2023 Festival Edition Screening • Jan 13-15 2024 BFF on IMDB.com| January 14, 2024 • Gene Siskel Film Center, Theater 1• 6pm - 11pm | ||||||
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Jan2022-2023 Programs & Workshops | |||||
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AAR | Documentary Feature Film
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"The artist duo, AJ and Kuzma, worked closely together to create art photos in the vibrant New York art scene. During the peak of their creative career, after a tragic incident with Kuzma in their countryside studio-home, AJ was suddenly left alone. Unable to cope with the pangs of loneliness, AJ lost her motivation to create and desperately tried to rediscover the meaning of life. She lives far away from the city, increasingly isolating herself from people, getting closer to nature, and immersing herself only in the past, full of life, hope, and artistic images that begin to haunt her in reality. AJ's dialogue with the past has been going on for thirty years. Eventually, the characters from the happy past come too close. Unable to bear her thoughts and memories, AJ asks the strange interlocutor her main questions. An empty boat floats in still water. The same boat that three gentlemen in bowler hats were looking at." | United States | ||
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TURBULENCE | Experimental Short Film
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The film poem TURBULENCE stands in the field of tension between surreal fantasy and multi-layered reality. Telemach Wiesinger's photographic recordings of aeroplanes from the perspective of the traveller encounter kinetic wing objects by the composer Alexander Grebtschenko. In the congenial collaboration of the two artists, the electronically controllable "Chimera's" - elegant bird wings with megaphone - unfold expressive "acting" presence. The dialogue between the sound level (Grebtschenko) and the visual level (analogue film workshop Wiesinger) opens up space for emotions, thoughts and interpretations. (Thomas Spiegelmann, 2022) | Germany | ||
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Phi 1.618 | Feature Film
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In the worst of times, science conquers death. A micronation of bio-titans is created -- a new breed of loveless asexual immortal men built to fit the golden ratio Phi 1.618. They prepare to leave behind the toxic planet Earth and colonize the Cosmos on board a colossal spaceship. The female sex has become obsolete as immortal men do not procreate. They will take on board only a single female body, a translucent Sleeping Beauty, kept minimally alive as a curious testament of the extinct past. The immortal calligrapher Krypton is tasked to create an indestructible copy of the entire bio-titanic written heritage. He must copy all existing books but one. If copied, that book will bedevil the universe. As Krypton is about to toss the forbidden book in an incinerator, it transforms into a wickedly feisty punk girl named Gargara. She challenges Krypton to wake up Sleeping Beauty with a kiss. Krypton tries but fails. His kiss is powerless. They need a super potent miracle balm called Kykeon. To get it, they embark on a dangerous journey through a Boschian wasteland. On the road, they bump into Karbon 666, a vengeful lone-wolf terrorist who is on his way to blow up the spaceship. Krypton and Gargara find themselves in a frantic race against time. They need to bring Sleeping Beauty back to life and save the fairytale before it turns into a raging nightmare. | Bulgaria | ||
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Jeff Hilliard - Abandon | Music Film, Comedy Short
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Dwight a 50 year old left over 80's metal rocker who's still holding onto his rockstar dreams while living at home with his mom and working as an Uber driver has a one night stand with Vivian a married lady who struggles with letting go of her wild side. | United States | ||
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There is exactly enough time | Animated Short Film/New Media
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Oskar Salomonowitz, the 12-year-old son of filmmakers Anja Salomonowitz and Virgil Widrich, had drawn 206 frames of a flip book when he died in an accident.s Using the remaining blank sheets, his father continued drawing the film. 228 festival screenings, winner of 67 international film awards! | Austria | ||
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The Strawberry Jam | Narrative Short, Music Film, Comedy
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Mrs. Doodle, a ’90s housewife frugal in every possible way, finds herself tempted by a jar of gourmet strawberry jam in a most unusual grocery store . . . | United States | ||
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A Sweetness of Lapse | Student Non-Animated Short
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As their summer break trickles to an end, best friends Ava & Mina spend their days writing poems, smoking joints and dancing to house music. When they are introduced to the internet phenomenon of “reality shifting”, they decide to try it one night. The next morning, Mina wakes up to Ava missing and a flood of memories of her illness and untimely death. Now, she needs to rethink her methods and “shift” back to the reality where her friend is alive. | United States | ||
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5:32 | Television/Web Series Short
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Shalkar is a retired detective on serial killer cases, who is now drowning his grief in alcohol. His daily routine is interrupted when a young detective asks for his assistance to catch a serial killer, whose murder pattern reminds Shalkar of a maniac he hunted back in the 90s. | Kazakhstan | ||
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Beware of Trains | Animated Film/New Media Short Nominee |
“A train of thought thriller” about a woman with extreme anxiety living in a world dominated by fear and uncertainty. She has four major preoccupations – the man she met by chance on a train, her dying father, her daughter’s safety and the murder she dreams she has committed. | United Kingdom | ||
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Enfold | Animated Short Film/New Media Nominee |
Mysterious figures dance within a shrouded, watery world of textures. Hidden images reverberate with accompanying sounds of glass harmonica. | United States | ||
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Lucas
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Documentary Short Film Nominee |
If orgasm were a dessert, what dessert would it be? Documentary poetry dedicated to pleasure and Lucas, mother of the director. | Mexico | ||
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Salvage | Documentary Short Film Nominee |
