NAVIGATE is a film program focused on student short films from the Polish National Film School in Łódź (Lodz Film School), German Film and Television Academy in Berlin (DFFB) and The Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. Each school has a rather academic approach to studies and within the program you can see a variety of genres, style & authors visions in a form of experiments while moving through the learning process over the courses. All the selected films show the earlier students works of young directors which made it to international festivals.
Navigate: European student films
LEARN TO SWIM 17’ Gaya von Schwarze Germany 2018
On one ordinary Sunday morning, Karin took her daughter’s racing bicycle to see Wieland in the little runaways’ farm he is now living in. Driven by unexplainable longing to her grown up baby that doesn’t want to be found, Karin appears without a notice in her son’s new home.
MOONJUMP 5’ Lasse Holdhus Germany 2018
Major Luna jumps towards the moon. In a swimming pool she acts out her dreams to float weightlessly in space.
THE BOY IN THE CHEQUERED SHIRT 5’ Aleksandra Odić Germany 2019
He suddenly appeared. During lunch break he always stands alone in the school yard. Vera watches him with secret fascination.
DAY X 16’ Katharina Rivilis Germany 2019
June 17th 1953, Frida’s 8th birthday, was to be a celebration, but instead tanks are rolling through the streets of East-Berlin. Frida and her mother are waiting for the guests, but they won’t come today. Nor does her father return from the demonstration, and Frida’s mother slowly begins to lose control.
CHAOS 5’ Samuel Auer Germany 2018
CHAOS is a fairytale about the devil. What are one jogger, one hobo and two pigs doing in a forest? CHAOS is a story about greed and its consequences. It’s a short that should be seen several times, as it more and more reveals what is lying underneath its form.
WHAT WE WERE 13’ Hannah Martin, Melanie Waelde Germany 2018
Holger feels like a stranger in a house that used to be his home. Together with his ex-wife their daughters, he finds himself staring at Poldi, the freshly deceased family rabbit. The two girls decide that Poldi deserves a proper funeral.
WAITING 8’ Lasse Holdhus Germany 2019
Feeling isolated by smartphone technology, a man expresses his deep concerns of being ghosted by his dream girl.
HEN 13’ Andrzej Brzózka Poland 2020
Tola is working on a children’s book about animal behaviour. Her main inspiration is a domestic hen with which she talks to with help from an internet animal communicator. Things get out of control when her boyfriend tries to sabotage her work, animal communicator gets involved with her private live and the hen tries to escape. „Hen” is a short satire about students live in Poland. And everywhere else.
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TOWN 8’ Marta Koch Poland 2019
Morning. Woman wakes up, goes to the window and, to her surprise, notices her boyfriend kissing another woman on the street. Disoriented, she runs out of the apartment to confront him, but the man is not there anymore. She embarks on a lonely journey throughout the city, which with each subsequent street becomes more stifling and unsympathetic.
SETTLING THE SCORE 13’ Zuzanna Grajcewicz Poland 2019
The film tells a story of elderly woman Halina, who makes a difficult decision and stands up for justice and her own dignity. Settling the score is an attempt to address the problem of marginalization of elderly people’s needs and their quality of life.
SQUARING THE CIRCLE 5’ Karolina Specht Poland 2018
At first glance, it seems that SQUARE lives among chaos and andless changes. But next, we can notice that the systems in which he functions, are constantly repeated, introduce a routine, hypnotize without allowing any movement. Once, a new element sneaks into the pattern, which for a moment will allow SQUARE to look a little differently at reality.
LOVED ONES 14’ Zofia Kowalewska Poland 2018
Olga’s teenage daughter suddenly goes to the hospital. The mother needs to face not only the child’s disease, but also her ex-husband, whom she have not contacted for years.
WEIGHT 12’ Yurii Shylov Ukraine 2015
A young man lies down on the grass in the public garden. That provokes conversations among other people.
SAY CORN! 15’ Valeria Kalchenko Ukraine 2015
What if Rocky Balboa was a Polish girl, with a speech impediment and only 152 cm tall, dreaming to study at a theatrical university in Kyiv? Meet Veronika Kleshnia – she will teach you how to become successful.
WHO FRAMED KIM KUZIN 26’ Antonio Lukich Ukraine 2015
Kim Kuzin – once a very famous character in the USSR. In 1974, he was born as a 4-billionth man, and since his birth has become a symbol of all children of the USSR. In this documentary, the authors attempt to find Kim Kuzin today for a historical interview.
BIRDS 6’ Mykyta Lyskov Ukraine 2011
A film about birds and their love during a catastrophe.
