What's This Country Called Now? (2020)

Refugee Poetry

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

Women's Letters

On the front lines of the Great War, nurse Simon repairs the broken faces of the soldiers every day with love letters, words from women that have the power to heal the wounds of these paper soldiers. Simon himself seems impervious to holes, uncreasable, untearable in his white coat. His secret is his war godmother, who occupies all his thoughts whenever he has a moment to breathe. But when death strikes where it is least expected, can words written on paper still erase the pain?

When Jeff Tried to Save the World

When Jeff discovers that the bowling alley he manages is being sold, he must do everything he can to save the place he's come to call home. This is the original / short.

Cycles

CYCLES is a playful, sweetheart choreography, circling through the madness of grief.

Ballet Shoes

Two dancers are forced to confront their feelings for each other on the eve of a ballet competition.

The Sheets Must Be Silk

A young photographer doesn't know it, but he is about to take one of the worlds beloved photos. During the course of the evening, two people find love encapsulated in a moment. But love like this was never meant to be, unless it is captured forever in time.

Protozoa

Darren Aronofsky’s AFI short opens with angry slacker Dave sitting in a dreary, empty junkyard. Dave stares into space, sips beer, and beats the hell out of a cracked guitar. We quickly realize the emptiness of the dump parallels the emptiness of Dave’s life which consists of smoking weed, staring at television screens and watching school children. Dave’s friend Pete is shortly introduced, along with their friend, Ari, who despite calling her pals losers, doesn’t seem to accomplishing much herself. These three are going nowhere fast. They’re the amoebas of life… protozoa….

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.

Frogs

It’s dripping through the ceiling, the space for sleeping is scarce. Under poor living conditions, a young mother handles everyday life with her two daughters in the Brazilian suburb as best she can. When they unexpectedly acquire a load of frog legs, this gives rise to a celebration that will not soon be forgotten.

Shannon Amen

Shannon Amen unearths the passionate and pained expressions of a young woman overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety as she struggles to reconcile her sexual identity with her religious faith. A loving elegy to a friend lost to suicide.

La Jetée

A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.

The Dam

A lifelong friendship is under siege when two mature Australian men visit the monolithic dam that defined their young lives and are confronted by feelings that were impounded long ago, but cannot be contained any longer.

Aujourd'hui ou je meurs

After a month of texting, Zoe has organized a perfect first date with Marc. Their expectations will be tested by reality.

Connection

The biggest boxing fight of 1960 takes an unexpected turn with the help of a powerful twin connection.

The Assistant

Isabelle is a physiotherapist. After work, she is involved in a completely different activity.

The Quiet

In the midst of a deadly outbreak, a man returns home in search of family.

Into the Night

A yuppie seeks help from two townspeople in finding his wife and daughter, during a blizzard storm. Based on the short story by Stephen King.

Erica

Erica has a secret relationship to the married Sebastian. When his wife Liv finds out, she decides to confront Erica over an evening of gin and tonics. Erica is soon being pushed to question what things in life are worth fighting for.

Los días en verano son más largos

A married couple who are in an argument will discover that only silence will keep them together.

The Gay Agenda 26

In this anthology of shorts, the phrase “Gay Agenda” is reclaimed from the religious right and transformed into a celebration of gay culture. Sit back and enjoy “The Carer,” “Into the Storm,” and “Floating Melon.”

Mac-boogie

Hyo-seon is diagnosed early menopause, and his son Jinsu calls for a MacBook. One old cow that would be the money in the house.

Unicorn

A young German/Bolivian Mennonite risks his life to escape his strict religious community to find love and freedom in the city.

Zack & Luc

A split-screen film telling two versions of the entire story of a relationship. Each memory becomes intertwined with all the others: the firsts, the lasts, the middles, each of the small nothing moments that add up to something in the end.

The Devil's Instrument

A jazz bassist who surveys a beautiful girl at a gig decides to try to get her home. But the devil is getting into the game too.

The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler

A missing person case involving a child in 1987 East Germany attracts the attention of an investigator rumored to possess supernatural powers.

Static Shock Blackout

Daisy Watkins, an up and coming news reporter, goes to Dakota City to to discover the name of a super-powered teenage vigilante. It's a fan adaptation of Dwayne McDuffie's comic book and television series: Static Shock.

Goldfish

Two couples, in the same room, try to keep it together. The human couple fare differently to the pair of Goldfish in their fish tank. An artful piece exploring choice in life and love. The humour is derived from the wistful musings, in Cantonese, of the male fish and narrator.

Holy the Sabbath

A chilling portrait of loss and redemption when men create their own gods.

Leave

Billy the Marine's last day home before going back to Iraq. Realizing he may never come back, he tries to make amends with various people in his life. For Billy, the real battle may be on the home front rather than the front lines. LEAVE is an entirely improvised drama that was shot over the course of one day in Arlington, Texas, using both actors and non actors, both family and friends of the director, all from a one page outline. The story ultimately describes the different ways people express their love to one another, and how these ways of communicating love are sometimes lost.

Lions' Den

A group of old friends are hanging at one of their houses exchanging stories of sexual escapades, awaiting another friend to arrive so they can celebrate a birthday at a nude bar. When one of them is suddenly accused of having masturbated in his friend's bathroom, what starts as a McCarthy-era trial of accusations at one individual suddenly escalates into a night of judgment that tests the truth of their words and the strength of all their friendships. LIONS' DEN is an entirely improvised drama using both actors and non actors shot over the course of an evening, based from a loose outline. It ultimately is a probing of the way men behave with one another. It also emphasizes the way people point the finger at others to hide their own sins and actions. A melting pot of lies, truths, egos, and masculinity that is stirred with documentary-style filmmaking.

Jungle

A young woman awakens to find herself in the midst of a living nightmare.

Tough

After her father unexpectedly hits her, a young girl decides to toughen up.

You and Me, Before and After

Now in their 30s, grumbling sisters Hannah and Rachel decide to get their first tattoos together. As they get inked, and unable to leave until it’s done, they bond in conversation over still-fresh wounds that they share.

Sadhbh

Young mother Claire struggles to keep her life together while attempting to present a mask of strength against the judgement of the outside world. But she hides a heartbreaking secret, and sometimes accepting the truth is not an option.

Ben

A journey inside the mind of a troubled child.

Venena Bibas

In a Catholic seminary, Brother Nestor is found dead and his best friend, Brother Esteban, tells the story of the events that preceded his death. There, a repressed and unhealthy love is discovered.

The Wayfarer

Albert has spent his whole life wanting to travel but he has been stuck at home, living in a small town making enamel signs. He has saved up everything he has and reluctantly sells his home and livelihood to embark on this trip, a lifelong dream that will honor a deceased friend. But the journey he will embark on is not what he has anticipated.

Exposure

Camille, an assistant at an art gallery, hosts Masato Kimura, a Japanese video game designer who has come to France to promote his latest creation. Indifferent to his world, Camille finds the man inscrutable until Masato asks to use her face in his next game.

Love Advisor

The story is about a guy who can predict a person’s future by patterns of tea leaves. Our fortune teller is in love with his best friend, but unfortunately, he’s stuck as a love advisor for said friend.

Robot & Scarecrow

A love story between a robot and a scarecrow who meet and fall for each other at a summer music festival.

In Vitro

Amanda creates a reality where her child is not a product of rape, but is in fact, immaculately conceived.

Jemima + Johnny

A white boy and a black Jamaican girl have a day out in a city where racial hostility prevails.