggles at first and finds it dark and frightening but after some time it feels tranquility and adapts to living in the outside world.
Patches
Canada, 2021, 2’01”, 3D
director Georgie Athanasopoulos
Outcast due to physical differences, a lonely little boy in the 1920’s makes an unlikely friend and finds belonging through sacrifice.
Megamall
Switzerland, 2020, 4’20”, 2D
director Aline Schoch
In a world of escalators, figures pursue their desire to consume in a given rhythm. One of the figures is sucked in at the end of an escalator and finds itself in a quiet, weightless room, where it joins the playing figures. Meanwhile, the escalator world is thrown into confusion by a chips-mad dog. When the dog is also sucked in by an escalator, a power struggle between the two worlds begins.
Letter from Fukushima
United States of America, 2021, 1’30”, 2D
director Yiran Wang
A boy from Fukushima sending a letter to express his love for his home. After the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, many children can not go back to their home and are having health concerns. The film aims to raise social attention to care for these kids.
The Bird in a Cage
Poland, 2021, 5’12”, 2D
director Pola Włodarczyk
The heroine is sitting in her apartment and looking out of the window. She is accompanied by a bird in a cage. Suddenly, the girl sees a strange creature walking around the city, clearly for a purpose.
Twigs
Israel, 2019, 4’43”, 2D
director Hadas Alamgor
A Journey of a mushroom, in a world where humans are plants, trying to restore the sexual sparkle to her intimacy while her cactus husband rejects her, so that he can masturbate with porn. The story takes an unexpected turn, when his penis cuts off as a result of over scrapping. Together, the couple finds the path to return the flame to their relationships.
Ubasute
Netherlands, 2020, 7’30”, technique
director Alexander Bierling
A man is forced by famine and ancient tradition to carry his loving elderly mother to the top of a mountain, to leave her there to die.
Bruise
Taiwan, 2021, 6’12”, 2D
director Huang Ping An
When I first heard of the word ‘puffer fish’, I asked Dad to draw one for me. He took a piece of paper and drew a small one on the top left corner. I’ve kept that paper all this time. In retrospect, he was like this piece of paper, also leaving me with a big, blank space.
September 12th, 3:00 P.M.
Tamari
Hong Kong, 2020, 2’10”, 2D
director Tse Yu Ki, Wong Ka Yuk
Tamari is an abstract 2D animation exploring the geometric shapes and visualizing the music. Based on the rhythm of the music, we have decided different sequences of shapes in order to create a unique atmosphere for different parts of the song. Moreover, we create combinations of colors to match the rhythmic music.
100,000 Acres of Pine
Denmark, 2020, 7’21”, 3D
director Jennifer Alice Wright
Ranger Megan Patel must uncover the mystery surrounding her brother’s death. But following his footsteps, Megan discovers a darkness she might not escape.
The Matchbox
Bulgaria, 2021, 3’07”, 2D
director Tanya Bozhinova
The curiosity of a box of matches leads on a carefree and destructive adventure marked by passion, intoxication, and dangerous pleasure.
The Return of the Waves
France, 2020, 5’16”, 2D
directors Manon Cansell, Alejandra Guevara Cervera, Edward Kurchevsky, Francisco Moutinho De Magalhães, Hortense Mariano
Coming back to his hometown in hopes of reconnecting with his past, a young man finds the place completely stopped in time. Moving through the familiar streets, memories disorient him as he faces what he once left behind.
Folktales of India – The Sun and The Cock
India, 2021, 2’55”, 2D
director Helik Thakur
As a child, everyone might have once wondered why do cocks crow before the sunrise and the sunset. This abridged version of the Manipuri folktale, “The Sun and The Cock” explores a very interesting take on it. It’s a story about how the living beings reach out to a Cock for help to bring the Sun back after it disappears because of the humans’ ungrateful attitude towards this gift of God.
Winter Memories
Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020, 6’51”, 2D
director Zahra Kababian, Amir Mahdi Safdari
An old lady who has a memory problem cyclically remembers memories of a time when she tried to make a shawl for her father who went to war and never returned.
С
Switzerland, 2020, 5’04”, 2D
director Marion Täschler
In a constant search for closeness, C experiences emotions in all their highs and lows. Even if a familiar phase of togetherness is followed by a rejection of the other person and, accordingly, a sad loneliness, C does not give up. Again and again, new ways are found to find the longed-for closeness and tenderness. And to lose.
The Birth of a Vampire Nation
United States of America, 2021, 4’51”, 2D
director Eric Millikin
“The Birth of a Vampire Nation” is an experimental animated short film created using artificial intelligence and surrealist techniques. This film explores the use of fear in racial and gender politics as well as in popular media, taking inspiration from F. W. Murnau’s 1922 vampire film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” and D. W. Griffith’s 1915 “The Birth of a Nation.”
Beyond an Еdge
France, 2020, 10’, stop motion
director Laura Cruciani
Tartine lives secluded in a small dilapidated house at the edge of a forest. On rainy days, Tartine’s house is invaded by water runoffs that seep through the roof. One morning, Tartine looks at someone through the window. Intrigued by this unexpected vision, Tartine dashes off alone into the forest.
While You Sleep
Italy, 2021, 1’16”, 2D
director Sara Paternicò
This very short animation was born from the emergence of some images rather than from the idea of telling a story and can be related to the sensitivity of magical realism in the visual arts, from painting to pure cinema. There are some archetypal themes or figures that emerge from the animated sequence: the night, the dream space with its symbols, the landscape, the forest, the moon, the hidden and isolated inner house, the luminous window, the door, the double, the other.
Dogs Smell Like the Sea
Russian Federation, 2020, 4’14”, 2D
director Anastasiya Lisovets
It is like getting a dog, but the dog decided that “someone” else is its owner, not you. And it is possible to live without this “someone”, but the dog is frustrated and does not want to go for a walk. But when it hears “someone’s” bicycle bell, it happily wags its tail and runs to catch “him”. And you – after the dog. And it turns, that after “him” – too.
Wherever I Wander
Bulgaria, 2021, 2’15”, 2D
director Velina Garabedyan
A girl far from home finds a way back to her roots and rekindles her inner power through the guidance of her ancestors.
30 Days of Shoegazing
United Kingdom, 2019, 4’41”, 2D
director Pei-Hsin Cho
Introversion and shyness are gifts, embracing them is a skill to learn.
30 Gifs convey the recurring emotions inside me. As an introvert, when there are many feelings and thoughts going on in my body and brain, it is important to understand myself by distinguishing each obscure emotion. By doing so, I find myself gradually free from suffering from the self-harshness of my personalities.
Eyes Wide Open
France, 2020, 5’40”, 2D
director Laura Passalacqua
During a very hot summer, Emma (15) is doomed to boredom at her grandparents’s house. She’s dying for something to happen. At the edge of a pond, she hides to observe The Young Man. She develops a brief but intense obsession for this fantasized stranger.