CABIN BAN (NORWAY) BY FINN WALTHER

Synopsis: To battle the Covid-19 outbreak the Norwegian government bans people from traveling to their countryside cabins. This gives a burglar the perfect opportunity. Running time: 00:01:09.

Selections/awards: South London FF (Winner Covid-19-inspired Short), Night of Comedy Shorts (Best Comedy), Boston Short FF, Verona IFF.

About the director: Documentary filmmaker born and bred in Norway. Finn has made several award winning shorts and in 2019 started the production company Walther Bros with his filmmaker brother, Martin Walther.

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POSTED NO HUNTING (USA) BY ALISA STERN

Synopsis: When a trail cam captures a frightening encounter in the woods, the scariest part is what you don't see. Posted No Hunting is a new twist on the found footage horror film - it's told through stop motion animation and stars puppets made of wool, rubber, and clay. Running time: 00:02:36.

About the director: Alisa is an animator, puppet maker, and filmmaker in Brooklyn, NY. She has over a decade of experience in the animation industry working on commercials, music videos, kids' TV, social media, as well as her own award-winning animated shorts. Posted No Hunting is her first horror film.

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ATLAS (FRANCE) BY JIM VIEILLE

Synopsis: Dark and poetic, this music video depicts a rite of passage : the liberation of an inhibited personality. First, the night, rough, wild and frenetic, to let out all the accumulated frustrations. Then the next day, appeased, like a rebirth, a return to life. Running time: 00:05:43.

Selections/awards: Rhode island IFF (Best Music Video), Sydney World FF (Winner Best Music Video), Verona IFF (Winner Best Music Video), Super Shorts London, and more.

About the director: Jim Vieille is a french director. Dark, violent and enigmatic, his work in different mediums (film, video, installation) explores the boundary between fiction and experimental. His films have been featured in several festivals. In 2010, his first short, 'Take Me To The Water', won the Prize Of The City Of Clermont-Ferrand.

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UPSODOWN (AUSTRALIA) BY NATHAN CEDDIA

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Synopsis: An omniscient narrator leads us through various surreal worlds exploring the disconnect between humanity and nature. We are reminded that all living things are connected and collectively shared, on this planet - our home. Through the power of sharing, we can promote hope and reconnect. All it takes is a bit of reflection. Running time: 00:10:00.

Selections/awards: Sydney World FF (Best Australian Film), Venice Film Week.

About the director: Nathan's bold yet versatile approach to filmmaking allows him to craft his style across a wide range of film genres. Best known for his indirect experimental approach to filmmaking, resulting in a distinctively unique vision, Nathan takes the ordinary and turns it into the extraordinary. He was born in Melbourne Australia, and is currently based in Berlin Germany.

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LOSING IT (AUSTRIA) BY SASCHA VERNIK

Trailer

Synopsis: After losing the tool he relies on most, a fraud information worker decides to go back in time to prevent it. Running time: 00:09:30.

Selections/awards: Venice Film Week, Boston Short FF.

About the director: Sascha Vernik is a director and animator based in Vienna, Austria. After his debut animated film "Embracing Lovers" in 2014 he has worked in the animation industry before completing his animated short 'Losing It' in 2022.

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BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE (SWEDEN) BY GUSTAV HUGO OLSSON

Synopsis: A man at a restaurant tells his girlfriend a weird story about that he once in his life have had exactly the same feeling as now. That time the whole world started to shake. The girlfriend gets uncomfortable about his behaviour and the story that really doesn't make much sense. They continue their conversation and the table starts to rattle... Running time: 00:06:51.

Selections/awards: Boston Short FF, Verona IFF, Obskuur Ghent FF.

About the director: Gustav Hugo Olsson is a Swedish award-winning director, producer, screenwriter, filmmaker and editor with over 10 years of experience in film productions in various sizes and genres.

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DYNAMITE (FRANCE) BY JIM VIEILLE

Synopsis: April 2020. Lêg always stays locked up at home, engrossed by screens that all broadcast the same image: a burning car. But is it the outside world that smoulders or Lêg himself ? Running time: 00:04:37.

Selections/awards: Brussels Independent FF, Sydney World FF, Boston Short FF, and more.

About the director: Jim Vieille is a french director. Dark, violent and enigmatic, his work in different mediums (film, video, installation) explores the boundary between fiction and experimental. His films have been featured in several festivals. In 2010, his first short, 'Take Me To The Water', won the Prize Of The City Of Clermont-Ferrand. In 2021, his music video "Atlas" was nominated at the Berlin Music Video Awards, has received the 1st Prize for the Best Music Video at the Rhode Island International FF and the Best Music Video Award at the Verona, Bruges, London and Los Angeles International FF. Jim lives and work in Paris.

