European Short Film Catalogue 2018 by European Film Awards

EUROPEAN SHORT FILM 2018

SHORT FILM NOMINATIONS CONTENTS Welcome ...................................................................... 1 Films AQUAPARQUE ............................................................. BURKINA BRANDENBURG KOMPLEX ...................... GRADUATION ‘97 ........................................................ I SIGNED THE PETITION ............................................ KAPITALISTIS ............................................................. KONTENER ................................................................... MERYEM ....................................................................... PRISONER OF SOCIETY ............................................. RELEASE THE DOGS .................................................. SHAME ......................................................................... THE ESCAPE ................................................................ THE YEARS .................................................................. THOSE WHO DESIRE .................................................. WHAT’S THE DAMAGE ............................................... WILDEBEEST ...............................................................

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

The EFA Short Film Programme ............................. 17

European Film Academy e.V. Kurfürstendamm 225 10719 Berlin GERMANY tel. +49 30 887 167-0

EFA Productions gGmbH Kurfürstendamm 225 10719 Berlin GERMANY tel. +49 30 887 167-0

www.europeanfilmacademy.org

www.europeanfilmawards.eu

Director: Marion Döring Amtsgericht Charlottenburg 14236 Nz

Managing Directors: Marion Döring, Jürgen Biesinger Amtsgericht Charlottenburg HRB 99369

IMPRINT: EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY e.V. // Editor: Pascal Edelmann // Graphic design: Andrés Castoldi // Unless otherwise indicated, all pictures appear courtesy of the respective production/ distribution companies ★

WELCOME

Agnieszka Holland Chairwoman EFA Board

We are happy to present the short films nominated for the European Film Awards 2018: A lot of them begin with a very personal examination and positioning: What do you believe in, whom do you love, what do you fight or stand up for, where do you live? They take us to an abandoned waterpark, a Ukrainian junk market, a Belgian job centre, a Georgian flat and on a safari. We meet women at war, painted pigeons and disillusioned kids. And the two Poles. Each of the nominated films opens a window into a different world and still altogether they can only offer a glimpse of the galaxy of human experience, perception and emotion – and of the breath-taking creative diversity of European cinema. It is with great pleasure that we present this year’s nominated short films.

The EFA Short Film Programme is organised in co-operation with partner festivals across Europe. During the past twenty years, the interest in the short film programme and this collection of short films has constantly been increasing. The nominated films go through a series of 40 screenings across Europe and beyond. We are proud to draw attention to these short films and their creators and I invite you to leaf through this booklet and meet the nominees – creative people from all over Europe. This great programme wouldn’t be possible without our friends in the world of short films and I wish to thank all our partner festivals for yet another fantastic year full of surprises and discoveries! I would also like to thank our friends at the Uppsala International Short Film Festival for the EFA Short Film Weekend – a great gathering of the nominated directors in Sweden for a first screening of the nominated shorts and a weekend of meeting and mingling. Thank you & tack så mycket!

Vila do Conde Short Film Nominee

Portugal, fiction 17’

AQUAPARQUE WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Ana Moreira PRODUCED BY: Joana Ferreira & Isabel Machado DOP: João Ribeiro EDITOR: Tomás Baltazar PRODUCTION DESIGN: Bruno Duarte COSTUME DESIGN: Yara Jerónimo SOUND DESIGN: Ricardo Leal HAIR & MAKE-UP: Sandra Pinto MAIN CAST: Margarida Antunes, Rodolfo Marques

Production: C.R.I.M. PRODUCTIONS Joana Ferreira, Isabel Machado Rua do Açúcar 76. Armazém 35 1950 - 009 Lisboa Portugal crim.filmes@gmail.com +351 218 446 102 www.crim-productions.com

In an abandoned waterpark, a girl and a boy are hidden from the outside world. Between the graffited ruins of the old swimming pools and blunt slides, they find a shelter to grieve from their loss of hopes and dreams. Ana Moreira How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? The script for AQUAPARQUE was written in 2013. Late in the same year I started to look for a producer. Once I found a producer (C.R.I.M. Productions) we applied for the subvention of ICA (Portuguese Film and Audiovisual Institute). The first year we applied, the jury decided not to finance the project, the second year we applied – same project, same application, a different jury – the project received financial support for shooting. We shot it and ended all the post-production in 2017 and the film had its first screening in Curtas Vila do Conde in 2018.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? A platform not only to share European films, but also to give visibility to different directors/technicians/ actors and their stories. To discuss, to meet or to show our concerns and experiences. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I would try to make a bridge between classic cinema and contemporary moving images and experimental movies. About how the images from the past are important, how they echo, repeat and influence the imaginary of the present and future. What is your next project? I’ve finished re-writing the script for the next film and I’m applying for ICA’s subvention with the same producers. It is the second year that we try to apply with this project. It’s a short film titled A MONTANHEIRA (MOUNTAIN GIRL), with approximately 20’/30’ running time. Cross your fingers!

