The Untranslatable Forest (United States) by Ivan Miguel, Andy Camou

*** SF Doc Fest San Francisco

A journey through a surreal airport where nature and untranslatable words unexpectedly reveal on the way.

Running time: 00:02:30

Dearest Ghost (Estonia) by Margaret Mäses

*** Brussels Independent Film Festival

How to deal with the overwhelmingly unbearable absence of someone who was an integral part of your life for a long time? When the physical embodiment of unconditional love has transformed into nothing but memories, a ghost, it might be wise to try and make friends with this new everyday companion. Dearest Ghost is a poetic journey through the inner world of a grieving filmmaker who tries to find solace in talking to her Ghost. Different stages of grief are visually linked to seasonal changes in nature. The filmmaker finds reflections of her mindscape in the surrounding scenery and wildlife.

Running time: 00:14:46

Poppy's Saturn (Belgium) by Nicole Tegelaar

*** Fantasia International Film Festival

When nightclub singer Poppy is confronted by a black-eyed man she is overcome by fear. The event triggers a buried sexual trauma that she has to overcome in a kaleidoscopic world of glitter, music and blood.

Running time: 00:14:35

The Core (Romania) by Robert Obert

This short animated film illustrates a common consciousness from which materialized instances of feminine and masculine emerge, only to morph again into a single core. It is a metaphor of a love connection between two partners, fueled from the same source, but also for the power of creation that consciousness holds. This  also collects and shows sections of each partner’s transformation process, revealing and underlining that everything begins and ends from and into a single point, it shows the nucleus of narratives from each individual,  their symbiosis and eventually their exit. The author considers this animation a meta frame where we can be spectators to a process of creation and emotion.

Running time: 00:01:11

Wherever You Go (Sweden) by Alexander Graninger

*** best actor @ Alice nella Città Roma

Alice has let her depressed brother live with her. Now his health problems are starting to drain her and she has to tell him to move out.

Running time: 00:19:33

Fish And Cheese (Germany) by Sina Guntermann

The 16mm short film "Fish and Cheese" is a sentimental observation showing the short-lived friendship between two girls. A dreamy view by the first-person narrator of an undefeatable girl, Vittoria, who remains like a souvenir even after she is gone.

Running time: 00:06:48

Bad Bad Belgium (Belgium) by Jasper Declercq, Wouter Medaer, Jonas Wellens

*** Annecy International Animation Festival, Film Festival Oostende

Erased from history, brought back to life. This animated documentary series reveals the unknown stories of Belgium's shady past. From its involvement in the production of the atomic bombs, the Belgian doctor becoming the first XTC drug lord, to the fraudulent start of mass tourism. It's not pretty.

Running time: 00:27:35