Riviera | Jonas Schloesing | 15' | FRA
At the Riviera, a private apartment building, it’s the siesta hour. The heat is absolutely sweltering, but Mr. Osganzi and Ms. Carmen, true to their habits, are sunbathing near the swimming pool. A young woman also swims in the water. A child jumps into the pool, disturbing those present. In his shadowy living room, Monsieur Henriet tries to entertain himself by looking at his neighbors and any sign of life from the outside. After all, the TV program is tedious. With binoculars in hand, the man's intrusion into the lives of others can seem harmless. On the surface, everything seems calm - but will this illusion be disturbed like the child’s splash on the surface of the water?
#21xoxo | Sine Özbilge | 10' | BEL
A girl searches online tirelessly for love in times of social networking, speed dating, cyberlove, hipster culture, and post-network attitudes. The protagonist guides the viewer on a journey through a colorful and bizarre imaginary world filled with absurd, metamorphic scenes and confusing frenetic relationships. Between virtual and real encounters, director Sine Özbilge presents us a surreal and funny reflection on the youth of the 21st century. After watching #21xoxo, the question remains: to what extent do we allow the internet to be incorporated into our routines and desires?
Intermission Expedition | Wiep Teeuwisse | 8' | NLD
During a sunny holiday, flocks of tourists arrive in a calm and peaceful land, apparently untouched by humans. The tourists struggle to let go of their busy city lives, and the absence of daily routines leaves them lost in an uncomfortable and suddenly scary place. Only after they learn how to slow down, can they finally find some beauty in the here and now. Wiep Teeuwisse, director of Intermission Expedition, has a bachelor's degree in animation from the University of Arts HKU, in the Netherlands. A love of science and nature inspires the poetic storytelling and themes within her films.
Such A Beautiful Town | Marta Koch | 8' | POL
A woman wakes up, goes to the window and, to her surprise, sees her boyfriend kissing another woman on the street. Disoriented, she runs out of the apartment to confront him, but the man is not there. In order to find him, she embarks on a lonely journey throughout the city, which, with each subsequent street, becomes more stifling and unsympathetic. The streets tighten, the people she passes by seem to have hostile intentions. Terrified, she watches as the world she once knew starts to change, and danger lurks around every corner.
Imbued Life | Ivana Bosnjak, Thomas Johnson | 12' | HRV
A young woman seems to have a connection with the life force of nature. She uses her talents in taxidermy to return animals to their natural habitat. However, her real adventure begins when she starts to find rolls of 35 mm film inside of the animals she treats. From there on, an obsession is born. However, as she tries to understand the mystery, she retreats further and further into herself. While looking for a connection between all of this and her recent troubled dreams, as well as her waking moments, she gets lost between reality and delirium.
SH_T HAPPENS | Michaela Mihalyi, David Štumpf | 13' | CZE
A handyman abused by everyone and exhausted by everything. A wife frustrated with the endless routine of her chores. A widowed, purposeless, and totally depressed deer. What do they have in common? Set in a strange world of unexpected coincidences the mutual despair of these three characters leads to increasingly absurd events, because... shit happens all the time. The Slovakian directing duo Michaela Mihályi and David Štumpf sprinkle this colorful short film with irreverent humour, which had its world premiere at the Venice International Festival.