Germany, fiction/experimental 19’

Berlin Short Film Nominee

BURKINA BRANDENBURG KOMPLEX WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Ulu Braun PRODUCED BY: Ulu Braun DOP: Ulu Braun EDITOR: Ulu Braun PRODUCTION DESIGN: Ulu Braun & Jan Berendes-Pätz COSTUME DESIGN: Niina Lehtonen-Braun SOUND DESIGN: Valentin Lorenz COMPOSER: Max Knoth ANIMATION: Ulu Braun MAIN CAST: Joachim Stargard, Evyone Muhuri

Production: Studio Ulu Braun Ulu Braun Putbusser Str. 22 13355 Berlin Germany film@ulubraun.com +49 176 22 25 30 40 www.ulubraun.com

A presumably African village, inhabited by Germans. An archaeological find is made in a mine: a Ferrari. We tag along with Joachim on his everyday rounds. He has his heart set on realising a common energy project. The Museum of Prussian Cultural Heritage is run by a black woman. She presents artefacts from Western consumer culture with a special emphasis on German products. Joachim is involved in the ritualistic production of energy in the village, but gets excluded when the ceremony is nearing its finale, finally catapulting himself out of the “story/history”. Ulu Braun How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took three years to make it, but I also worked parallel on two other films. The main part of financing came from the German Short Film Award and I covered the rest myself. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Hopefully my sense for European cinema gets stimulated by this EFA Nomination, where I will be privileged to meet other filmmakers. I like the basic

idea to overcome old idiotic ideas of nationalism. At the same time, I recognise the human need to belong somewhere like a family, a sports club, a neighbourhood, etc. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I am not a classical film enthusiast, even though I chose to make films. I think dentists do not need to see dentists all the time. I would invite people from different generations and nations to show a remarkable clip (e.g. YouTube or home video) they would like to share and talk about. What is your next project? I am currently developing a feature film (modern fairy tale) built on a crazy story and a challenging visual world. There is also a new short film and a new video installation in production.

Leuven Short Film Nominee

Ukraine, fiction 19’

GRADUATION ‘97 ВИПУСК ‘97 WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Pavlo Ostrikov PRODUCED BY: Yurii Minzianov DOP: Kyryl Shlyamin EDITOR: Yevgen Golovanchuk PRODUCTION DESIGN: Diana Todoratieva COSTUME DESIGN: Natalia Marcilenko

SOUND DESIGN: Serzh Avdeev COMPOSER: Braty Gzhegozhevsky & Trio Marenych HAIR & MAKE-UP: Diana Todoratieva MAIN CAST: Oleksandr Pozharsky, Lesya Ostrovska

Production & World Sales: Kristi Films Yurii Minzianov Melnikova, 9, apt. 17 04030 Kyiv Ukraine ym@kristifilms.com +38 04 43 62 04 07 www.kristifilms.com/en/movies

Roman lives a lonely life in a provincial city and works as a technician. For the first time since graduation, Liuda, his ex-classmate, comes back to town. Nobody has heard anything from her for twenty years, but Roman is set on not losing her again. Pavlo Ostrikov How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? I wrote the script in two months, and we spent two more on pre-production. The film shooting took three days. But for this wonderful time, we paid our personal money. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I think it’s great! For filmmakers it is important to be among like-minded people. And globalisation is very helpful. But we have to remember that our stories shouldn’t lose their uniqueness like language or mind-set.

If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I would screen the film THERE WILL BE BLOOD by Paul Thomas Anderson. This is the director who showed me the magical power of long shot. I would also show ANNIE HALL; an excellent example of an intellectual tragicomedy. And of course, the film EYES WIDE SHUT; perhaps not the best of Stanley Kubrick’s movies, but very mysterious and fascinating. What is your next project? Now I’m working on a feature film: U ARE THE UNIVERSE. This is the story of the last love in the Universe. After the explosion of the Earth, there are only two people who survive: A Ukrainian trucker and a French scientist, Catherine. And now they want to see each other.

