The Lost (2017)

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.

Curiosity

On a quiet night, a young couple find themselves caught up in a nightmarish ordeal after they witness a murderer disposing of a body in this claustrophobic thriller.

The Red Suitcase

A veiled 16 year old Iranian teenager is terrified to take her red suitcase from the carosel at the Luxembourg Airport, and go through the exit doors. Her fear grows with every second in the face of what awaits her beyond the gate.

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.

Tricycle Thief

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

Broads

The social democrats of the sixties and seventies worked on their grand plan to build a highway network in Germany that every German citizen could reach within five minutes of their home. The little film hangs around between and on the streets of this network - where the country discos, pedestrian zones, shopping centers, hospitals and roads home are behind noise barriers.

Feast

This Oscar-winning animated short film tells the story of one man's love life as seen through the eyes of his best friend and dog, Winston, and revealed bite by bite through the meals they share.

Good Morning

A lighthearted take on director Yasujiro Ozu’s perennial theme of the challenges of inter­generational relationships, Good Morning tells the story of two young boys who stop speaking in protest after their parents refuse to buy a television set. Ozu weaves a wealth of subtle gags through a family portrait as rich as those of his dramatic films, mocking the foibles of the adult world through the eyes of his child protagonists. Shot in stunning color and set in a suburb of Tokyo where housewives gossip about the neighbors’ new washing machine and unemployed husbands look for work as door-to-door salesmen, this charming comedy refashions Ozu’s own silent classic I Was Born, But . . . to gently satirize consumerism in postwar Japan.

The Jump Off

Nigel and Malik have been in a secret romantic relationship for several weeks. Nigel seems content with their unofficial status, but as times goes on, he longs for more. One evening, Nigel decides to take matters into his own hands before thinking of the consequences.

Little Queen

Stéphanie is a jovial and strong single mother. She shares everything with her 13-year-old daughter Léna: their passion for Angèle, their clothes, even the teenager's diary, in which Stéphanie corrects omissions... As they go to an Angèle concert with Kali, Lena's best friend, Stéphanie will realize that her baby has grown up.

I Follow You

Anna bumps into Jesper on the morning train. She’s never seen him before, but it turns out he knows everything about her. A short film about social media and surveillance in postmodern society.

2036: Nexus Dawn

This in-world short film takes place in the year 2036 and revolves around Jared Leto’s character, Niander Wallace. In this short, Wallace introduces a new line of “perfected” replicants called the Nexus 9, seeking to get the prohibition on replicants repealed. This no doubt has serious ramifications that will be crucial to the plot of Blade Runner 2049.

Ruth

Inspired by the scriptural tale. Moabitess priestess Ruth is drawn both to a Judean man and to his talk of a forgiving God. After tragedy strikes, she begins a new life in Bethlehem.

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.

A Curtain Raiser

Bruno, a young Frenchman, is frustrated by his girlfriend's constant lack of punctuality. He decides to end their relationship the next time she is late again.

Borderless

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Denys is forced to leave his country. He has nothing left but the hope of seeing Dmitrii, a young recruit of the Russian army.

The Burning Boy

A closeted teenage gay boy shares a swim and an afternoon together with his straight best friend. When his looks and longing let his secret out, his friend pleasantly surprises him but an accident occurs and tragedy ensues.

My First Suit

14-year old Steve is caught between creatures he does not fully understand: two parents with very different ideas about the suit he should wear to his first school dance. Meanwhile everywhere he seems to look, images of men are taking control of his imagination. In Stewart Main's comical coming of age story Steve escapes his parents' good wishes, to discover his true desires. They aren't quite what his no-nonsense father had in mind.

Fucking Killas on Speed Dial

Jakob is attracted to Rakel, the girlfriend of the guy who is bullying him, Thomas. He feels small but he is determined to feel big.

The Storm

The Kuwaiti short film العاصفة (The Storm) explores Kuwait's social and economic shifts before and after the discovery of oil. Through the perspectives of an older father and his modernized son, it delves into the challenges of tradition versus rapid modernization.

Cycle

After years of playing second fiddle to a rival performer, a woman confronts her rival. Hoping to reason with her enemy, things grow heated and someone commits an act that may cost them their future. That is until there is a knock at the front door.

Dumplin'

To prove a point about measuring up and fitting in, Texas teen Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson enters a local pageant run by her ex-beauty queen mom.

Zelos

Maria, a competitive woman in her late 30's orders a clone from North Korea under the pretense of getting some help around the house so she can spend more time with her husband and two kids, but mostly to compete with her flawless friend Ari.

Knock at the door

A dreamy girl goes through puberty evading the loneliness and pressure of her environment until in just one night, treason and harassment lead her to big disappointments that push her to grow up abruptly.

The Symphony of Silence

17 year-old writer Zach struggles to survive in the 'dog eat dog' world of high school where he is tormented by bullies. There is no chance of finding comfort at home as one of the bullies happens to be his 18 year-old brother, Sean. In order to escape his bullies at school, he resorts to hiding in the restroom during his lunch breaks.

Fivesixths

Truth, Dare or Lemon is a game played by stupid boarding school kids who don't know what to do with themselves. Before Tim died he was the number one of a close-knit boarding school gang. When the friends engage in a ritual one year after his death a familiar game turns into a sadistic night...