Salvage questions the allure of old objects by reimagining obsolete tools as reliquaries haunted by the souls of disgruntled workers who resent their new jobs. This hybrid intersectional documentary uses magic realism to critique the inequities of gender, ethnicity, and class that underpin consumer capitalism. | United States | ||
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AI Jetée | Experimental Short Film Nominee |
"AI Jetée" is a shot-by-shot remake of Chris Marker's renowned 1962 photo-roman, "La Jetée," utilizing generative AI technology to reproduce the original film's visuals, music, and voiceover. This experimental endeavor explores the nature of authenticity and creativity in the age of artificial intelligence. "La Jetée" itself is an iconic work, characterized by its post-apocalyptic narrative set in a war-torn Paris. The film employs a unique technique of using black and white still photographs to unfold the story, offering a haunting visual experience. It delves into themes of time travel, memory, and the hubris of human existence. The film's story was the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's, "12 Monkeys." "AI Jetée," inspired by Marker's original masterpiece, reinterprets the familiar narrative with the assistance of generative AI. While replicating the film's components, this AI-driven process introduces an element of unpredictability, creating a strange take on the source material. The reproductions are by no means exact and in fact, often go hilariously wrong. Also, since the AI doesn't produce the same person twice, the main characters' appearance morphs into different versions of themselves throughout, which adds to the dreamlike nature of the film. It's like watching the original film as it spirals through the multiverse. The film asks the viewer to consider the interplay between the source and the recreation. It invites audiences to think about what the rise of this technology will do to our understanding of photography, musical composition, vocal performance, and cultural memory. | United Kingdom | ||
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Un-Tidal | Experimental Short Film Nominee |
An experimental film essay about a found (stolen?) photograph, a hurricane, and film’s inherent ability to animate and re-animate still, dead, and inanimate beings, images, and objects. The film is created using an ink-jet direct-on-film technique where the digital frame is printed directly onto onto recycled 16mm celluloid. | United States | ||
| Stabat Mater | Experimental Short Film Nominee |
Stabat Mater is a work about motherhood and separation. It is built upon the repetition, for fifteen times, of an eighteen seconds film. The nude portrait of the woman, the artist herself, shown in the film is a painting by the artist’s former husband, Bernardo Siciliano. The audio of the film is the mix of a dialogue in Italian, between the artist’s daughter and the artist’s former husband, with the first movement of Giovanni Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. The text of the Italian dialogue translated into English is superimposed over the footage in a gigantic sized type which grows smaller with each repetition until it disappears, while the voices subside and the music takes over. | United States | |||
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Tempest Me | Feature Film Nominee |
A watery descent into madness and absurdist re-telling of William Shakespeares' "Tempest". A psychologically shipwrecked Captain attempts to navigate and repair his small boat while leading his difficult passengers and crew to philosophical paradise. After years of cruising beautiful vacation waters, the Captain finds himself challenged by embarrassing and violent histories, corrupt philosophies & intense personal conflicts. When a talkative and Epicurean minded Colonialist is brought onboard, the small boat and everyone on it are quickly floated to their doom by a fire dancing Siren. Are the Captain's passengers really passengers?, or do they only exist inside his own raging mind? Maybe art history will be different this time!!? CAST Mike Smith - the Captain Alexandra Milne - as Ariel George Worrall - the Colonialist Ian Malone - as Caliban Zoe Georgaras - as the Siren SOUND POEMS bill bissett | Canada | ||
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LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI | Feature Film Nominee |
Short sinopsis : Somewhere in the space between reality and fairy tale. A poet left in tragic loneliness sees as if on a film, his entire past and the price he paid for his poems. Synopsis: Medieval France. The main character studies at the in France in university. Together with other students, he studies Latin, sometimes likes to fool around. But he is different from others because he writes poetry and is very religious. He has close friends. One day they break into the public bathhouse together for it being hosting vice. In retaliation, he is attacked at night. He kills one of the attackers. He has to run, and he ends up in a fairy kingdom. The King welcomes him, but the Queen falls in love with him. In the fairy forest, they talk about their love. Sometimes Instead of the Queen, the poet sees Death in the image of an Oriental beauty. The queen is dying. The poet remains in tragic loneliness. | Bulgaria | ||
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Beth + Jeremy and Steve | Feature Film Nominee |
An atmospheric, dreamy, low-key funny and somewhat acerbic tale about three people who are in different states of yearning at two different milestones, teens and 30’s. Jeremy was recently rejected by his high school sweetheart. Beth and Steve are at a crossroad in their marriage. Beth and Jeremy have an accidental meeting in a record store and their mutual interests forge a connection that surprises themselves and challenges Steve. | United States | ||
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MY BEST FRIEND | Music Short Film, Comedy Nominee |
A newly immigrant family from Romania, wants to buy the traditional pig for Christmas. Not knowing too many people, not having Romanian friends in Chicago, they decide to ask their employees about a place, from where they could buy the Christmas pig. They send them to Pet shop. They prepare the pig for the Christmas dinner in the old traditional way, and they are so happy they could celebrate Christmas, about the same way they did back home in their villages. | Romania | ||
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The Noddy House | Music Film, Comedy Nominee |
On Christmas Eve, a typical visit from Santa Claus is interrupted by a piercing scream from upstairs. Upon investigating, Santa finds himself eavesdropping on a private family conversation. They say Santa knows who's naughty and who's nice, but Saint Nick has never met a family quite like the Noddys. Twisted and Hilarious. | United States | ||
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Telesonic 9000: E.C.H.O. | Music Short Film, Comedy Nominee |