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ISLANDS (USA) BY SHAUN HU

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Synopsis: Islands in the metaverse, where cyborgs, plants, and humans are connected by data. Running time: 00:01:54.

About the director: Shaun Hu, new media artist. The interdisciplinary background of his studies in art and technology makes his works contain thinking about art, society, and technology. His works have been exhibited in more than 30 exhibitions at home and abroad, won the enlightV Future Media Academy Award (2021), shortlisted for the Lumen Prize (2018), won Artand the Most Outstanding Young Artist of New Media Art (2016).

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DOPO YUMEmories (USA) BY JORDAN GALLAND

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Synopsis: The short documentary explores Dopo Yume, a NYC-based rock band that gained traction in the late 90s, early 00s, but never quite took flight. Told through home videos and present day narration from the band’s lead singer, we experience his memories of the highs and lows, the friendships and community that formed around the music and the role that fate and tragedy played. Running time: 00:13:36.

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MONSTER ENCOUNTERS (GERMANY) BY JAMES SMITH

Trailer

Synopsis: Humans encounter various monsters, but each encounter has a consequence. Running time: 00:01:03.

Selections/awards: South African HorrorFest (Best One Minute Short), Brussels Independent FF, Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, Hollywood Horrorfest, Warsaw Animation FF, Boston Short FF, HorrorFest International, Santiago Horror FF, Grindsploitation FF, and more.

About the director: James Smith was born on March 20th 1996. He is a filmmaker/animator and has been creating films using the stop-motion technique for over ten years. Most of his animated films have garnered a view count of over 3 million on his Youtube channel.

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BELOW 10 (IRAN) BY HOSSEIN FALLAH ABADI

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Synopsis: Termeh’s aim is to rank below 10 in university entrance exam any way possible. She goes to the house of Ashkan, a man who sells university entrance exam questions, to buy the questions but she has not taken enough money with her and Ashkan wants something else from her in return. Termeh must choose between accepting or refusing Ashkan’s offer. Running time: 00:13:40.

About the director: Hossein Falah Abadi (1995) has made several short and experimental films. He has recently finished his Cinema Studies. His films have screened at reputable festivals in Poland, China and the USA, and more.

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LANDFALL (USA) BY KATE WEARE, JACK FLAME SOROKIN

Trailer

Synopsis: Landfall offers a sensory fantasy of naturalism, a hallucinatory look at the human body in nature. Playing with a visual edge between organic and artificial, Landfall wonders, yearningly, whether we humans belong in the natural world…or are we visitors, outsiders, a kind of alien? Running time: 00:08:49.

About the director: Kate Weare is recognized as a preeminent American choreographer whose dances merge the mind and the gut through the power and persuasiveness of the moving body. Weare draws on visual art in her work, as well as a fascination with language, poetry, contemporary music, psychology and nature. Jack Flame Sorokin is a photographer and filmmaker. His artwork focuses on our connection as human beings to each other and our environment.

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HOW TO FILM A SIGH (USA) BY CLAIRE KINNEN

Synopsis: A short poem film on the wistful and melancholy side of growth. Filmed on Super 8. Spanish captions are available. Running time: 00:01:00.

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IDOL (AUSTRALIA) BY ALEX WU

Synopsis: A young Chinese celebrity is called into an emergency meeting after a fan of his commits suicide. Running time: 00:18:30.

Selections/awards: Brooklyn FF (Spirit Award in Short Narrative, Outstanding Achievement in Performance (Best Male Actor)), Sydney FF (Dendy Award for Best Australian Live-Action Short Film), Adelaide FF, Flickerfest International Short FF, and more.

About the director: Alex Wu is an award-winning Australian filmmaker. The son of Chinese immigrants, Alex was born and raised in Canberra, Australia, where at the age of seventeen, he made his first short film on Super 8mm, ‘Compass’ (2011), a western that went on to win the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 Canberra Short FF and top prize at the 2011 Leonid Film Awards. In 2015, his short films 'Beneath The Cotton Clouds' (2014) and 'Freight Train' (2014) screened at festivals including the LA Indie FF, Toronto Student Film Festival, Edmonton IFF and Barcelona FF. In 2016, his graduate film 'Motown' (2015) had its world premiere at the 60th BFI London FF, followed by a successful international festival run.

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