This year’s Short Documentary competition is taking no hostages. Pedro Florêncio’s stirring effort in “Voyeur” (Portugal), a film that discusses in an abstract fashion our interest and fascination for the porn industry, is one great example. Equally provocative, even if of a totally different nature, Sam Peeters’ “Homeland” (Belgium) is not going to leave audiences indifferent, in this almost Ulrich Seidl style trip through the suburbs where appearances are misleading. Still on the Short Documentary  competition, and the emotional voyages that are “Lupulo’s House” by Mexican director Paula Hopf and Marina Meijer’s “Cargo” (The Netherlands), only to name a few, promise to put up a brave fight, in this competition that includes 10 films from 9 different countries.

Short Documentary listing:

About My Sister, Barbora Sliepková, Slovakia, 15'46

Building Stories, Aline van der Linden e Marina Moura Maciel, Brasil, 14'50

Cargo, Marina Meijer, Holland, 25'27'

Days of Youth, Yulia Lokshina, Germany, 30'

Digital Immigrants, Dennis Stauffer, Switzerland, 21'

Homeland, Sam Peeters, Belgium, 14'13

Lupulo's House, Paula Hopf, Mexico, 23'

Made in Roubaix, Martin Renard & Julie Lacaze, France, 10'20

Voyeur, Pedro Florêncio, Portugal, 10'

Without Sun, Paul de Ruijter, Holland, 29'

No Silver Lynx competition would be complete without strong incursions into the world of animation and experimental filmmaking. This year is no exception.

Animation wise Poland leads the way with two films, “Pussy” by Renata Gasiorowska, which threatens to cause quite a debate with its fusion of sweetness and provocation, and the stunning looking “Locus” by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi.

Shorts Animation listing:

Antarctica, Jeroen Ceulebrouck, Belgium

Ascribed Achievements, Samaneh Shojaei, Iran, 4'18

Framed, Marco Jemolo, Italy, 6'

Happy End, Jan Saska, Czech Republic, 5'43

In a Nutshell, Fabio Friedli, Switzerland, 5'55

Locus, Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi, Poland, 10'

Lupus, Carlos Gomez Salamanca, France / Columbia, 10'

Nutag-Homeland, Alisi Telengut, Canada, 6'

Patrioska, Tiago Araújo, Portugal, 9'11

Pussy, Renata Gasiorowska, Poland, 8'

Last but not least, in the experimental selection there is no shortage of reasons to make sure to book your place for this screening. Tobias Sauer’s “Simba in New York” is already one of the most talked about shorts of the year, while “Its My Fault” by Chinese director Liu Sha, as well as all other 9 films in this competition, will make the jury’s task somewhat impossible, just the way it should be.

Short Experimental listing:

Any Road, Boris Labbé, France, 10'4

Apocalypse, Justyna Mytnik, Poland, 15'

As The Jet Engine Recalls, Juan Palacios, Spain, 11'11

Dois, João Pedro Barriga, Portugal, 9'42

It is My Fault, Liu Sha, China, 4'50

News from the Sun, Brendan & Jeremy Smyth, EUA, 3'30

Simba in New York, Tobias Sauer, Germany, 32'10

Summa summarum, Bon Bon, Lithuania, 5'46

Vensolin, Hansje Hofand, Holland, 4'34

Tomorrow we'll approach part 2 of Silver Lynx and also the National Competition.