Assembled entirely of remixed archive films set to an original soundtrack from multimedia art rock artist Telesonic 9000, E.C.H.O. follows scientists at Telesonic Research Labs administering audiovisual stimulus experiments in the form of retrofuturistic music videos that connect the promise of the early computer revolution to the fallout of the modern digital era. | United States | ||
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January 13, 2024 • Gene Siskel Film Center, Theater 2• 6pm - 11pm | |||||
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The Rebellion | Music Short Film, Comedy Nominee |
The Rebellion, written by lawyer/artist Ari Scharg, shines a spotlight on corrupt practices in the legal industry. It finds its roots in the real life $100 million Ponzi scheme perpetuated by celebrity lawyer, Tom Girardi, the husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Erika Jayne. The song focuses on how Scharg’s firm, Edelson PC, exposed the fraud and how there is currently a little known battle waging in the legal industry between reformers like himself and the Old Guard who want to maintain the status quo so they can continue exploiting a broken system. | United States | ||
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Lost In Love | Music Short Film, Comedy Nominee |
What happens when the ex you ghosted turns up again? In this comedic short, Deanna finds her way out of this sticky situation ...again. | United States | ||
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Lovejoy: Portrait of a Blank Slate | Music Short Film, Comedy Nominee |
a group of researchers in the early 20th century attempt to showcase their findings on the effect of music on a test subject, which inadvertently ends in disaster | United States | ||
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Zimmermann | Narrative Short Nominee |
Across the quiet countryside of 1990s Germany, an ominous travelling craftsman leaves a grisly trail of death in his wake. However, what may seem random and homicidal could actually reflect a bigger question about how we live our lives and how we may choose to regain control. And what is it that draws the Zimmermann to his victims? Is it the perpetrator seeking his own kind of order, or perhaps the victims themselves? | United Kingdom | ||
| January 14, 2024 • Gene Siskel Film Center - Theater 1• 6pm - 11pm | ||||||
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Jesus Bird (Baptism in the Jordan) | Narrative Short Nominee |
A young "Crook", card player-swindler, follows the trains, deceives the passengers and steals money. When exposed to fraud he is often beaten. On the train he meets pioneers and their attractive leader who thinks he is a priest because of his outfit. while eating and drinking the offerings from the pioneers, he begins to talk incredible nonsense, referring to Christ as being a bird and gradually enters his character as a priest. Suddenly "priest" sees a small mystical river from the window, decides to bring the children and their leader from the train and baptises them in this river which he calls "The Jordan". The newly baptised pioneers and their leader will then jump on the already departing train and happily head for their compartment, while the "priest" is apprehended by his previous victims, that were searching for him. | Georgia | ||
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Tin Can | Narrative Short | J.C. came to America as an illegal immigrant when he was just a child. Now, as an adult, he's still an illegal alien but has managed to persevere and prosper working as a rodeo clown. However, after a series of unfortunate events, J.C. finds himself down on his luck and in search for a new happiness. He eventually finds it near the Mexican border but the price he pays could get him kicked out of the only country he knows. | United States | ||
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Rabobesto - Or How I Saved a Monster | Narrative Short | On the verge of her marital life, a young woman makes a journey into the night to find out why she has lost her heartbeat and turned golden. | Finland | ||
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Azizam | Narrative Short, Student Non-Animated Short | Iran in 1971. Two young students from opposite ends of society meet by the sea in a time where revolution hangs in the air. Bijan (Shahrooz Mahmoodi), the son of aristocrats close to the regime of the Shah, prepares to leave for college and feels the pressures of a future already decided by his powerful father. He meets Layla (Rana Ghiassi), a girl from the wrong side of Tehran, who forces him to question everything. Their bond will challenge class and social divisions in a world soon to disappear. "Azizam" is an intimate window into a moment of history that continues to cast a shadow in our time. | United States | ||
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Burning Clouds | Student Non-Animated Short | A passing meteorite connects a roaming young woman, a burned-out factory worker and an unemployed young man during a long winter night. A portrait of the night and the people in it. | Belgium | ||
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Orange Petals | Student Non-Animated Short | A barista's heartbreak echoed through the three people he came in contact with. | United States | ||
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Miren | Student Non-Animated Short | A girl develops an obsession with a man who has a mirror for a face. | United States | ||
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Touch of Heaven | Student Non-Animated Short | A conflicted priest is finally able to choose between his faith and the free-spirited woman he has fallen for, after experiencing an eye-opening vision. | United States | ||
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Glimpses | Student Non-Animated Short | ***ENGLISH*** A woman quietly recounts a dream composed of images that seem to mirror the reality we live in. Flashes of light appear and disappear, revealing glimpses of memories like washed out postcards. Does her voice speak from today's perspective or from that of the future? The world is fragile, as is our memory of it. ***FRENCH*** Une femme essaie de se souvenir d'un rêve. D'une voix calme, elle commente les images dont elle se rappelle de sa conscience. Des éclairs de mémoires surviennent comme des cartes postales fanées. Ils, apparaissant et disparaissant, révélant des clignotements de réminiscences estampillés des flashes de lumières diverses. Le monde est éphémère, tout comme notre mémoire sur lui. | Poland | ||
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"Night Visit” (Pilot Episode) |
Television/Web Series Short | In this episode of “Night Visit” the audience gets to ride along with a powerful assassin from another planet named Keylot. Her murderous mission becomes a little less malevolent after meeting an unsuspecting young woman in trouble. | United States | ||
