FILM
LINEUP
Wool and Water - Director Oona Grimes - United Kingdom
Metal Flower - Director Seoyun Kim - Republic of Korea
Shut Everything Down - Director Beatrice Beghi - Italy
Detours Ahead - Director Esther Cheung - Canada
Last Round - Director Vincenzo Aiello - Switzerland
His and Hers - Director Natalie Turcotte - Canada
My Brothers Bike - Director Daniel Pattison - United States
Hair Tie - Director Bo Wang - China
Aram’s Condition - Director Mehdi Davachi - Iran
The Mandala - Director Mikołaj Janik - Poland
Sheep - Director Brian May - Ireland
Photos: Mojtaba Razaghi
Wool and Water
United Kingdom
"Wool and water" knits together Pasolini’s Teorema & Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, Wool and Water is an allegorical quest where the ‘Miracle Healing of the Dalmation’ is performed by Sheep [a transformation of The White Queen] granting her Sainthood in the grounds of a Medieval Abbey.
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Metal
Flower
One day, the robot making 'fake flowers' with metal encounters 'a real flower' for the first time.
Republic of Korea
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Shut Everything Down
Italy
"Spegni tutto" that means "shut everything down", unfolds three stages of Lele's life: as a child, a teenager, and as a grown man. He is a somewhat inept, solitary character, closed in on himself, but with a deep passion for silent cinema and black-and-white. Within the film, 'A Trip to the Moon' by George Méliès is referenced, which I entrusted to Lele as a means of shielding himself from the challenging moments he experiences until he discovers the beauty of believing in himself. The theme of the short film explores moments of bullying and the pursuit of dreams. Above all, it emphasizes the realization that no matter how big, unapproachable, or judged a dream may be, if it brings us happiness, we must have the courage to embrace and defend it. I gave the protagonist both fear and the strength to believe in something seemingly impossible but that brings him joy.
Detours Ahead
Canada
A road trip traces a transition of grief to acceptance through valleys, junctions, and detours. It is a meditation on solitude, and articulates my shifting relationship with place.
Last Round
Switzerland
Pippo, a former boxer afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, is celebrating his 80th birthday today surrounded by loved ones. Unable to interact with the world around him, trapped in his own body, the elderly boxer will engage in the fiercest internal battle of his career in an attempt to break free from his lethargy and reunite with his family.
His and Hers
Canada
A bittersweet love story, illustrated.
My Brothers Bike
United States
In the aftermath of his brother's passing, a remorseful ten-year-old, haunted by guilt and inspired by memories, embarks on a journey of redemption, seeking to strengthen others' hearts through acts of kindness.
Hair Tie
China
Zhang Bin and Sun Jing run a mahjong parlor in a small rural town. One day, Sun Jing comes back from grocery shopping only to find that her mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer’s disease, has gone missing. She searches everywhere for her but chooses to hide her mother-in-law’s disappearance from her husband, Zhang Bin, and her brother-in-law.
The Mandala
Łucja tries to restore her son's health and wash away her guilt for the events of the past.
The harder she tries, the thinner the lines between motherhood and violence, reality and nightmare become.
Poland
Sheep
Ireland
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