UK, Germany, Switzerland, documentary 10’

Sarajevo Short Film Nominee

I SIGNED THE PETITION WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Mahdi Fleifel PRODUCED BY: Mahdi Fleifel & Patrick Campbell DOP: Mahdi Fleifel EDITOR: Michael Aaglund SOUND DESIGN: Dario Swade

Production & Press: Nakba FilmWorks Patrick Campbell #4 450 Kingsland Road London, E8 4AE UK patrick@nakbafilmworks.com +44 78 52 84 04 62 www.nakbafilmworks.com

World Sales: Nakba FilmWorks & La Distributrice de Films Sarah El Ouazzani 4760A Parthenais Montreal, H2H 2G7 Canada sarah@ladistributrice.ca +1 51 45 77 93 89 www.ladistributrice.ca

Immediately after a Palestinian man signs an online petition, he is thrown into a panic-inducing spiral of self-doubt. Over the course of a conversation with an understanding friend, he analyses, deconstructs and interprets the meaning of his choice to publicly support the cultural boycott of Israel. Mahdi Fleifel How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took about one week spread over eight months. It was a DIY project, conceived and shot during my DAAD residency in Berlin in 2017. It was financed by a small research grant from DAAD so I was privileged to not having to worry about funding. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? A sense of solidarity; certainly when it comes to EFA

and the issues it addresses, be it political or professional. However, I wish that this sense of solidarity could extend beyond just Europe. Cinema transcends all borders, and I feel that as artists we could be more fearless in extending our support to wherever injustices may be in our world today. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Films that come to mind now are the timeless BATTLE OF ALGIERS by Gillo Pontecorvo, Milos Forman’s ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST and RADIO DAYS by Woody Allen. What is your next project? I can never quite tell. I’ve always got a few things cooking. Whichever is ready to be served first will be the next.

Valladolid Short Film Nominee

Belgium, France, fiction 15’

KAPITALISTIS DIRECTED BY: Pablo Muñoz Gómez WRITTEN BY: Pablo Muñoz Gómez, Sarah Schenkel & Xavier Seron PRODUCED BY: Erika Meda & Olivier Berlemont DOP: Kinan Massarani EDITOR: Nicolas Bier PRODUCTION DESIGN: Lisa Etienne COSTUME DESIGN: Charlotte de Gottal SOUND DESIGN: Marc Alberisio COMPOSER: Rafael Muñoz Gómez HAIR & MAKE-UP: Céline Yetter MAIN CAST: Georges Siatidis

Production: Roue Libre Production Erika Meda 14 Rue St Nicolas 5000 Namur Belgium

World Sales & Press: Origine Films Olivier Berlemont 21, avenue du Maine 75015 Paris France festivals@originefilms.fr +33 01 42 84 22 70

Santa is capitalist. He brings toys to the rich kids and sweatshirts to the poor ones. Nikos, 5 years old. Pablo Muñoz Gómez How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took two years between the first line I wrote and the end of the process. It’s long, but not that long for a film. We actually waited for some money that never came – but I think it’s the same for many films! We had nine days shooting, which is huge for a short film ... Looking back, I can say it was pretty comfortable. Even if it never looks like that when you are in the process! Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I like this idea. For the moment, film business is

much more a matter of nationality and language, but a European cinema community allows to meet so many other professionals. It creates a connection that makes us stronger, and helps everybody to grow up. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I would first screen films I would like to watch on the big screen. So, I would say THE GREAT DICTATOR by Chaplin; TO BE OR NOT TO BE by Lubitsch; MAN WITHOUT A PAST by Kaurismäki. And if I had a big theatre, I would add TOTO LE HÉROS by Jaco Van Dormael; LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS by Carné; MODERN TIMES by Chaplin; SOME LIKE IT HOT by Wilder. What is your next project? I am now writing my first feature film. I never say much about my projects when I am writing. I just hope I will be able to shoot it soon! I will also direct a TV show for Arte France, A MUSÉE VOUS, A MUSÉE MOI, second season.