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Yellow Impasto Palette No.1 | Animated Short Film/New Media Short | 'Yellow Impasto Palette No.1' (2022) is an experimental animated film, filmed in VR, made through in-depth exploring of a virtual abstract painting. It unfolds at a very gradual pace, a process that heightens a mesmeric quality, in an attempt to ask for a different type of relationship with the viewer, one that is deliberate and lingering. This approach is more akin to traditional physical painting, hence its description as a 'slow painting'. | United Kingdom | ||
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Undine | Animated Short Film/New Media Short | A mermaid addicted to plastic disrupts the thoroughly boring lives of a burnt-out female plumber and her neighbour, a lonely philosopher. Can they still ignore the repressed longings that the mermaid has aroused? | Netherlands | ||
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Operation Teak | Animated Short Film/New Media Short | Kurt Vonnegut’s brain got put in a penguins body when he died. 20 years later he’s teaching the Underground Iowa Writer’s Workshop and preparing for the launch of Operation Teak. But you didn’t hear that from me. Best Short Documentary Audience Award - 2023 Golden State Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA Best Animation - 2023 Mad Monster Film Festival Charlotte, NC Best VFX - 2023 Star International Film Festival, Firenze, Italy Best Experimental Film - 2023 International Film & Script Festival Lotus, Athens, Greece Best Animation Co-Winner - 2023 First City Film Festival, Leavenworth, KS Best Color Editing Honorable Mention - 2023 Star International Film Festival, Firenze, Italy Top 10 Best Of The Fest Finalist - 2023 AltFF, Toronto, Canada | United States | ||
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About Dam and Hofit | Animated Short Film/New Media | “About Dam and Hofit” is the story of the forbidden friendship between Dam, the tip of mount Damavand in Iran and Hofit, an air force plane from Israel. Their unexpected encounter dares them to reimagine a friendship against all odds. | Canada | ||
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A Spot for Frog | Animated Short Film/New Media | Locked out of the school art room, a creative nonbinary teen named Frog grapples with anxiety as they seek a new place to eat lunch. Imagination blurs with reality in this hybrid work of live action and animation about an artist's search for identity, belonging, and expression on the margins. | United States | ||
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The Tin Woods | Animated Film/New Media | While exploring an abandoned cabin, the Tin Woodman finds...his original head? Based on the original Oz books by L. Frank Baum, this short stop-motion film explores the origins of the Tin Woodman and how he came to be made of tin. | United States | ||
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Juvenoia | Animated Film/New Media | Juvenoia is a generative video and a live computer simulation. Juvenoia presents shifting snapshots of my nostalgia for a village in Southwestern China that no longer exists, along with distorted dreamscapes caused by a weariness towards the adoptive country of America. It is an allegorical portrait of a diasporic coming of age. Being an immigrant in the West means killing the part of you grown from your home, your history, your language, your past, and your future. In retrospect, this work was an X-Ray of my illness, my unnamed dread, my dear home crushed by Chinese hegemonic modernization and American neoliberal capitalism. Juvenoia lives in the limbo of it all, as do I. | China | ||
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Little Judas | Animated Short Film/New Media | Young and mischievous Judas Iscariot dreams of ruling the streets of Nazareth while reluctantly befriending his strange and annoying new neighbor, Jesus of Galilee. The kids attend the first day Josaphat's School of Shepherding, learning how to handle bear attacks and first crushes. | United States | ||
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The Nightmare | Animated Short Film/New Media | The Nightmare (“幻景”) is a stop motion animation inspired by the Dunhuang fresco titled Mara’s Attack（降魔成道）, found in Cave 254 of the Mogao Grottos, and captures the silent struggles of mental illness. The tale unfolds over three chapters. “The Dancer” (舞女) follows the anxiety of a dancer about her appearance. The harder she pursues outward beauty and perfection, the more cracked and fissured her face becomes. “Phobia” (马面的恐惧) is a glimpse into the Horseman’s unease and fear of being exposed to social activity. “Insomnia” (失眠夜) is the wakeful dream of a depressed insomniac. This project is an interdisciplinary study of ceramics, animation techniques, and the Dunhuang frescoes. Through this medium, I explore the bridge between traditional depictions in the frescoes and contemporary stories of everyday life. | China | ||
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Met(EYE)morphosis | Animated Film/New Media | A slithering creature evolves into different forms, but also remains the same. | United States | ||
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Anima # 1 | Animated Short Film/New Media | This experimental and abstract animation reflects upon the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, following the structure of an hip-hop song and mixing plenty of digital hand-painted techniques. The style alternates between continuity and frame collision. | Portugal | ||
| January 14, 2024 • Gene Siskel Film Center - Theater 2• 6pm - 11pm | ||||||
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Together | Animated Short Film/New Media | How can we find ways to move towards harmony through the storms of our time, perhaps we can look for clues in nature, such as in how leaves travel through the wind? | Not Specified | ||
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The Moon Followed Me To Falmouth | Animated Short Film/New Media, Music Film, Comedy | A seafarer sings the story of how he, as a young man, left Falmouth looking for a new life on the High Seas. During his voyage, he recounts how the moon began to follow him, watching his every move. After months at sea, the ship arrived at a tropical island where the moon lead him to his first true love awaiting on the beach. But the moon became envious of their love, drove them apart, and forced the young man, heartbroken and alone, back to Falmouth. Every time he looks up at the night sky, the moon is always there, reminding him of a love lost so many years ago. | United States | ||
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KNOWLEDGE | Documentary Film | Premise: Liberate soul from matter. A disciple learns, from the master luthier, the remarkable construction of some string instruments through observation and praxis. A journey in search of those chords capable of taking the human being out of itself. The film’s creation is based on the action of learning through an exploration in five acts. The scenic referents will reflect certain areas of painting and music. Search See to be able to look, observe to get through to ourselves. Discover Be surprised by the connections shown in what is hidden. Practice Use action to transform matter, doing, erring and achieving. Relate Unexpected things are linked in curiosity, order in randomness. Comprehend The experience of waking up in the construction of the world. | Spain | ||
