Voyager (Spain) by Pablo Pagán

*** SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Cataloni, Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival

When a shy, socially anxious night janitor, cleaning up after Barcelona's affluent party crowd, discovers a mysterious drug that lets her shed the boundaries of her physical self, she breaks out of her isolation and opens herself up to the people she desires... but her newfound freedom comes at a heavy cost.

Running time: 00:19:57

The Dissipation of Poetry (China) by Tsewang Tashi

This is an unknown story from distant mountains. Lone person of Sengge is a weirdo of the township, and his profession is a pickpocket. He lives a life of silence, regularity, poetry, and even dumbness. Nobody in the town cares about him, and people call him “the poet” without even remembering his name. His life slightly changes when he meets bargirl Zhi’na. Two lonely and wandering people fall into romance, and decide to leave together... The film focuses on the life of young Tibetan people. It illustrates, with roughly textured cinematic styles, the wilderness of Tibetan regions and the daze of youth in this generation of Tibetans.

Running time: 00:19:59

Hairy Dreams (Canada) by Lina Cruz

***FIFA42 - Festival International de Films d'art 

Hairy Dreams is inspired by Lina Cruz's fascination for dreams, altered states, homelessness and what she finds they paradoxically have in common: access to an immense sense of freedom. Hairy Dreams evokes the interior world of a lonesome yet nonchalant character. Through words and movement, this is a visual abstract tale, taking place in a white cave-like space made of paper. Within this sort of origami igloo, a surrealist puzzle of images reveals the everyday routine of an androgynous character. Through various disparate actions, the character assembles and disassembles repeatedly its interior translucent world. In this quest of an interior castle, time is always present, haunting yet of precious companionship.

Running time: 00:08:57

Hands (Portugal) by Filipe Piteira

Hands are the connection and the path between the body and soul. The mode of search and self-knowledge, which is intuitive and sensorial, with them, discovering and transcending themselves. It is the receptive and restless mind that transforms hands into instruments of grace.

Running time: 00:07:00

Higher Grounds (United States) by Joe Kramer

On the fateful day intelligent life arrives to destroy Earth, one slacker alien gets sidetracked when he’s smitten with a bitter barista. Suddenly, our survival depends on whether this space-schmuck can get her number, before his plucky partner blows us sky high.

Running time: 00:16:59

Knife, Chocolate (Iran) by Hooshmand Varaei

*** 75th Montecatini International Short Film Festival, 77th Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Salerno

This movie is the story of a happy family! The son of the family is antisocial, psychotic, skeptic and sexist who judges women by the smell of their cosmetics! He believes that the smell of a decent  woman’s cosmetics is different from an indecent one. He even classifies bees. Prostitute or chaste, that is the question!

Running time: 00:15:00

Quadratura (Italy) by Sara Bonaventura

*** Los Angeles Super Shorts Film Festival, Brussels Independent Film Festival

Inspired by dark ecology and the Mandel'štam's poem of the voice over, the 16mm film evokes the loop of systemic predator-prey models, starting from microscopic beings - didinium and paramecium - passing through plankton, jellyfish, insects, fish, crustaceans and human apex predators. 

Running time: 00:03:26

Mind Control Attempt No. 1 (Canada) by Erin Audley

Mind Control Attempt No. 1 is an experimental short film challenging bodily control, layering images and sounds to evoke urgency and tedium, ultimately immersing viewers in the visceral experience of needing to use the bathroom.

Running time: 00:02:48

Arachnia (Canada) by Erin Audley

"Arachnia" navigates the fragile boundary between disgust and fascination. By reimagining the traditionally unsettling imagery of arachnids, I aim to shed a mesmerizing light on the creatures that many deem repulsive. This two-minute experimental journey compels viewers to confront and perhaps even redefine their inherent biases about visual allure and aversion. At its core, "Arachnia" poses a thought-provoking question: Can an entity be both off-putting and appealing in the same breath?

Running time: 00:02:02