Hundreds of short films are released on the festival circuit yearly. We review those that spoke most to us here.
Through exploring faces and expressions, Dutch filmmaker Malu Janssen focuses on the consequences and not the reasons of witchcraft accusations. In Barlebas, women are singing to the rhythm of resistance.
Photos from a family album reveal a city that perhaps used to exist. Sara Rajaei anchors these images not fully in reality but instead extracts the poetry from them.
Andrew McGee anchors his sci-fi story in an AI-dominated future, twirling around romance, horror, thriller, and a slice of comedy.
Mohamed Bourouissa visualises the escape of the mind when it is not possible to escape with the body in this compelling short film about everyday racism.
Exploring empathy and guilt, Oscar Bøe’s protagonist’s growing self-awareness mirrors the cultural blind spots surrounding sexual assault.
An exploration of the emotional divide between fiction and reality in the American sitcom, Philip Thomson’s Living Reality questions how we consume images at large.
Naomi Pacifique’s new short film dwells in melancholy and unlocks a form of intimacy that is unlike anything else we’ve seen bodies share on screen.
Gaza, December 2023. A confrontation with a disturbing photograph on social media triggers questions about what it means to be an onlooker in Miranda Pennell’s concise desktop documentary.
The history of a town and its people, exquisitely told through the life story of the filmmaker’s great-grandmother.
Reflecting on the lives of dogs, Cecilie Flyger Hansen unlocks the true crux of their relationship with humans: affection can coexist with domination.
A sober celebration of the silly: Håkon Anton Olavsen invites us into the silliness of a ridiculous situation, turning a film into a not-film.
In exploring humankind’s intimate relationship with artificial intelligence, Inès Sieulle exposes our prejudices and tendencies as a species more than anything else.
In Eglė Davidaviče’s deeply personal film, the exploration of self-acceptance is intrinsically connected with community.