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György Kepes. Interthinking Art + Science | Documentary Film | „With the scientist’s brain, the poet’s heart and the painter’s eye”—this was the proverb of the Hungarian-American artist, educator, and impresario György Kepes, a forgotten precursor of media art. Kepes was among the first who used the term „visual culture” as an independent research subject in a contemporary sense. As the architect of the Light Workshop at the New Bauhaus/School of Design in Chicago in 1937 and as the founder and first director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at MIT in 1967, Kepes’s enterprise was to fill the gap between the humanities and the sciences. The powerful new tools he offered to „intersee” and „intercommunicate” knowledge on a participatory basis proved to be the foundations of a program that defined the aesthetic agency of the ecological consciousness. Can technology save us from technology? Can the self-serving fetishes of technological innovation be used to enhance the inner richness of the individual? Can prosthetics replace the lost pageantry of nature and be the substitute for a more sustainable, better world? Márton Orosz’s documentary film is the first comprehensive assessment of György Kepes’s animated life, which introduces him not only as a shapeshifter of modernism but also as a polymath and visionary thinker whose legacy and faith in "optical democracy" grants him a pioneering role in the history of the Art and Technology Movement. | Canada | ||
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City of Steel | Documentary Film | City of Steel is a 1 hour 30 minute documentary film about the rise and fall of the American steel industry in the greater Pittsburgh area. For over 100 years, communities around the Pittsburgh area were linked to the steel mills. It was a way of life that was passed on from generation to generation. Starting in the 1980's, the forces of globalization substantially wiped out this entire industry, throwing families and communities into a sudden decline. Bruce Spiegel returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh to tell this important story that is lost on most Americans. It is a personal story of the human spirit and the bond that people had with the steel mills. It is a way of life that will never return and it is a story that must be told before we lose an entire generation of people who once lived it. | United States | ||
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I DANCE BUT MY HEART IS CRYING | Documentary Film | The music documentary "Ich tanze, aber mein Herz weint" (I dance, but my heart is crying) resurrects music that was considered lost for more than seventy years and makes it shine in new splendor. It is also the story of the hitherto almost unknown Jewish musical life in National Socialist Berlin. Within the framework of the "Jüdischer Kulturbund," the two Jewish-run record companies "Semer" and "Lukraphon" were still able to produce music by and with Jewish artists between 1933 and 1938. This music, together with the original matrices, texts and sheet music, was completely destroyed in a single night. It was the night of November 9, 1938, which went down in history as the "Reich Pogrom Night." Since then, music was considered lost forever. The fact that more than 70 years later this musical treasure has been found again borders on a miracle. It was only more than 70 years later that an Israeli historian and a German record collector came across a small clue that two Jewish record companies in Berlin had produced music by Jewish artists between 1933 and 1938. In meticulous detective work, they were able to completely reassemble the lost music from the remotest corners of the earth, like a jigsaw puzzle. In this way they succeeded in recovering the historic recordings. They had found them in the remotest corners of the world, as the estates of Jewish emigrants who had taken their shellacs with them into exile. The shellac records of the two Berlin labels Semer and Lukraphon are a treasure trove of a special kind. For at that time, in the politically explosive Berlin climate of the 1930s, they unabashedly showed the contradictory sides of Jewish identity. And after the ban on Jewish artists in 1933, the labels became a refuge for musicians and cabaret artists who no longer had opportunities to perform. After further research, I came across Jewish-American musician Alan Bern, who, along with seven other international musicians, had formed the Semer Ensemble and was now rearranging the songs based on the recovered records. With the newly arranged music of the Semer Ensemble, the film approaches the history of the two Jewish record companies and the fate of some of their performers. The Semer Ensemble's recordings of their performances and rehearsals run like a thread through the film and form a connecting bridge between Jewish musical life in Berlin in the 1930s and the present. | Germany | ||
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ART AND LIFE: The Story of Jim Phillips | Documentary Film | A pioneer of graphic art, Jim Phillips, known for his bold and visceral imagery, has left an indelible mark on the world of rock posters, surf, and skateboard art. Drawing inspiration from his life in Santa Cruz, California, Jim's journey from publishing his first artwork in Surfer Quarterly in 1962 to becoming the art director for Santa Cruz Skateboards, shaped the golden era of skateboarding. Beneath the thriving success, however, lay the weight of high demands and eventual falling out with Santa Cruz, leading to the closure of Phillips Studios and leaving Jim and his family unemployed. A resilient spirit, Jim bounced back by freelancing and reviving his rock poster art career, crafting cherished collectible posters for renowned musicians. Even in the face of dire financial circumstances and a grim cancer diagnosis, Jim's passion for his craft never wavered. A renewed collaboration with Santa Cruz served as a testament to his undying determination and commitment to his art. This documentary explores Jim's dynamic life and career, showcasing his iconic work that has not only defined an era but has also secured his place in modern art history. Reflecting on a life lived with fervor, Jim's story is a profound narrative of resilience, passion, and enduring artistic vision. | United States | ||
| January 15, 2024 • Gene Siskel Film Center - Theater 1• 6pm - 11pm |  |