Germany, fiction 30’

Cork Short Film Nominee

KONTENER DIRECTED BY: Sebastian Lang WRITTEN BY: Sebastian Lang, Hanna Rode & Martin Herold PRODUCED BY: Johannes Schubert DOP: Caspar Hees EDITOR: Martin Herold PRODUCTION DESIGN: Melina Schuler COSTUME DESIGN: Hanna Rode SOUND DESIGN: Julius Rülke COMPOSER: Ivan Andrianov MAIN CAST: Joanna Drozda, Anka Graczyk

Production, Press & World Sales: Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF Cristina Marx Marlene-Dietrich-Allee 11 14482 Potsdam Germany distribution@filmuniversitaet.de +49 331 620 25 64 www.filmuniversitaet.de

Maryna and Tava are working shifts on a milk farm in Eastern Germany. In the village, they are known as “the two Poles”. They themselves ignore each other’s existence. When the farm manager goes on a business trip Tava does not show up at work and seems to have disappeared. The next night a disturbing encounter takes place. Maryna wakes up in her container realising that she is not alone: Tava is lying next to her, fast asleep, firmly clinging to her. But during night shift Maryna withholds the news of her compatriot having returned. When she returns to her container, Tava has disappeared again. Her tracks are losing themselves at some drinking session in the surrounding countryside. Sebastian Lang How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? About 13 months. As it was my second-year film at the Film University Babelsberg, we had to start shooting really fast and we were using only the small budget we got from there. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? In Germany, in the wider public, a perspective on cinema seen as an art form is almost non-existent by now. There are very few discussions about visual style, new approaches to filmmaking, artistic traditions. Even film critics from big newspapers consider questions like “Does this Netflix series have enough

addictive potential to make me watch every single new episode?” as legitimate topics of intellectual debate. My hope for the European cinema community is that it would still fight for this old-fashioned ideal of people trying to express something in any manner personal and urgent by “speaking” the visual language they feel obliged to speak. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Eduardo Williams’ short films plus THE HUMAN SURGE. What is your next project? It’s loosely based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s childhood memoirs and composed of a series of dreams about the protagonist’s odd and rather sibling-like relationship with his mother, who suffered a lot from raising a child that is treated as a prodigy by everyone. There’s no additional framework plot, only the dreams.

Uppsala Short Film Nominee

Netherlands, documentary 16’

MERYEM DIRECTED BY: Reber Dosky PRODUCED BY: Jos de Putter DOP: Reber Dosky EDITOR: Rémi van der Heiden SOUND DESIGN: Taco Drijfhout & Huibert Boon

Production: Dieptescherpte Jos de Putter WG-Plein 385 1054 SG Amsterdam Netherlands +31 65 10 38 855 jos@deepfocus.nl

World Sales: Journeyman Pictures 4-6 High Street Thames Ditton Surrey, KT7 0RY UK +44 20 83 98 46 16 info@journeyman.tv

Press: Some Shorts Wouter Jansen St Annastraat 149 6524ER Nijmegen Netherlands +31 62 20 76 717 info@someshorts.com

Filmed during the battle of Kobani, this film reveals the women at the heart of the fight against IS. With stoical perseverance and the aid of American airstrikes, these women are leading the fight for freedom. Reber Dosky How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? MERYEM is part of my long documentary RADIO KOBANI which I worked on from December 2014 until October 2016. From that film material – of which I knew every detail – it was possible to edit MERYEM within a few weeks. We strongly believed in the power of MERYEM’s story, so we decided to make the short without extra budget.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I think it is great that a European cinema community exists to provide a forum for filmmakers to get connected and inspired by each other. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? CINEMA PARADISO – Giuseppe Tornatore. YOL – Yılmaz Güney. BAARÌA – Giuseppe Tornatore. What is your next project? In a country which experiences war for decennia, there is a man who fights to get the nature saved. At the moment, I’m working on a documentary about this man.

Georgia, Latvia, documentary 15’

PRISONER OF SOCIETY სოციუმის პატიმარი DIRECTED BY: Rati Tsiteladze PRODUCED BY: Rati Tsiteladze & Nino Varsimashvili DOP: Rati Tsiteladze EDITOR: Rati Tsiteladze SOUND DESIGN: Rati Tsiteladze MAIN CAST: Adelina

Tampere Short Film Nominee Production & World Sales: ArtWay Film Rati Tsiteladze Tamrashvili St 5 0162 Tbilisi Georgia +99 55 99 99 22 77 rati@artwayfilm.com www.artwayfilm.com

Press: ArtWay Film Nino Varsimashvili Tamrashvili ST 5 0162 Tbilisi Georgia +99 55 99 70 00 63 nino@artwayfilm.com

