Loved ones are essential to supplying support structures. But what happens when this most vital of needs begins to violently chasm? While we have been made to withdraw from society and interactions, human connections have come to the forefront to remind us of what is at the core of being us – and that is those around us.
Abeba
Director: Zelalem Woldemariam | Sweden / Portugal / Ethiopia | 2019 | 20 Minutes | UK Premiere
A baby girl is left by her parents in a car park. The young girl grows up dreaming of reuniting with her parents and, when she gets older, finally travels to meet them and a strange journey begins. Abeba is a film about finding your place in the world.
Cast: Eden Genet
Writer: Jean-Paul Wall | Producer: Zelalem Woldemariam, Ana Almeida, Gary Cranner | Director of Photography: Simon Yemane | Editor: Ana Almeida | Music: Pedro Marques
Al-Sit
Director: Suzannah Mirghani | Sudan / Qatar | 2020 | 20 Minutes
In a cotton farming village in Sudan, fifteen-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker. Her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a young Sudanese businessman living abroad, and Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa’s future. Can Nafisa choose for herself?
IMDb | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Cast: Mihad Murtada, Rabeha Mahmoud, Mohammed Magdi, Haram Basher, Alsir Mahjoub
Writer: Suzannah Mirghani | Producer: Suzannah Mirghani, Eiman Mirghani | Director of Photography: Khalid Awad | Editor: Abdelrahim Kattab, Suzannah Mirghani | Music: Fatma Farid
Beti
Director: Amira Duynhouwer | The Netherlands | 2021 | 10 Minutes | World Premiere
Jay has spent fourteen years ignoring the thing that has been tearing up her marriage. Her husband was unfaithful and had a daughter with someone else. And now, said daughter, Stacey, is on their doorstep – wanting to get to know him. Beti is an exploration of pride, tradition and forgiveness.
Cast: Shalini Ramgolam, Keara Patti
Writer: Amira Duynhouwer | Producer: Pieter Kuijpers, Sander van Meurs, Iris Otten | Director of Photography: Dionne Cats | Editor: Tessel Flora de Vries | Music: Jac van Ekster
Mother’s Day
Director: Patryk Kaflowski | Poland | 2021 | 11 Minutes | UK Premiere
The fox travels through the forest in search of food. When she reaches the edge of the forest, she comes across a lonely farm where she witnesses the stormy events involving a young woman expecting a baby. Mother’s Day is a short story about mothers facing oppression.
Cast: Alina Szczegielniak, Wiesław Kupczak, Freya, Furia
Writer: Patryk Kaflowski | Producer: Krystyna Doktorowicz | Director of Photography: Patryk Roman, Patryk Kaflowski | Editor: Patryk Kaflowski, Michał Walter | Music: Marek Pędziwiatr
Summer of Bees
Director: Ida-Maria Olva | Finland | 2021 | 23 Minutes | World Premiere
During a particularly hot summer, Eedi, suffering from eco-anxiety, decides to quit their studies to start beekeeping. Eedi gets reluctant help from their mother Anne, who is scared of every single little bee. Soon enough, Eedi and Anne notice that saving the bees is not an easy job.
Cast: Heli Hyttinen, Irina Pulkka, Jarmo Perälä, Miia Selin, Ilkka A. Jokinen
Writer: Marjo Airisniemi | Producer: Anniina Leppänen, Nora Kuusisto | Director of Photography: Heini Mäntylä | Editor: Antti Tuomikoski | Music: Emil Sana
Trumpets in the Sky
Director: Rakan Mayasi | Palestine / Lebanon / France / Belgium | 2021 | 14 Minutes | UK Premiere
Best Short of the Festival Nominee
Told without dialogue, Trumpets in the Sky is a poetic visual contemplation of landscapes and the complexity of human traditions. Part fiction, part documentary, and purposely blurring the distinction, the narrative is a dark socio-political critique of patriarchy, the repercussions of war, and the myth of sacrifice.
Cast: Boushra Matar, Azra Al Nazzal, Hussein Ali, Yasser Shlash
Writer: Rakan Mayasi | Producer: François Morisset, Laura Jumel, Rakan Mayasi | Director of Photography: Pôl Seif | Editor: Rakan Mayasi, Marie-Rose Osta | Music: Hadi Zeidan, Tamikrest