FROM THE SAME TREE | Documentary Film | In the privacy of his studio, Colombian painter Santiago Cárdenas works with a prowess that only experience can render. He is the reference and mentor of a family composed by numerous artists who reside all over the world, and who have also devoted their lives to art. Their different visions about the creative process, the inspiration, discipline and practice of their craft, instilled in them since childhood, reveal the immense richness of their artistic concepts. Each of them works from their own truth, passion and specialty. What lies behind an artwork? And furthermore, what lies behind an artist? Just like the leaves of a tree, these creators share their artistry, generating in this way a thicket of postures, world visions and individual aesthetics. Generation after generation, each of these artists has been paving their own path, whereby a natural exchange, resulting from their familial bond, has also allowed them to collaborate artistically and jointly produce works of art. Art is the root and the branch, the starting and arrival point of this family dedicated to the continuous exploration, creation and sharing of their work and their knowledge. | Colombia | |
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Marta & Jagna: Vol. 1 | Documentary Film | An intimate portrait of an indestructible bond between a mother and daughter in the world of gymnastics. A tale of perseverance of will, hope, dreams and love. | Poland | ||
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Cowgirls and Synthesizers | Documentary Film | UK hit-maker and Eurovison songwriter Ricardo Autobahn follows the synthesizer pop duo Hyperbubble, described by Alternative Press as "the sonic equivalent of a truckload of Twizzlers", as they drive to Nashville to record a country and western album using only synthesizers, drum machines, and theremin. Along the way, Hyperbubble members Jess and Jeff meet cartoon cult heroes Samantha Newark of Jem and the Holograms and Manda Rin of Bis/Powerpuff Girls fame, Theremin diva Dorit Chrysler, music fashion guru Manuel Cuevas, cosmic cowboy Garett T Capps, air-drumming filmmaker Ari Gold, Do-It-Yourself vinyl pioneers Shoes, synth-pop sweeties Freezepop, Lederhosen Lucil, Helen Love, and Our Daughters Wedding, and somehow end up winners in Dolly Parton's Netflix song contest. Directed by Joe Wallace, Cowgirls and Synthesizers is a fast, fun, fanzine telling the true story of Hyperbubble's over 20-year career, splattered with color, animation, and comedy. | United States | ||
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The Prehistoric Eagle vs the Butterfly | Documentary Film | When we feel like the world has broken our heart, how do we heal? Do we confront despair or strive for 24/7 happiness? Should we strive for perfection or acceptance? Can we flip the lid on our psyche and renovate? Join me in my 10-year quest to find a path more in tune with the soul. This first-person narrative begins after the death of my mother (brain tumor), and also after finishing an 18 month-long participatory video project with AIDS orphans and vulnerable kids in Mozambique. Although filmed over 10 years, the bulk was filmed in New Zealand and Australia during a solitary, nature-filled hiatus. Personal ruminations on the nature of existence include thoughts about loss, trauma, purpose, personal and societal limitations, chronic pain, and mental health. Simple collages with photos of my childhood self as the protagonist illustrate the process of releasing the inner child from unintended dungeons, bringing her into the light and giving her the care she should have had all along. This struggle to heal shifts upon discovering the philosophy of Thic Nhat Hanh, advocating acceptance of all emotions through compassion and understanding. This is a solo project, except for the music and some historical photos. Permission for all music has been granted, and all songs are written and performed by people who identify as she/her. | United States | ||
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Puppy Love | Documentary Film | When a healthy litter of puppies is suddenly paralyzed and vets recommend putting them down, a group of courageous women rally to fight for their survival. Nothing is off the table as they try Chinese herbs, underwater treadmills and even chicken soup to bring the dogs back and get them ready for Labrador Nationals. | United States | ||
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ADAPT | Documentary Film | A group of Special Olympics student athletes and coaches are followed by a documentary team throughout an entire school year. | United States | ||
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RUKU MOJEJU | Documentary Film | Ruku Mojeju (tr:Through Hands of Mine ) revolves around a sensory understanding of monastic life. In a convent on a small island, between Montenegro and Albania, fifteen nuns – mostly young women, one of them blind – live their daily lives in a rhythm of work and prayer, and the endlessly undulating movements of nature. Over a period of nine years, this sensory ethnographical film developed as a result of the filmmaker’s intense involvement in this small community. | Netherlands | ||
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Creators | Documentary Film | The film"Creators"tells about the study of the cruel impact of the communist-bolshevik ideology on the cultural heritage and the way of thinking of Azerbaijan against the background of the life and work of Mikayil Huseynov and Sadyq Dadashov -the great Azerbaijani architects of the 20th century. During the repressions of 1937, the overwhelming majority of the intelligentsia from among their relatives were exiled or executed, which caused irreparable damage to the nation's gene pool. Mikayil Hüseynov and Sadyq Dadashov had to live the rest of their lives in fear and emotional turmoil. | Azerbaijan | ||
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Posey's Playhouse | Documentary Film | Matthew Posey is an enigmatic creative force of nature and a philosopher of life and art. Posey’s Playhouse chronicles the formation of his life’s work, the Ochre House Theater, the players it cultivates and an untimely event that could destroy it all. | United States | ||
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Translator for Peace | Documentary Film | Former United Nations Translator Tracy Ansell reflects on her full life and career, personal and archival photographs complementing her conversational narrative. Through her work with the UN, Tracy Ansell became an advocate for the promotion of just, peaceful, and inclusive societies, Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the United Nations Charter. Ms. Ansell spent much of her career in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Chile. | United States | ||
