Ash Wednesday
by Bárbara Santos, João Pedro Prado
30’
Germany, 2023
Portuguese
In a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Demétria waits for her daughter on the last day of Carnival. But a brutal police raid seals the fate of the two women. Addressing racism and set to Brazilian rhythms, this short musical is inspired by the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone.
João Pedro Prado (São Paulo, 1994) and Bárbara Santos (Rio de Janeiro, 1963) are Brazilian filmmakers based in Berlin. João’s works include the short documentary Panama, One-Way and the feature-length documentary Fission. Bárbara, a veteran stage director focused on feminist and anti-racist activism, serves as the artistic coordinator of Kuringa theater in Berlin.
Further and Further Away
by Polen Ly
24’
Cambodia, 2022
Bunong, Khmer
A young indigenous Bunong woman and her older brother spend their last day in their rural village in northeastern Cambodia before moving to the capital city for a better life. While her brother is excited about the move, she feels a longing to return to their old village, which was lost to a hydroelectric dam development a few years ago.
Polen Ly (Kandal, 1989) paused his medical studies to pursue filmmaking in 2012. Since then, he has directed several shorts and documentaries that explore social issues related to the environment, human rights, including LGBT+ and indigenous experiences. Further and Further Away premiered at the 2022 Berlinale and has received many festival awards around the world.
The Ice Builders
by Francesco Clerici, Tommaso Barbaro
15’
Italy, 2024
English
On the Himalaya mountains, in an unequal battle against climate change, the people of Ladakh construct artificial glaciers, mixing traditional techniques and modern practices, to combat the lack of water in spring and contribute towards groundwater recharge.
Francesco Clerici’s works include augmented reality projects, video installations, short films, web series, books, experimental films, and documentaries that have been presented at festivals and venues worldwide. Tommaso Barbaro is a sound designer in the film industry. From 2016 to 2021, he directed his first documentary, The Huddle, which is distributed on Amazon Prime in the UK and USA.
Sa 'Ilgiadora de su Tempus
by Filippo Biagianti
Italy, 2022
Sardinian
Scientific research has shown that central Sardinia has some of the oldest DNA in Europe, containing gene sequences directly inherited from Neolithic humans. In Ogliastra and the interior areas of the island, there is one of the world's highest concentrations of centenarians. These living ancestors hold the legacy of distant times; they are a bridge between past and present.
Filippo Biagianti (Siena, 1971) worked as a geologist in oil extraction in Angola and Austria before becoming a multimedia designer with Studio Imagina in Urbino. From 2010 to 2021, he taught video editing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino. His works have been featured in numerous national and international film festivals, winning several awards.
Jesa
by Kyungwon Song
Korea, 2019
Korean
Jesa is a Korean tradition honoring ancestors. The filmmaker interviewed her parents about this ritual tradition of Korea. However, it goes totally unexpected.
Kyungwon Song is a Korean-born independent animator based in the Bay Area, California. Her animations often depict non-fiction subjects, and her main media are early film techniques and stop-motion.
Kalsubai
by Yudhajit Basu
20’
India, 2021
Marathi
An ethnographic film exploring the legend of the Mahadeo Koli Goddess Kalsu, whose story and identity remain embedded in the consciousness of the tribe's women even today. The film narrates the story of the Goddess while drawing visual contrasts between primordial and contemporary images.
Yudhajit Basu graduated in Mass Communication and Videography from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India, and has made short films and documentaries. He has been invited to participate in the Opening Scenes Lab at the 52nd edition of Vision du Réel, a special programme for 16 filmmakers selected globally.
Ma’
by Arianna Maria Casati, Jasna Camilla Grossi, Bianca Maria Thiebat
26’
Italy, 2024
Italian
Through the confrontation between three women and their children in front of the mirror, Ma' takes us on an intimate, gentle, and light-hearted journey in search of answers to their inner questions as children. It offers a space for open reflection on one's own identity, not pretending to offer certainties but rather free and delicate cues to investigate oneself by returning for a moment to being a child in front of a mirror.
Arianna Maria Casati (Piacenza, 1997), Jasna Camilla Grossi (Banja Luka, 1996), and Bianca Maria Thiebat (Biella, 1996) met while attending the Documentary evening class at the Luchino Visconti Civic School in Milan from 2022 to 2024. Ma' is their graduation project.
Never Gonna Be Alone
by Shan Christopher Ogilvie, Ewa Smyk
4’
UK, 2022
English
The music video for Jacob Collier’s Never Gonna Be Alone features a narrative that draws out thematic nuances of the lyrics, journeying through layers of love, loss, and longing, painstakingly realized in vibrant, hand-crafted, watercolor animation.
Shan Christopher Ogilvie is a writer, director, and producer. He produced Stutterer, which picked up numerous awards, including the 2016 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Ewa Smyk is an animation director, NFTS graduate, and Young Director Award recipient. Her latest short film Homebird was included in the 2022 Oscar and BAFTA longlists.
Pacha Kuti: The Golden Path
by Reed Rickert
6’
USA, 2020
English
When Arnold returns to his native community in the Peruvian Amazon after living in the urban world, he remembers the stories told to him by his grandfather and the great importance of maintaining balance with the jungle.
Reed Rickert is an award-winning filmmaker who has produced, directed, and photographed various documentaries, TV programs, and branding films worldwide. He is the winner of the National Geographic Wild to Inspire Short Film Festival with his film The Flip, and he is the recipient of the National Geographic Filmmakers Grant. He currently resides in Mexico City.
