THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2:00 PM

CAMELOT 1, 87 MINUTES

Love has the power to push us to our limits and inspire bold actions. Through a collection of animation, documentary, and live-action films, this program showcases the transformative nature of love and reaffirms its clarifying force in our lives.

August Visitor

USA, Ifeyinwa Arinze, 11 min.

When her widowed mother has a male friend over for dinner, an observant Nigerian American teenager acts out, which leads her to a deeper perception of her mother.

Boat People

Canada, Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma, 10 min.

As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favor.

Breaking Silence

USA, Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein, 18 min.

A portrait of a Deaf activist and his formerly incarcerated daughter, who build new bonds through their experiences in the criminal justice system.

Calcutta 8:40 AM

France, Adriano Valerio, 13 min.

Once more, Yann is about to leave Calcutta, returning to Paris. Having just dropped off his son with his mother, he has one night to wander the streets, not knowing when he’ll be able to come back to see him.

I Never Had Dreams of My Son

Ukraine, Jason Blevins, 16 min.

After five years of war, a Ukrainian father finds proof that his missing son may still be alive in captivity.

Last Call

UK, Harry Holland, 19 min.

Navigating an obvious void, Kate will finally have the chance to ask the questions that have haunted her past, and will decide her future.

On The Job

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2:30 PM

CAMELOT 2, 84 MINUTES

From truck driving in Qatar, to frantically preparing a boss’s birthday party in Los Angeles, and all the way to outer space – a selection of funny and insightful films about working life in all its forms.

9-5

Serbia, Maša Šarović , 21 min.

An inexperienced copywriter faces the pressures of work and the expectations of his surroundings, which have an increasing impact on his sex life.

Bergie

South Africa, Dian Weys, 7 min.

A law enforcement officer has to remove unhoused people in order to make way for a 10km fun-run.

Find out what happens to a young woman’s feelings when a romantic crush passes its expiration date.

Ice Merchants

Portugal, João Gonzalez, 14 min. Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.

Think Something Nice

Fata Morgana

Germany, Daood Alabdulaa, 29 min.

Truck driver Abu Husain, like many guest workers in Qatar, spends endless hours in a self-contained world of standing, waiting, and tenaciously moving trucks on the fringes of society.

Flail

USA, Ben Gauthier, 13 min.

Allie, a distracted personal assistant, frantically prepares for her boss’s birthday party through a blur of gridlocked parking garages and fast-casual salad chains on a desperate quest to achieve a single thing that she initially set out to do.

Heart of an Astronaut

Sweden, Jennifer Rainsford, 14 min.

Brigitte Godard always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Today she is a doctor who monitors their bodily functions while aboard the International Space Station.

Amazing Animation

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 3:00 PM CAMELOT 3, 92

Minutes

An exciting collection of funny, moving, thoughtful and always visually evocative animated shorts from around the world.

Ashkasha

Spain, Lara Maltz, 6 min.

Curiosity leads Ashkasha to mysteriously lose her head, so she embarks on a very surreal journey to retrieve it.

Discussion animée entre entendeurs de voix

France, Tristan Thil, 12 min.

Instead of the term schizophrenia, they prefer the term voice hearer. Twice a month, they meet Virginia, who leads a discussion group for people living with this mental disorder, considered incurable.

Menagerie

USA, Jack Gray, 4 min.

A study of the daily motions and mundane tasks of contemporary city life, featuring hundreds of looping animated characters, exploring how the repetitive actions of our day-to-day lives quickly spiral into an endless kaleidoscope of abstraction.

Shadow of the Butterflies

France, Sofia El Khyari, 9 min. In a mysterious forest, a woman is slowly lured into a nostalgic daydream as she observes butterflies.

Switzerland, Claudius Gentinetta, 6 min. At the mercy of the dentist’s chair, the protagonist cannot escape the confrontation with pain and the dregs of the miserable human condition. To distract himself, he takes refuge in a fantasized story of fishermen and the sea.

Way Better

Lithuania, Skirmanta Jakait , 15 min.

