The act of people traversing from one location to another is among the most fundamental aspects of human existence. Occasionally, this journey is driven by a quest for new discoveries, while at other times, it’s compelled by conflicts and external forces. Nevertheless, permanence remains elusive, as the inexorable tide of time inevitably sweeps over these experiences.
Cycle of Eternity
Nominated for Best Short of the Festival
Director: Souradeep Datta | India | 2023 | 18 Minutes
A dead mother finds her daughter as a blooming young plant, and her daughter finds her mother inside a wooden cupboard. Transcending life and death, this film explores the quest of an eternal return. Since childhood Souradeep Datta has been experimenting with the visceral procedure behind music, words and visuals.
Cast: Biswajit Das, Sritama Dey, Debkanya Hazra
Writer: Souradeep Datta | Producers: Souradeep Datta, Masud Ahamed Laskar, Sandipan Mallick | Director of Photography: Manas Bhattacharyya | Editor: Souradeep Datta | Music: Megh Banerjee
All Tomorrow’s Parties
Original Title: Wo De Peng You
Director: Dalei Zhang | China | 2023 | 24 Minutes
Xiao Zhou takes care of her mother while working in the state-owned film studio. Full of idealistic expectations, Li Mo returns from a faraway place. The encounter of the two is like the swaying of branches and leaves in the wind. On cold nights, the cinema is a harbour for all.
Cast: Xun Zhou, Yibo Wang
Writer: Dalei Zhang | Producer: Yitian Gao | Director of Photography: Songye Lv | Editor: Dalei Zhang
White Ant
Winner of Best UK Short
Director: Shalini Adnani | India/UK | 2023 | 15 Minutes
A man is summoned from Mumbai to his ancestral village to deal with a termite infestation threatening to destroy his childhood home. Written in a dreamlike state, in between sleepless nights, the film is as much a dream as it is a reality. Shot entirely on 16mm.
Cast: Denzil Smith, Sushannt Sapare, Harish Kesariya
Writer: Shalini Adnani | Producers Sara Bonakdar, Michael Graf, Kaarthekeyen Santhanam, Mrunalini Havaldar | Director of Photography: Adric Watson | Editor: Anna Meller | Music: Hollie Buhagiar
Vox Populi
Nominated for Best UK Short
Director: Tyanita Gancheva | Bulgaria/UK | 2022 | 26 Minutes
Magdalena, a small-town theatre actress, must travel to a nearby village to take care of her father-in-law who has suffered a stroke but due to a swine fever outbreak, the village has been blocked. Now on a journey to save a pig she finds the empathy of people in unlikely places.
Cast: Svetlana Yancheva, Ivan Savov, Elena Zamyarkova, Alexander Doynov
Writer: Svetoslav Ovcharov | Producers: Svetla Tsotsorkova, Svetoslav Ovcharov | Director of Photography: Ivan Ilchev | Editor: Dimitar Yakimov | Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach Ma
Director: Darlene Huynh | Vietnam/Canada | 2022 | 20 Minutes
Content Warning –
A woman decides to abandon her modern life and journeys to a remote monastery in the Bach Ma mountains of Vietnam, where she lives alongside a group of stoic monks. Her silent struggle to adapt to the peculiar setting leads her to a wholehearted search for something worth believing in.
Cast: Kimberly Laferriere
Writer: Darlene Huynh | Producer: Julia Schneider, Ngoc Phan | Director of Photography: Juli Zall | Editor: Andres Landau | Music: Lodewijk Vos