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Housecat | Documentary Film | "Housecat" is an experimental documentary that weaves an intricate tapestry of nature, time, and the ephemeral existence of two domestic cats named Hank and Buster. Through meticulously composed shots and immersive sound design, the film takes viewers on a journey that challenges conventional narrative structures. As the story unfolds, we witness the cats’ daily routines, playful antics, and their deep connection with their human companions. The film captures moments of joy, wonder, and tender vulnerability, exploring the depths of the feline psyche. As the film reaches its climax, Hank’s health begins to deteriorate, and his eventual passing casts a somber tone over the story. Hank’s death serves as a poignant reminder of the transitory nature of life and the fragility of our existence, prompting profound reflections on mortality, loss, and the intricate threads that bind us to the natural world. | United States | ||
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Second Chances | Documentary Film | Four individuals embark on a remarkable journey of resilience in the face of unprecedented adversity as their path to recovery from addiction is disrupted by an unrelenting global pandemic. "Second Chances" illuminates how hope and possibility can still exist, even when times are toughest. | United States | ||
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Juvenile | Documentary Film | Driven by the personal stories of five youth who were justice-involved as teens, JUVENILE traces their pathways into the system, their journeys of trauma and healing, and their lessons for how to break and remake the juvenile system. Shimaine, Ja’Vaune, Romeo, Ariel and Michael are all from different backgrounds and parts of the country, and each had a different pathway into the system: foster care, sexual abuse, violence, homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse. But as their individual narratives unfold in the film, a cohesive narrative emerges of the broken promises of our juvenile system across all American communities. | United States | ||
| January 15, 2024 • Gene Siskel Film Center - Theater 2• 6pm - 11pm | ||||||
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PATOU: In Black & White | Documentary Film | With a career that spans over four decades and across the globe, Jamaican singer Pat Powell (Patou) is one of Australia’s most accomplished yet hidden vocal talents. He is the artist that everyone wants to work with – the singer’s singer who sings with 15 bands, including the ARIA award-winning Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Born in the UK to Jamaican parents, Pat left the racism of the UK as soon as he could, although ‘stupidly’ found his way to Australia with its own racism issues. Father to four children from different mothers with varying ethnic backgrounds, Pat’s children all identify differently and raise a discussion about racism and where identity comes from. | Australia | ||
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The rule of exception | Documentary Film | „… the so called refugee crisis in Europe - it is a management crisis, it is a policy made crisis, it is a political crisis - but not a refugee crisis.“ Apostolos, Doctors without borders, Athens 2018 On the island of Lesbos a former prison is turned into a refugee camp, the refugee camp is turned into a prison, refugees put in detention are being used as a deterrence measure to send out the signal to others not even try to come to Europe. The state of exception becomes the rule of the EU’s migration policy. An island in flames indicating contradictions of societies, their representatives deliberately selling out it’s proclaimed values in turning the friendly sea surrounding the island into a cemetery, misery into the sole alternative to death at home, deliberately setting fire and leaving it to the wind to finish what they started. This is a film about the EU apparatus, about the creation of fear as a policy, about trenches running through Europe. This is a film about traumas and secondary traumas. As fishermen in their small boat in the Mediterranean we cast our nets in discourses, into various stories around a tangible and metaphorical island, fishing to reveal what the depth of the sea conceals. | Germany | ||
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The Glitter Factory | Documentary Film | Swedens only glitter factory is located in Dalarna close to my home village. Between the years 1950–1970 it produced Christmas tree tinsel during the winters. After the factory closed, the house was also the home of my grandfather and grandmother until they passed away. In the midst of the prevailing Covid pandemic I spent a lot of time in the house. Me and my parents went through different objects from different times still occupying the house and The Glitter Factory turned into an archaeological excavation with confused archaeologists. The film camera was with me in the house and suddenly years had passed. In The Glitter Factory, the year’s cycle materialized in an attempt to produce different objects, according to the different needs of the different seasons, that would sustain the factory’s survival. Christmas tree tinsel in the winter, binoculars in the spring, sunglasses in the summer, and zippers in the autumn. With the ever- present feeling of time, I filmed my parents over and over again. Over time scenes from life, dreams and imagination came to life in The Glitter Factory. The act of looking and a spotlight on mortality slowly emerged. The house itself started to fade away and a new place became visible. A house that invites us to spend time with each other, a camera that gives us a reason and moments to pay attention to the way we look at things and the way we speak about them. | Sweden | ||
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You Will Be My Music | Documentary Film | An antique record cutter, some home-made recordings, and a loving son - combine to make a magical debut album that pays tribute to a father's musical dreams. | United States | ||
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A Portrait in Three | Documentary Film | An experimental short documentary film exploring an individual's perspective on three themes: love, sex and spirituality. | United States | ||