A man awaits test results. He expects the worst, yet hopes for the best. Distressed and afraid, he spends a week in a limbo of his own creation, neither here nor there, dreading the things that haven’t happened yet.

Well Wishes My Love, Your Love

Sweden, Gabriel Gabriel Garble, 9 min.

Newly orphaned and freshly wounded from a loss, a boy lends his companion a prosthetic arm for the day. The companion records the limb being exposed to textures and materials. What will become of the limb and the video recordings?

Slow Light

Poland, Katarzyna Kijek, Przemysław Adamski, 11 min.

A boy is born with a strange eye defect. It takes seven years for light to reach his retina and the image to reach his consciousness. As an adult, he cannot understand the present and remains fixated on the past.

TUESDAY, JUNE 20

6:30 PM

CAMELOT 1

Join us for an evening of celebration as we officially kick off the 29th edition of the festival, ShortFest style!

AirHostess-737

Greece, Thanasis Neofotistos, 16 min. Flight attendant Vanina is visibly agitated. She blames her new braces, but her colleagues know the plane is carrying her mother’s dead body to her hometown.

Nai Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)

USA, Sean Wang, 17 min.

Nai Nai is my grandma. Wài Pó is also my grandma. Together, they are a grandma super team that dances, stretches, and farts their sorrows away.

Parker

USA, Sharon Liese, Catherine Hoffman, 13 min. A decision delayed for decades allows three generations of a Kansas City family to finally unify when they do something that countless African Americans before them could not do - choose their own last name.

Help Me Understand

USA, Aemilia Scott, 14 min. Six women come to a consensus.

The Old Young Crow

Japan, Liam LoPinto, 12 min. An Iranian boy befriends an old Japanese woman at a graveyard in Tokyo.

Sisters of the Rotation

Lebanon, Michel Zarazir, Gaby Zarazir, 14 min. At Sisters of the Rotation’s convent, the Earth doesn’t spin by itself.

Meeting People Is Easy

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 11:00 AM

CAMELOT 1, 86 MINUTES

Putting yourself out there can be hard, but as these films remind us, a stranger is just a friend, hookup, or life partner you’ve never met.

Crarylake Boats and Floats

USA, Spencer Thielmann, Emily Berge, 9 min.

Summer is over. At the combo hot dog stand boat rental shop, Lane hopes to wait out her shift by getting high and avoiding the rain. The arrival of a flirty late-season boat renter, Cara, throws her plans into chaos.

Out of Water

USA, Madi Stine, 13 min.

When a disenchanted mermaid-for-hire is mistaken for a real mermaid, she plays along to disastrous consequences.

Yokelan, 66

USA, Tang Yi, 9 min.

In Chinatown Manhattan, 66-year-old widowed Yokelan goes to dance class determined to find love again.

Art Attack

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 11:30 AM CAMELOT 2, 91 MINUTES

Explore the transformative and provocative influence of art through an assortment of documentary, fiction, and animated short films that celebrate the creative process and its ability to heal and challenge.

Epicenter

South Korea, Hahm Heeyoon, 10 min.

Bukhansan Mountain grows during an earthquake. Little by little, fine cracks appear on the wall that divides the world of fantasy and reality, where someone begins to notice the existence of an invisible world.

Invasive Species

USA, Annie Ning, 13 min.

A young Asian American sound artist grapples with her impostor syndrome as it takes on new extremes at her first artist’s residency.

I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This

USA, Emma Weinswig, 13 min.

Minna, a self-flagellating influencer, is concealing her crush and fandom for Frank while invited to be a guest on his famous podcast. Frank is hiding his deep, longtime online obsession for Minna. They both soon discover they’re even more attracted to the honest truth.

Jammed

Netherlands, Isis Mihrimah Cabolet, 17 min. 70-year-old Edith, who has fallen into social and mental isolation, comes into contact with an equally lonely young man. Although they have absolutely nothing in common, he rekindles the zest for life in her.

Mysore Magic

USA, Abijeet Achar, 14 min.