What does it mean to be a stranger in your own home and country? Prisoner of Society is an intimate journey into the world and mind of a young transgender woman, trapped between her personal desire for freedom and traditional expectations of her parents that threatens their unity. Rati Tsiteladze How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? When Adelina called me and shared her story with me, there was no question that it was a story that must be told, no matter what the cost would be. Due to the sensitivity of the subject, it was impossible for me to get any financial support from the region. But the idea that I could make Adelina’s voice heard was a great source of inspiration for me to create this film without any budget and to handle everything – from shooting to post-production. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I believe that this is a community that shapes the future of the next generation of filmmakers by

supporting the freedom of creative expression, which is one of the most important aspects to achieve artistic excellence. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I would create a unique opportunity to travel back in time and re-visit the greatest masters of European cinema, who encouraged a personal and authorial approach to cinema as an art form. What is your next project? Currently, I’m working on my debut feature film project THE EMPTY HOUSE, which is set in a traditionally patriarchal Georgia during the dark and chaotic time of the early 90s and follows a 12-year-old girl who dreams to have a complete family, but finds herself caught in a whirlpool of conflicting emotions when after seven years of absence her father returns from prison. The story spirals around a family representing three generations and takes an insightful and uncompromising look at human nature through the study of the characters and their relationships, while their unity is tested to its limits.

Krakow Short Film Nominee

France, Belgium, fiction 21’

RELEASE THE DOGS LÂCHEZ LES CHIENS WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Manue Fleytoux PRODUCED BY: Jeremy Forni DOP: Florian Berutti EDITOR: Adrien Pagotto PRODUCTION DESIGN: Emmanuel Borgetto COSTUME DESIGN: Kim Nguyen SOUND DESIGN: Thomas Hatcher COMPOSER: Jules Ribis & Xavier Tabard (SEC) HAIR & MAKE-UP: Eléonore Herbinaux MAIN CAST: Alice De Lencquesaing, Yoann Zimmer, Simon Boyle

Production: Chevaldeuxtrois Jeremy Forni 29 Rue M. Dassault 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt France jeremy@chevaldeuxtrois.com +33 66 09 39 109

World Sales: Agence belge du court métrage Anne-Françoise Reynders 1, avenue Maurice 1050 Bruxelles Belgium annefrancoise@agenceducourt.be +32 22 41 73 70

Anouck is a resigned girl, torn between two loves, two violences: her man, an attractive watchdog, and her little brother, a young mad pup. The night of the boy’s 18th birthday, this delicate triangle explodes, Anouck’s revolt is on its way ... Manue Fleytoux How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It was my first movie, and after a lot of refusals, I was very lucky to finally meet the team of Chevaldeuxtrois in France, as they decided to give me a chance in a very familiar, human and caring atmosphere (they also brought the Wrong Men team from Belgium into the project). While we were searching for financing, I worked on a lot of versions of the script. It was not an easy story to present, people couldn’t always get the optimism. It took us more than two years to find the minimum amount we needed to go for it, and we did it in a very short time, with quite a small budget.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? When I think of the cinema of the old continent, I think of the energy and the cultural richness of all different ways of filmmaking, related to the historical background of each country. But we have something in common, there is a long bridge between us, we are part of the same continent, and in a certain way, cinema unites us as a community. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I hope it is an open-air cinema! I would propose a selection of good and sassy DIY movies you couldn’t find anywhere else, movies that would question the world and cinema’s form. What is your next project? I am currently working on ASHES, an optimistic short film about the end of the world, and writing a punk comedy on the adventures of a revolutionary circus company.

Bulgaria, fiction 24’

SHAME СРАМ (SRAM) WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Petar Krumov PRODUCED BY: Rossitsa Valkanova DOP: Georgi Georgiev EDITOR: Elena Seimenova PRODUCTION DESIGN: Sabina Hristova

COSTUME DESIGN: Svetla Dionisieva SOUND DESIGN: Valeria Popova HAIR & MAKE-UP: Tatyana Sleptsova MAIN CAST: Zdravko Moskov, Monika Asparuhova, Emilia Panova

Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Nominee

Production, World Sales & Press: KLAS Film Rossitsa Valkanova 156, Kniaz Boris I str. 1000 Sofia Bulgaria klasfilm@spnet.net +35 98 98 50 37 02

Macho is a poor boy who skips school to work on a construction site. The only ray of light for him is his girlfriend, Donna. Yet, she is ashamed of his mother, who works as janitor in their school. Macho has to choose between his mother and his love, and he finds his own way to deal with his emotions. Petar Krumov How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? A year more or less, including seven months of pre-production and five shooting days. The project was financed by neither the national film centre, nor the national television. Still I didn’t want to wait, and we created the film with almost no budget and a big support from Klas Film, B2Y, Doli Media and, of course, from friends. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”?

