Paulownia (2019)

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.

AI Junko

Noah Clarke is a disillusioned and isolated man who seeks companionship in a society increasingly dominated by artificial beings. At Fuda Robotics, he meets Junko, a male AI model haunted by memories of abuse and torture — traumas that have left his intelligence fractured and fragile. As Noah and Junko struggle to understand each other, they slowly form a bond rooted in mutual vulnerability and shared suffering.

A Film in the Theatre

Eusebio José Fernández López Reboredo Bergamín is a teenager in the 1960s whose dream is to be a movie director, but General Francisco Franco prohibited in 1964 all types of art. A coincidental encounter with another artist, named Antonio Mínguez, will change his life.

Chang-ok's Letter

Housewife Eun-ha is busy every day: In addition to taking care of her husband who doesn’t help out at all and her willful daughter and son, she has to care for her nagging mother-in-law, who is nearly bedridden.

Felina

Felina, a woman capable of becoming a panther, or perhaps a panther capable of becoming a woman, lives in love with a blind pianist.

After-School Special

A man and a woman have an awkward encounter at an indoor playground.

Women in Film: BBC Introducing Arts

Cultural historian Janina Ramirez presents a collection of intriguing and exciting short films by emerging women directors and artists. Each film gives a female perspective on modern-day topics from body image and new love to grief and belonging. Expect honest and refreshing storytelling that will make you laugh, make you cry and make you think. In a Room Full of Sisters; Blood Stains; Bridging the Gap; Cake; Ding-Ding, Next; Fruity; In Perpetuum; Owulide; White Dwarf; Cosmic Domestic; The Dead Are Jewels to Me; The Presence of Absence

While the Unicorn Is Watching Me

On a chilly Sunday morning, a man awakens to the mischievous stare of a unicorn that seems to have come straight out of his dreams. Carried along by an early morning sensuality, his fantasies transform his lonely apartment into a garden of delights, in which this young creature can freely reap the fruits of his desires.

The Difference Between Pipi & Pūpū

When estranged son, Tai, is called home to Aotearoa to his father Putty's deathbed, he is forced to confront a painful past after years of avoiding it. Once inseparable, Tai and Putty would spend hours together fishing and joking around. However, after a family secret is revealed, their relationship falls apart.

Walls

A teenage boy named David is afraid of being transparent. When David's best friend, Johnathan, notices his abuse at home, David must overcome his fear of rejection in order to embrace his friend's support.

The Room

Mariana must sacrifice her dog Frida after violently beating it for having destroyed her recently deceased son's toys. The pet's death helps Mariana accept and overcome the loss of her son.

Fragments of Time

Amelia arrives at the hospital, her father is dying. Her frustration and pain keep her on her feet.

The Kiln

At her young age, Juana has two great responsibilities: preventing her older sister from fleeing the house and passing on the secret of making bricks to her younger sister.

Cristeros and Federals

In 1929, during the Cristiada, Ranulfo, captain of the Cristero army, kept a federal prisoner, whom he tortured and threatened. At another time, Eugenio, captain of the federal army, rebukes and mocks the faith of a group of Cristeros peasants who are weak but not defenseless.

Sugar Glass Bottle

Near-future Tokyo. Kou, through the help of his high school best friend, finds a surprising way to express his mounting frustration at the insidious forces of commercialism that are forcing out the neighbors he cares most about. Initially inspired by a prank that the writer-director Neo Sora (The Chicken, 2020) had pulled on him in his childhood, a sense of warm nostalgia and cold, material reality intermingle to tell a tale set in the not-so-distant future about disappearing spaces and the forces of policing and gentrification that drills this process forward.

Without a Mom

Two gay dads fumble to provide their straight son with meaningful support after the loss of his first real love.

Heartless

Léo goes on vacation at his cousin's, in a fishing village. There, he meets a girl who goes by the nickname Heartless.

Mori

A man on the brink of death, has a conversation with a stranger. The pair philosophize about the meaning of a life well lived.

Nahjum

A prehistoric family's desperate search for a mythical source of life turns to tragedy when the egos and obsessions of its male members rise to the surface.

Alexandria

Books vanish from a library. A daughter says goodbye to her mother. A writer struggles with Alzheimer's disease.

Three Months

When a young man belatedly reveals to his lover an omission, their romance wavers.

We Are Dancers

Set in Berlin, 1933, We are Dancers is the story of real-life anti-Nazi drag artist Hansi Sturm and his circle of friends in the immediate aftermath of the Reichstag fire, an event that allowed Hitler to become absolute dictator of Germany. Confronted by a former lover, now a Nazi, Hansi must decide whether to abandon his club or stay and face the Fascists on his own terms.