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A life we imagined | Documentary Film | (English): From the early 1970s through the ‘90s, Kate Millett, along with her partner, Sophie Kier, created an art colony for women. They were joined by friends, artists, musicians, writers, and activists from diverse backgrounds. Millett’s transformative vision created a nurturing space where women could freely explore their artistic endeavors and challenge societal norms. For four decades, the women’s art colony offered sanctuary for community, creativity, sisterhood, and empowerment. A place where women could experience freedoms that the Women’s and LGBTQ+ civil rights movements were fighting for, but that were not yet available in mainstream society. "A Life We Imagined" features interviews with Millett and women on the “farm.” The soundtrack includes women’s music artists Ferron and Debbie Fier. (French): Du début des années 1970 jusqu’aux années 90, Kate Millett et sa compagne Sophie Kier ont créé une colonie artistique pour les femmes. Ils ont été rejoints par des amis, des artistes, des musiciens, des écrivains et des militants d’horizons divers. La vision transformatrice de Millett a créé un espace stimulant où les femmes pouvaient explorer librement leurs efforts artistiques et remettre en question les normes sociétales. Pendant quatre décennies, la colonie artistique des femmes a offert un sanctuaire à la communauté, à la créativité, à la fraternité et à l’autonomisation. Un endroit où les femmes pourraient expérimenter les libertés pour lesquelles les mouvements des droits civiques des femmes et LGBTQ+ se battaient, mais qui n’étaient pas encore disponibles dans la société dominante. « A Life We Imagined » présente des entretiens avec Millett et des femmes de la « ferme ». La bande originale comprend les artistes musicales féminines Ferron et Debbie Fier. (French): Du début des années 1970 jusqu’aux années 90, Kate Millett et sa compagne Sophie Kier ont créé une colonie artistique pour les femmes. Ils ont été rejoints par des amis, des artistes, des musiciens, des écrivains et des militants d’horizons divers. La vision transformatrice de Millett a créé un espace stimulant où les femmes pouvaient explorer librement leurs efforts artistiques et remettre en question les normes sociétales. Pendant quatre décennies, la colonie artistique des femmes a offert un sanctuaire à la communauté, à la créativité, à la fraternité et à l’autonomisation. Un endroit où les femmes pourraient expérimenter les libertés pour lesquelles les mouvements des droits civiques des femmes et LGBTQ+ se battaient, mais qui n’étaient pas encore disponibles dans la société dominante. « A Life We Imagined » présente des entretiens avec Millett et des femmes de la « ferme ». La bande originale comprend les artistes musicales féminines Ferron et Debbie Fier. | United States | ||
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Pure Life | Documentary Film | Pure Life is a sensory journey through the beautiful nature of Sweden along with the “back to nature” influencer Kajsa Silow. Take a break from the stress and anxiety of our contemporary society and experience the tranquility of living a life in balance with nature. Kajsa’s travels takes us hiking through luscious woodlands, ascending mountaintops and floating in the serene water of a natural lake, as she encounters like-minded individuals along the way, observing them as they hone their skills practicing the ancient crafts of the past. | Sweden | ||
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The Teardrop Vase | Documentary Film | The Teardrop Vase is an intimate short documentary, filmed in the studio of established South London potter, Suleyman Saba. The film follows the transformation of a handful of clay into an alluringly glazed vase. Saba’s designs reflect a contemplative persona at ease with his tactile skills. He considers pots as sculpture, and the forms and glazes he creates bring together traditional techniques with modern sensibilities. His work is held in many public collections including the Ashmolean Museum, National Museum of Wales and York Art Gallery. There’s a rhythm to this artist’s craft, wonderfully amplified by the music of his virtuoso pianist father. This meditative film considers how a craftsperson's personality and experiences influence their work, whilst contemplating our human relationship to clay and the elemental process of pottery making, one which has existed for millennia and continues into the present day. | United Kingdom | ||
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To You | Documentary Film | A man recollects memories of the unpleasant past as he reads through letters, both received and written during a special time, While he travels across various urban spaces in a snowy winter. | United States | ||
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For the Ancient Bristlecone Pines | Documentary Film | Retracing my steps in 2022, I tell the strange, true story of a 1998 hitchhiking trip from Portland to San Francisco to some of the oldest trees in the world, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California. A slow film about fast living that examines the mysterious nature of time, place, and memory. | United States | ||
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Small & Grateful | Documentary Film | The film "Small & Grateful" tells the story of a mindful solo hiking adventure in the Austrian Alps through carefully composed images, sounds and music. It immerses you in an alpine wilderness and lets you feel the beauty and harshness of nature. | Germany | ||
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Psyche Abandoned | Documentary Film | The film weaves together real and mythical events to create connections between the history of the Crystal Palace in London and the sculpture called Psyche Abandoned. The story reveals how a moment in the life of a young woman called Psyche was captured in marble and travelled through time and space to sit in the same park overlooking South London for the last 170 years while world wars, fires, explosions, royalty, music events, funfairs and circuses have rushed past her in endless succession. This ‘moment’ is the only constant in a story of splendour and spectacle, and like all the best stories, if only half of it is true it is still an incredible tale. | United Kingdom | ||
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People Who Think Like Me | Documentary Film | People Who Think Like Me is an experimental documentary exploring contemporary alienation and the politicization of gender. "It is helpful to know that you are also fighting someone you love about this." | United States | ||
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Just Me and You | Narrative Short | EMMA (17) is adopted and lives together with her FATHER (56) in an isolated house in the countryside. For years she has been suffering from domestic violence from him. With her best friend HANNA (18), she forges a waterproof plan to escape from home. In a rough summer night the two manage to escape. It goes according to plan and they enjoy their newly acquired freedom together. All of a sudden, everything seems attainable... Until, by an unfortunate coincidence, a DETECTIVE (37) becomes aware of the getaway car Emma's stolen getaway car. In her hopeless moment, Emma makes a fatal decision and and attacks the investigator. This buys Emma and Hanna enough time to escape from the investigator. From then on, however, the investigator does everything in his power to track them down. It does not take long until the investigator succeeds in finding the two and this time also in arresting them. Emma faints during the arrest due to an assault by him and wakes up in an interrogation room. She ignores the investigator's questions and is only interested in where Hanna is. The investigator replies "Who is Hanna?" |
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