I see it as identity, built from many identities. I see it as a community that preserves and develops a certain cinema (style and type of stories) and taste for that kind of cinema. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? CURD CHEESE by Pier Paolo Pasolini, HARD TO BE A GOD by Alexey German, FOR LOVE AND GOLD by Mario Monicelli. What is your next project? I am currently developing a short medieval story about the relations between authority and people of art, and it seeks if there is a place in our minds and souls that is intangible for the hold and threats of power. I am also working on a full-length script named WINDY DAYS ARE GOOD FOR FLYING.

Drama Short Film Nominee

THE ESCAPE L’ÉCHAPPÉE WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Laëtitia Martinoni PRODUCED BY: Marianne Roudier DOP: Fabrizio Fontemaggi EDITOR: Jean-Baptiste De Lescure PRODUCTION DESIGN: Antoine Maron COSTUME DESIGN: François Jugé

HAIR & MAKE-UP: Dominique Germain SOUND DESIGN: Benjamin Jaussaud COMPOSER: Clare Manchon & Olivier Manchon ANIMATION: Stéphan Kot MAIN CAST: Vanessa Guedj, Alexis Michalik, Nadia Roz, Bruno Salomone

France, fiction 10’ Production, World Sales & Press: Iris Rêve Productions Marianne Roudier 67 boulevard Sérurier 75019 Paris France irisreveproductions@gmail.com +33 61 45 04 088

Alice sings, wears make-up and cracks herself up. She is happy. Yet she is at the hospital, just out of surgery. She is very ill and totally bald. However, she is in love with her surgeon. He is her savior and comes to see her every evening. Each of his visits is a magical moment for Alice and helps her forget her unbearable situation. Alice escapes into her own dreamworld and makes her life over into a sweeter, love-filled one ... Laëtitia Martinoni How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? We made a crowdfunding and all our friends and family participated. And we found a donator, the company Ozalys, which is very involved in the subject of the film. We had two days of shooting, and one month of postproduction.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? My thoughts are inspiring words: diversity, culture, sharing, and love. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND by Michel Gondry, THE BIG LEBOWSKI by the Coen brothers, DONKEY SKIN by Jacques Demy and DIRTY DANCING by Emile Ardolino. What is your next project? I’m searching a producer for my feature film on the same subject and spirit as THE ESCAPE. And I’m writing my next short movie that I want to shoot next year, with my two daughters as main characters.

Italy, France, documentary 20’

THE YEARS GLI ANNI WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Sara Fgaier PRODUCED BY: Marco Alessi & Sara Fgaier EDITOR: Sara Fgaier & Davide Minotti SOUND DESIGN: Riccardo Spagnol

13 Production & Press: Dugong Films Marco Alessi Via portuense 201 00149 Rome Italy info@dugong.it +39 33 58 44 76 17 www.dugong.it

Venice Short Film Nominee Co-Producer & World Sales: Films Grand Huit Lionel Massol & Pauline Seigland 13 rue des trois couronnes 75011 Paris France contact@filmsgrandhuit.com www.filmsgrandhuit.com

A woman gives voice to Annie Ernaux’s text “The Years”, a few collected fragments on the shores of a timeless Sardinia. Neither the words, nor the images, drawn from the family films, are expected to complete the narration of her story: places from her past. The mountains on the cost, a seascape, gardens, terraces, rooms of an apartment emerge like reflections of a fragmented and ever-changing memory, uncovered by a new light. The details in each gesture, in each face, of scenes of a life lived amongst family, reassembled and freed from their original context, become expressive elements of a confession that is both a personal discovery and a collective narration. Sara Fgaier How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took us altogether one year: the project began in June 2017. The initial expenses were funded by the Re-Framing Home Movies residency, from which the project was born. The Cineteca Sarda allowed me to use their footage and L’Orma Editore the book’s texts. The film was born into an extremely creative and powerful environment, it was self-produced thanks to a very small group of collaborators who supported me, and thanks to the musicians that lent me their pieces. Marco Alessi and his film production company Dugong Films helped me complete my project, and for this reason I am extremely grateful to him.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? It gives me a feeling of the cultural circularity of cinematographic works, that arises from collaborations and productions increasingly widespread in different European countries that represent different cultures, languages, landscapes, stories and artistic expressions, all of which are intertwined with encounters, admixtures and relationships that cinema records and expresses. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS by Marcel Carné. What is your next project? It will be a film that mixes different languages from that of the documentary to the fiction of theatre, from repertoire to animation, from pictorial images to drawings, in an attempt to make a multiplicity of expressive mediums propagate, mixing different visual experiences, being evocative, while still remaining in a single narrative flux continuum.

