International Competition: Selection #3

SMOKE OF THE FIRE // 22 min., Daryna Mamaisur, Portugal, Ukraine, 2023

There is Portugal, there is the Portuguese language and there is a Ukrainian filmmaker who learns the language and approaches the role of the potential migrant. There is also a play of words: zangar and o zangāo. How is it possible to express such an empowering emotion as anger in the fragile attempts of a beginner? The video essay is woven from the filmmaker’s narration, language classes, personal videos and archival images from Kyiv – revealing the split reality of anyone who is finding a safe place abroad while longing for home, which is under the constant danger of war.

SUCKER’S DEATH // 21 min., Krzysztof Grudziński, Poland, 2023

“Young,” a member of a nationalist organization, resides in a quiet town with his solitary mother, leading a life oscillating between his workout routines at the gym and his job at a local store. The other members of his nationalist group castigate him due to his brother’s homosexuality and his departure to Warsaw. One fateful day, “Young” is coerced through blackmail to place an explosive device at an upcoming LGBT rally in the capital. The twist in the tale emerges with the involvement of the young man’s mother in the midst of this high-stakes situation. As “Young” confronts the dire decision before him, his loyalties and beliefs are put to the ultimate test.

THE SHYNESS OF TREES // 9 min., Bingqing Shu, Maud Le Bras, Jiaxin Huang, Simin He, Lina Han, Loïck Du Plessis D’argentré, Sofiia Chuikovska, France, 2024

Hélène, 40 years old, comes to visit her aging mother in the french countryside. But her mother isn’t being her usual self. She seems to have formed a strange bond with the plants, insects, and the old oak tree at the end of her garden…

BLUE HEART // 15 min., Samuel Suffren, Haiti, 2025

Their loving son is away. Marianne and Petion are living in Haiti with a telephone, waiting for a call from the USA, where their son has left for the American dream.

MADE OF SUGAR // 25 min., Clàudia Cedó, Spain, 2024

Maria is 30 years old, has an intellectual disability and a desire deep inside: she wants to be a mother. The lack of understanding towards her desire will lead her to a fight for her rights, to an uncomfortable rebellion to recover the decision-making power over her own body.