Escapism (2023)

Irony

A reflection of academic life during the pandemic; the passing of the days for a student who must stay home to keep from catching covid-19; and how, after being overwhelmed by everyday life at school, he starts to feel liberated… until virtual classes make him appreciate his pre-pandemic reality.

Magnifica

1907. Magnifica, young Costa Rican harpist, is preparing for her concert at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where she studies with her fiancé. Inspired by the life of Pacifica Zelaya.

Opened

For a kid to eat with an open mind, parents must also be open to changes. Opened is an animated short film about picky eaters. The story shows how parenting and environmental factors influence a kid's eating behavior.

Hillbilly Blue

Crawdad Eustace is fed-up with being treated as food and goes with possum pal Mordechai on a cross-country trip to New Orleans.

Connection

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

The deleted message

A man receives a message from an unknown number inviting him to return to the place where it all began. Following the clue, he returns to a park from his childhood, where a forgotten memory becomes a reason to live again.

Hope

The short film “HOPE” is about the journey of a new born baby sea turtle named Aqua. During his journey, he faces many obstacles from human pollution to different predators. Using his mind and courage he over comes one obstacle after the other, until he reaches his final destination. Just before he enters the sea, he witnesses a life changing scene, that he bravely over comes and grows as a character.

Territory

16-year-old, Blanka, is both curious and disturbed when her two new step brothers move in. One afternoon she goes all in to provoke a reaction and to mark her territory.

Into the Thicket

A young woman struggles with her fractured home life, failing to find common ground with her volatile yet emotionally repressed mother. Longing for a maternal figure, she continues to be haunted by visions of a mystical woman, and soon, dream intertwines with reality as she discovers a deeper connection to the mysterious lady of the woods.

I Am Here

A young man, looking to start his life over moves into a new neighborhood. In his new home, he discovers a picture of a beautiful girl with a phone number along side of it. As time passes by, his curiosity and affection of the girl grows and compels him to text the number. He eventually gets pulled into an unconventional relationship with the girl over text messages, but they never actually meet.

Abigail

A lonely and elderly widower struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and the circumstances surrounding her death. When he visits her grave, he encounters a little girl who shows him the path to healing and fills him with hope.

...And Plays Tricks

A tiny green bear (the Trickster) tries his best to impress a group of animals with his annoying tricks.

Èvanescence

Plot unavailable

Little Shadow

A teenage boy attempts to put into practice his father's conception of masculinity when left to fend for himself amongst a group of older kids.

Sugar Dumplin

Attempting to forge a deeper connection with her estranged father, who is grappling with dementia, a young woman prepares foods that evoke memories of his Jamaican childhood.

Cómplices

Plot unavailable

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper

During the holiday season, when the animals of the Central Park Zoo are preparing for Christmas, Private, the youngest of the penguins notices that the Polar Bear is all alone. Assured that nobody should have to spend Christmas alone, Private goes into the city for some last-minute Christmas shopping. Along the way, he gets stuffed into a stocking

Marion

The short tracks the tense fifteen minutes before Marion's – France's only female bull jumper – first performance in a packed French arena. As she prepares, being the only woman in the team, the film explores her battle against misogyny and prejudiced attitudes. A journey of one woman through an all-male world – juggling motherhood and the contentious pursuit of her passion.

My Girl

Since the rooster died, Jasper's only surviving hen has been depressed. Forced to come down from his mountain where he lives far from everything, the septuagenarian sets out in search of company for his beloved gallinaceous bird.

SIX GUYS

SIX GUYS is an exploration of horror, grief and the mind and is inspired by works from Junji Ito as well as Charlie Kaufman's "I'm Thinking of Ending Things".

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.

Slope

Living in a village full of slopes can drive you mad. Those who have climbed them in the old-fashioned way are fully aware of that. What they don’t know is that their souls might have stuck around.

No Law, No Heaven

A man's life in three vignettes as he grapples with identity amidst tradition in Hong Kong's notorious Kowloon Walled City.

Meatoo

A naive actor auditions for a film which could launch his career. The things he's asked to do make him more and more uncomfortable, until a choice remark from the director makes him see red.

Dilution

Dilution is an experimental short film that explores the transit between resistance and (di)ssolution, between holding and releasing and a path towards obsessive repetition. They are layers, exposed pores, matter that oscillates between remaining or disappearing. The sound is not a background, but a puncture: friction, tearing, water that drags what still persists. A sensorial testimony of what refuses to vanish completely.

O Meu Avô

Young Francisco is having a fun time spending the summer with his grandparents until grandpa loses his wallet. Seeing the predicament this is causing, Francisco decides to help his grandparents out.

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.

Eden

Eden is the queer re-tale of Adam and Eve’s story in modern times. A visually striking story about first love situated in Berlin.

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.

Reflection

Tara is a single mother, harried, overworked, and worried about her 8-year-old boy and his growing love for make-up and dresses. She struggles to find a balance for her and her son, but slowly unravels her true feelings towards her gender non-conforming child.

Afterwork

Cartoon rabbit lives in an endless loop.

Anja Ganja

Anja has to do something about her love life when her boyfriend starts turning quite herbal for smoking pot.

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away

Alice checks into a lonely hotel room at night and sets about making preparations to end her life, whilst obsessively re-drafting the perfect suicide note.

Stud Boob

Two sisters in a bathroom debate their different approaches to the patriarchy.

Donosti 2730

A youngster writes a letter to his grandmother about his last trip to Donosti (Spain). This city inspires him to ponder about the language of cinema, time, cities, and sharing memories with our loved ones.

Résistance

Dominated by an Insect's totalitarian regime, the staff of a restaurant organizes a plot to knock down the established order.

Imago

One of the moralities of the trio of authors Milos Macourek, Adolf Born and Jaroslav Doubrava. It deals with the topic of implacability of human optimism and fantasy. In a sad manner it tells us a humorous story of a man living double life: one of a beaten little clerk, humiliated by his arrogant boss, imperious wife and misbehaved descendant; the other of a spoiled hero of a dream empire full of beautiful and tender women, flowers and fantastic figures. From artistic point of view is the film based on Adolf Born's lithographs.

Tog

Aspiring model Tom pushes his boundaries on his first shoot, as his vulnerability is tested by professional photographer Eduardo.

Moriqueta

Lucas is a 19 years old deaf animator who explores life through his sketchbook. He encounters a handsome young man at his favorite library, leading him to seek a creative way to communicate with him. He chooses to set aside his beliefs and insecurities to ask him out on a date.

Gdansk

First in a series of medieval giants. Inspired by the artwork of Jakub Różalski.

Gaby’s Hills

No-one wants to play football with Gaby now that she has breasts. Like every other year, the 13-year-old is spending the summer with her dad on a small island off the Canadian coast – and she is not about to pretend that she’s suddenly a different person.

Madden

To Madeleine, the muddy road to the nearby town in front of her family’s farm seems like a threshold to another world. A mystical coming-of-age story in which the teenager experiences glimpses of the unknown as feelings of longing and loyalty collide.