Locarno Short Film Nominee

THOSE WHO DESIRE LOS QUE DESEAN WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Elena López Riera PRODUCED BY: Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney & Elena López Riera DOP: Elena López Riera, Giuseppe Truppi & Philippe Azoury EDITOR: Raphaël Lefèvre

Switzerland, Spain, documentary 24’ Production & World Sales: Alina Film Eugenia Mumenthaler 13 rue Colonel Coutau 1211 Genève 1 , CP 1073 Switzerland eugenia@alinafilm.com +41 76 37 22 196

In the south of Spain, a race of colourfully painted pigeons will reward not the one who flies the fastest, but the one who will have known how to seduce a female pigeon, and to fly the longest time at its sides. Elena López Riera How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took me about a year, especially the editing took us a long time, to be able to refine the material until the final version. When we arrived at the editing room we had many hours of rushes. The truth is that we didn’t have a lot of financing difficulties, we got the regional funds for production support (Cinéforom) and also the OFC ones (national support). Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I think it’s very important that we have a notion of film community, which for me goes beyond national borders. I’ve had the opportunity to share spaces

and festivals with filmmakers from other European countries and I think it’s important to strengthen communication channels in order to build a community capable of reflecting on what cinema means at the present time. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? The complete filmography of Margarida Cordeiro and António Reis. What is your next project? Right now I’m working on my first feature film, which deals with the mystical relationship my hometown (in south-eastern Spain) maintains with water. It rains very little there, but when it rains it does so torrentially and the river overflows producing inundations, so people have invented a lot of mythological stories about the river and its floods. I would like to narrate how a village lives the weeks before a new storm through a love story of two teenagers. A film about heat, humidity and how new generations re-interpret the weight of history.

UK, experimental 7’

Rotterdam Short Film Nominee

WHAT’S THE DAMAGE WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Heather Phillipson PRODUCED BY: Heather Phillipson DOP: Heather Phillipson EDITOR: Heather Phillipson PRODUCTION DESIGN: Heather Phillipson

SOUND DESIGN: Heather Phillipson COMPOSER: Heather Phillipson ANIMATION: Heather Phillipson MAIN CAST: Heather Phillipson

Production, World Sales & Press: Heather Phillipson heatherphillipsonstudio@gmail.com www.heatherphillipson.co.uk

WHAT’S THE DAMAGE is a proposition and provocation, answering back to ongoing crises under white patriarchy, relaying and augmenting feelings and gestures of chronic unease, protest and dissent. Phillipson’s summons and ripostes storm in via menstrual blood, rising up against leadership circle-jerks, weeping vortexes, seared orangutans, animal-fat banknotes, and advancing supermoons, pizzas and drones. Heather Phillipson How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? From conception to finish, it was made in a couple of months, with other projects going on simultaneously. I made it in my studio, alone, with no budget, and with a feeling of emergency. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I don’t know about a community in this context ... I’m an artist who feels like an interloper! If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? It would have to be an all-nighter! Janelle Monáe: DIRTY COMPUTER, film’s music

album; Charlie Ahearn: WILD STYLE; Robert Ashley: PERFECT LIVES, TV opera; Amy Heckerling: CLUELESS; K8 Hardy: OUTFITUMENTARY; The Carters: Apes**t, music video; Jacques Demy: LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT; Bob Rafelson: FIVE EASY PIECES; Henry Hills: SSS; Cameron Jamie: MASSAGE THE HISTORY; Charles Atlas & Michael Clark: HAIL THE NEW PURITAN; Fabrizio Terranova, Donna Haraway: STORYTELLING FOR EARTHLY SURVIVAL; John Akomfrah: HANDSWORTH SONGS; Céline Sciamma: GIRLHOOD; Jennie Livingston: PARIS IS BURNING; Yasujiro Ozu: TOKYO STORY; General Levy: Bettabass (dubplate), YouTube video Claire Denis: 35 SHOTS OF RUM; Arthur Jafa: LOVE IS THE MESSAGE, THE MESSAGE IS DEATH. What is your next project? I’m working on a few exhibition projects, all of which include significant elements of video. I have a largescale commission opening at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead this autumn 2018 and have been selected as the next artist for Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, in 2020.