Quello che non posso fare
by Ilaria Scarcella
16’
Italy, 2023
Italian
A personal and intimate diary chronicling a daughter's attempt to bridge the emotional distance with her mother. An intimate journey of reconstructing their relationship.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Cultural Heritage, she specialized at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. She joined the video department of the Filmmaker's Festival and collaborated with Filmidee magazine. After specializing in post-production, she became a video editor for a communication agency. Quello che non posso fare is her first short film.
Rosemary A.D. (After Dad)
by Ethan Barrett
10’
USA, 2021
English
As he cradles his newborn, a father wonders if his daughter would be better off without him and imagines her life once he is gone. The film is completely hand-drawn with crayons.
Ethan Barrett grew up on a ranch in Neodesha, Kansas, USA. He has written and directed a number of animated short films, including Burp and Argus. He worked as a writer for NBC before becoming a director for esports at Blizzard Entertainment, and now works as a freelance editor. He lives in Austin with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
So Loud the Sky Can Hear Us
by Lavinia Xausa
20’
Netherlands, 2022
Dutch
The film explores the identity of a group of Feyenoord supporters. They unfold a hidden world of faith, love, compassion, and vulnerability. As Xausa attempts to trace back the 'lost voice of God' among the voices of the supporters, she wonders how the lost monophony of ancient chants may turn into a new polyphony.
Lavinia Xausa (Bassano del Grappa, 1992) works, lives, and struggles with learning Dutch in Rotterdam. She creates interdisciplinary works with groups of people, inviting them to reflect on identity and social issues. 99% of the time, these works end up becoming films.
Stromboli
by Giacomo Arrigo
27’
Italy, 2024
Italian
The island of Stromboli, as isolated and distant from modern society as it may be, still serves as a mirror of the world and humanity. The documentary tells the magical story of this island that, over the years, has attracted many artists from around the world and inspired them to create.
Giacomo Arrigo is an Italian director and photographer, born in Agrigento. Thanks to his professional experience as an assistant director and photographer, he has learned the essential aspects of directing and photography. In parallel, he has completed personal and professional projects in photography that have been published in magazines and exhibited in galleries.
Sunflower
by Natalia Chernysheva
4’
France - Russia, 2023
no dialogue
A sunflower prefers not to look at the sun and discovers a totally different world.
Natalia Chernysheva was born in Russia and graduated from Ural State Academy of Architecture and Art, majoring in animation. Snowflake (2012) is her debut film as a director. She also directed a film from the collection Fresh Out of School – Claude Roy, The Lost Garden (2018), and then Sunflower (2023), produced by Folimage and Pchela.
Superhero
by Mahta Hosseini
11’
Iran
Farsi
Seven-year-old Karen struggles to adapt to his new life with his father and stepmother after being separated from his mother. Missing her deeply, he becomes desperate to reconnect with her before she leaves the country for good.
Born in 1996 in Iran, Mahta Hosseini embarked on her filmmaking journey in 2018, initially delving into video art and experimental shorts. Intrigued by themes of gender, migration, and the fusion of poetry with cinema, she continued her filmmaking endeavors by transitioning to narrative shorts.
The Chorus of the Trees by Barbara Bernardi Installation
On the walls of the church, The Chorus of the Trees by Barbara Bernardi will be projected, a work that reflects on the inseparable and necessary relationship between humans and trees, both integral parts of nature. As living beings, do trees deserve rights? Can we live without them?
The short movie: “Canyon song” by Dana Romanoff will bring us within the sacred walls of Canyon de Chelly. This film illustrates the critical role that Navajo play in preserving America’s greatest stories, cultures, and landscapes.
VR EQUATOR 360 - THE LINE OF LIFE
EPISODE 1 - THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD BY NICOLAS JOLLIET, RICHARD DECAILLET, DIANA RICO (STUDIO DEEP)
CANADA, FRANCE, 2018
14’ - ENGLISH
Equator 360 is a five-part Cinematic Virtual Reality journey that takes viewers around the globe to experience the magical, mysterious, and beautiful ribbon of ecological diversity we call the Equator.
Episode 1: The Centre of the WorldThe shamans of Yuruparí live directly on the equator, In the Amazonian forests in south-eastern Colombia. Their sacred sites are spread out in a network placed exactly on the equatorial line. The Yuruparí believe they live at the centre of the world, and that it is their duty to preserve the balance of the planet through their spiritual work.
DEEP Inc is a Toronto-based production studio dedicated to exploring and defining the new language of Cinematic VR. Led by multiple Emmy Award winning filmmaker and innovator Thomas Wallner our aim is to create highly immersive, meaningful stories, that transport the viewer while making the underlying cutting- edge technologies invisible. DEEP utilizes its proprietary Liquid Cinema software for the authoring and playback of its VR content across multiple platforms and devices.
Conscious Existence VR
12’ by Marc Zimmermann, 2018, Germany
We are gifted every moment with life’s most precious achievement: A conscious mind, enabling us to sense and hold within, the universe's boundless beauty - a source of infinite inspiration that fuels our inner space. Being aware of and grateful for the invaluable fortune of a conscious existence is vital for a life in harmony and enables us to use our precious gift within to sense that beauty in every little thing.
Marc Zimmermann, born 1990 in Dresden (Germany), is a digital artist with a passion for matte painting, digital environments and visual effects. Besides working as a freelancer for film and advertising he consistently creates personal projects that use landscapes and environments to tell stories and provoke emotions. In his personal projects he creates everything from concept art to music and sound design. Currently he is digging deeper into the realm of virtual reality.