Wonder

An 11-year-old kid growing up in "the hood" secretly dreams of trick-or-treating as Wonder Woman for Halloween.

Tricycle Thief

After discovering his eviction notice, a tricycle driver goes on a desperate hunt for money.

Where the Birds Cry

Fourteen-year-old Szymon lives in a seaside village. He's going through one of the most turbulent stages in his life - puberty. However his monotonous life is interrupted by an unexpected visit from his childhood friend. An ordinary meeting on a cliff turns into his first summer romance.

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.

Gypsy

Sebastian is a wealthy young man. He finds out he has a flat tire and ends up accepting help from a Gypsy passer by. In return Sebastian will have to give him a ride home - but they won't reach their expected destination.

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.

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.

What Grown-Ups Know

Teenage boy Roy and his ailing mother Elizabeth live an aimless life on the road, shuttling between gas stations, temp jobs and cheap motels. When they end up at a desolate caravan park, fractures begin to appear in Roy's relationship with his mother as he starts to fall head over heels for park manager Maurice.

In the Name of the Father

The short film depicts the life of a boy who is constantly sexually abused by his father. Leonardo Miggiorin brilliantly plays the role of this boy, who belongs to a poor and unstructured family.

Mehmet & Tim

Mehmet and Tim are best friends for as long as they can remember. However, they are at the foot of a major event. An event that will change their friendship forever.

Hysterical Sisters

"Hysterical Sisters" is an artistic and abstract poem about the chronic menstrual illnesses Adenomyosis and Endometriosis, that visualises the daily struggles of affected people. Adenomyosis is often described as the "evil sister" of Endometriosis - and vice versa. Two personified illnesses, that cause immense suffering and debilitating pain. Since loneliness, shame and a lack of understanding shape the lives of many affected people, the short film aims to raise awareness, break taboos and ultimately show sufferers they're not alone.

Visions of Europe

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

Failure

The encounter of an ex-couple that haven't seen each other in five years. His name is Andrés and he's a film director. Her name is Lucía and she's an actress. They confront their past in a real-time conversation: a mingling of what they remember, what their dreams were, and what never happened — not even in their dreams.

On the Path

A road in the middle of nowhere. A car. A bike. Two lonely people looking for the same thing. They meet.

Shackles

The discharge of the nuclear sewage has brought great crisis to the environment. A particular mermaid becomes victim to it all.

In Orbit

The future, the space. Sonia is about to be transferred from her station to a newer one. Although everything seems to be going well, Sonia's mind is actually elsewhere, haunted by tragic events from the not too distant past.

Akashi

Kana, a young woman from Japan is pursuing her career in North America and has adapted to her new environment. However, her new lifestyle has made her emotionally distant and can't seem to sustain a long term relationship. Her mother calls informing Kana that grandma passed away. As Kana returns home to pay her respects, she begins to recall her most intimate conversation with grandma. In their talk, Grandma is proud of Kana for leaving Japan. Kana argues it's even harder to raise a family and sustain a marriage for a lifetime. Grandma tells Kana that their marriage was far from ideal, and to Kana's surprise, Grandma reveals a secret which changes Kana's attitudes on relationships. Memories and the funeral force Kana to look inside herself and examine her own life.

The Dead Girls

Two teenage girls forced to serve a violent drug cartel await the first snowfall at the desert surrounding a mountain called La Siberia.

Altered Innocence Vol. 1

A vibrant anthology of LGBTQ+ short films and music videos that delve into the complexities of youth, identity, and desire. This diverse collection showcases a range of cinematic voices—both emerging and established—exploring the exhilaration, vulnerability, and confusion of coming-of-age through stories that celebrate queer love, self-discovery, and the breaking of societal boundaries. Blending narrative shorts, experimental visuals, and music-driven pieces, the anthology offers an evocative, multifaceted portrait of innocence transformed.

Krakatau

An portrait of madness and inner turmoil, conveyed through mesmeric images of dreamlike intensity.

Auroras

Constantly orbiting at 400 km (250 mi) above the earth, the ISS is perfectly situated to witness the beautiful streamers of green and red light emanating from the collision of highly charged solar wind particles with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the earth's atmosphere. Centered about the northern (Aurora Borealis) and southern (Aurora Australis) poles the Auroras move in an almost hypnotic dance below the space station.

Transient Passengers

A psychological voyage through the memory of time-obsessed office clerk Marcel as he chases the woman who stole his golden pocket watch.

Deep Ocean

A boy with a secret crush struggles with his feelings as he watches the one he loves grow closer to others, sinking deeper into his own emotional turmoil.

Of Love and Snow

A date night at the cinema becomes a surreal journey for a young couple as they float around between unexpected romantic encounters.