International Competition 2019

ANNA 15′ Dekel Berenson Ukraine 2019

Anna, a middle-aged single mother, lives in a small industrial town in Eastern Ukraine. She works in a meat processing plant, lives in a rundown apartment and dreams for a better life for herself and her daughter. Desperate for a change, she is lured by a radio advertisement to attend a party organized for foreign men who are touring the country, searching for love.

BLESSED LAND 19′ Phạm Ngọc Lân Viet Nam 2019

A middle-aged woman and her son visit her late husband’s grave – situated in a former fishing village she hasn’t been to in decades. In the cemetery on the sandy dunes, they wander around for a long time without finding the headstone. Has her memory eroded, or has the grave been concealed somewhere underneath the new golf courses?

BLUE BOY 19′ Manuel Abramovich Germany 2019

Do you want me? We could have fun together… Seven Romanian male-to-male sex workers in Berlin have their portraits taken as they listen and react to recordings of their own experiences. By turning the process of exploitation into a spectacle, the camera becomes a client highlighting the inevitable performativity of such power relations.

ROUGHHOUSE 16′ Jonathan Hodgson United Kingdom 2018

Three friends embark on a new adventure in a strange town, but when a manipulative new member joins their gang their loyalty is torn apart with terrifying consequences.

RAIN, RAIN, RUN AWAY 14′ Clémentine Carrié France 2018

End of August. In the afternoon. Boubou, age seven, is getting bored in the campsite. Around her, heatwave and nap. Her parents are making ‘their love′ in the caravan. She decides to run away in the bushes and invites Dani to play with the storm.

THEIR HAPPINESS 14′ Carol Rodrigues Brazil 2019

Two girls run away from the police after the Women’s March. In the midst of violence, they find a way to live their desire.

ACID RAIN 25′ Tomek Popakul Poland 2019

Somewhere in Eastern Europe. A hitchhiker finds herself in the city outskirts in the middle of the night. At the bridge she meets Skinny – a kind of unstable weirdo. Skinny lives in a camping van, which he uses to run his not-so-legal job errands. Together with him, she sets on a journey with no destination.

THE SUMMER AND ALL THE REST 18′ Sven Bresser The Netherlands 2018

When at the end of the summer the last ferries with tourists leave and most of young. Marc-Antoine’s friends have left for the mainland to study or to work, he and his friend Mickael remain behind on the deserted island. Mickael is full of plans to leave, but is Marc-Antoine able to escape his solidified routine?

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT 23′ Bogdan Muresanu Romania 2018

On the 20th of December, 1989, a few days after Ceausescu’s bloody repression in Timisoara, a father’s quiet evening turns to sheer ordeal as he finds out that his little son has mailed a wish letter to Santa. As the kid understood, his father’s desire was to see Ceausescu dead.

THE ORPHAN 15′ Carolina Markowicz Brazil 2018

Jonathas has been adopted but then returned due to his ‘different’ way. Inspired by true events.

FUCK YOU 15′ Anette Sidor Sweden 2018

Alice is together with Johannes but she doesn’t have enough space to be herself. On a night out with friends, she steals a strap-on and challenges her boyfriend’s thoughts about girls. Everyone thinks Alice goes too far but she doesn’t give in to group pressure.

JUST AGREE THEN 9′ Duncan Cowles, Ross Hogg United Kingdom 2018

Contrasting artistic visions and blatant ignorance collide on the backdrop of an increasingly fragile and divided world. In August 2018, seven months before the UK is due to leave the EU, two stubborn Scottish filmmakers struggle to make a short film together in the Alps. Can they find common ground, or will they have to go their separate ways?

TRAPPED IN THE CITY OF A THOUSAND MOUNTAINS 22′ David Verbeek Netherlands 2018

A new phenomenon of authentic Chinese rap has taken the internet by storm. But behind the unprecedented gains in popularity, there is a struggle for freedom of speech. Rappers are trying to figure out what they still can and cannot do after new censorship is announced.

FOREIGN BODY 21′ Dušan Zorić Serbia 2018

Willing to prove his manhood to his handsome buddies, Marko tries to find a girl. In the encounter with a victim of a past sexual trauma, he discovers an aggressive part of himself.

WHOLE 21′ Slava Doytcheva Bulgaria 2018

A wedding. A girl. A closet. And the choice to be made once and for all – against the current or against herself.

I SIGNED THE PETITION 11′ Mahdi Fleifel United Kingdom 2018

A conversation between two friends about the effectiveness and implications of publicly stating support for the cultural boycott of Israel. One friend is wracked with worry having signed a petition asking Radiohead not to play Tel Aviv, the other is more sanguine. Through their conversation, we catch a glimpse of what it is to be a Palestinian in today’s world.