Bristol Short Film Nominee

WILDEBEEST WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Nicolas Keppens & Matthias Phlips PRODUCED BY: Brecht Van Elslande & Bert Lesaffer EDITOR: Nicolas Keppens SOUND DESIGN: Greg Scheirlinckx ANIMATION: Pieter Vanluffelen, Pieter Samyn, Jeroen Ceulebrouck, David Dils, Eno Swinnen, Wietse Palmans, Gitte Teuwen & Nicolas Keppens MAIN CAST: Chris Boni & Sam Louwyck

Belgium, animation 19’ Production, World Sales & Press: Animal Tank Brecht Van Elslande Hundelgemsesteenweg 136 9050 Gent BELGIUM brecht@animaltank.be +32 47 57 98 891 www.animaltank.be

Going on a safari is a dream for many. For middle-aged couple Linda and Troyer, it turns into a horribly real adventure when they get left behind in the wilderness. the UK and Spain, but that’s about it. It would be great to discover others, less famous directors from countries with smaller productions.

Matthias Phlips & Nicolas Keppens How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? About four years. Most of that time was spent on gathering ideas and especially writing the script. I didn’t find it difficult to get the initial money, but like usual we went slightly over budget, and it was a bit harder to get the extra financing via crowdfunding towards the end of the project. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I think it could be a place that makes it easier to explore the variety of good work being made in Europe. We are aware of the big directors in France, Germany,

If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? That’s always a difficult question, because I think that every time someone asks my answer changes a bit. You’d ideally want to honour all of your favourite filmmakers with an endless night of screenings, without forgetting a single one of them ... I would probably show a Leos Carax movie, partly because it’s just fun to watch. The images come from all directions, and he shows human beings in all their fragility, without too much of a desire to show something very realistic, an idea that inspired me a lot while writing WILDEBEEST. So maybe I would show LES AMANTS DU PONT-NEUF. Also some animation shorts, because it’s a big undiscovered world with amazing talents like Adrien Merigeau, Atsushi Wada, Nienke Deutz, David O’Reilly ... and to finish the night I’d like to show MULHOLLAND DRIVE. It’s a classic, one of my all-time favourites. What is your next project? I’m currently working on a new animation short called EASTER EGGS. It’s about the owner of a Chinese restaurant who disappears, and how some kids in the neighbourhood invent their own stories around this strange event.

The EFA Short Film Programme

SHORT MATTERS!

The EFA Short Film Programme The short film programme is organised in co-operation with a series of film festivals throughout Europe. At each of these festivals, an independent jury presents one of the short films in competition with a candidacy in the European Film Awards’ short film category. In 2019, the programme includes the following festivals:

★ Oct. 2018: ★ Nov. 2018: ★ Dec. 2018: ★ Jan. 2019: ★ Feb. 2019: ★ Mar. 2019: ★ Apr. 2019: ★ May 2019: ★ Jun. 2019: ★ Jul. 2019: ★ Aug. 2019: ★ Sep. 2019:

Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain) Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Sweden) Cork Film Festival (Ireland) Leuven International Short Film Festival (Belgium) International Film Festival Rotterdam (the Netherlands) Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France) Berlin International Film Festival (Germany) Tampere Film Festival (Finland) Go Short - International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (the Netherlands) Krakow Film Festival (Poland) VIS Vienna Shorts Festival (Austria) Hamburg International Short Film Festival (Germany) Curtas Vila do Conde - International Film Festival (Portugal) Motovun Film Festival (Croatia) Locarno Festival (Switzerland) Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Odense International Film Festival (Denmark) Venice Film Festival (Italy) International Short Film Festival in Drama (Greece) Encounters Festival (UK)

To be considered as a candidate, a short film has to screen in competition at one of these festivals. Eligible are directors born in Europe or with a European passport* whose film does not exceed a running time of 30 min. and matches the genre regulations of the respective festival. When the annual cycle is complete in September, a committee nominates five short films and the members of the European Film Academy − more than 3,500 European film professionals − elect the overall winner: the European Short Film, which will be presented at the 32nd European Film Awards Ceremony in Berlin. * European, in the sense of the European Film Academy, means geographical Europe, both EU and non-EU, and shall include Israeli and Palestinian.