The true story of an unlikely romance in 1982 at a disco competition in Mysore, India.

No Bedroom

Canada, Ryan Leedu, 11 min.

A young woman selectively arranges viewings for her one-bedroom house, which she may not be genuine about actually renting.

Away

Hungary, Ruslan Fedotow, 29 min.

Two 16-year-old Ukrainian refugees in Budapest help at a school for refugee children and make protest art on the streets — triggering political debate among the Hungarian passersby.

Black Strings

USA, Marquise Mays, 12 min.

The Black String Triage Ensemble, an all-African American orchestra in Milwaukee, performs on the scenes of gun violence. In a city grappling with violence, can these first responders transform the aftermath of tragedies into spaces of recovery, healing and hope?

Dicks That I Like

Germany, Johanna Gustin, 13 min.

Visual artist Daniela Torres creates phallic sculptures inspired by the men who have been dicks to her. In this intimate portrait, Daniela shares her struggles, catharsis, and process with women in her workshop. It is a hands-on approach to healing trauma that yields beautiful results.

Vernissage

Sweden, Arvin Kananian, 14 min.

Simon and Siván are the picture-perfect artsy couple. Everything in their lives is thoroughly curated, from the way they have sex to their choice of celebrity therapist. One night, during another soulless art exhibition, the shiny surface of their relationship starts to crack.

CLOSE-UPS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 12:00 PM

CAMELOT 3, 93 MINUTES

These documentary portraits take you inside the lives of a wide range of fascinating people with intimacy and beauty.

CAMELOT 1, 91 MINUTES

A collection of films about criminals, accomplices, victims and the often amorphous line between them all.

The Fading

Canada, Rafaël Beauchamp, 15 min.

In this dreamlike and anxiety-inducing thriller, a grieving mother is faced with the opportunity to take revenge on a seemingly harmless young man who allegedly killed her son.

Please Hold the Line

Malaysia, Tan Ce Ding, 18 min.

A young female scam call operator in Malaysia is thrust into a terrifying moral dilemma as she desperately navigates a life-changing situation.

CAMELOT 2, 89 MINUTES

Who we present ourselves in public isn’t always who we are in private. Personal secrets, hidden desires and public personas clash in this selection of films.

All I Know

Nigeria, Obinna Onyeri, 16 min.

A young man’s determination to know the whereabouts of his dear friend puts him at risk of exposing their secret.

Aphonia

Poland, Marta Z. Nowak, 12 min.

The routine of a boarding school for deaf children is disturbed by the arrival of a new student who cannot sign and does not speak. A classmate who helps the isolated newcomer soon finds their friendship tested.

File

Iran, Sonia K. Hadad, 20 min.

Call Me Mommy

Ireland, Tara O’Callaghan, 15 min.

A compelling portrait of the multifaceted life of Sinead, a 40-year-old single mother, and online sex worker, who deftly straddles her personal and professional lives while exploring an array of “mommy issues”—including her own.

Clean

Scotland, UK, Miranda Stern, 18 min.

A woman’s love letter and final goodbye to heroin, as she attempts to come off the synthetic opiates that have kept her clean for the past six years.

Kaamoksen Valossa

Finland, Niko Väistö, 27 min.

Antti, a musher from Northern Finland, loves his sled dogs and way of life. When he’s advised to quit he has to decide what he’s willing to risk for his freedom.

Shirampari: Legacies of the River

Peru, Lucía Flórez, 16 min.

In one of the most remote places of the Peruvian Amazon, an Ashéninka boy must overcome his fears and catch a giant catfish using just a hook to start his journey to becoming an adult.

Waking Up In Silence

Germany, Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi, 17 min.

Ukrainian children are confronted with their past as they explore their new home in Germany: a former Wehrmacht military barracks.

Presto

Iran, Keyvan Ahmadi, 30 min. While on a particularly dangerous assignment, a drug dealer is forced to take along his father, a former famous magician named Presto who is now living with Alzheimer’s.

Split Ends

Iran, Alireza Kazemipour, 14 min. In Tehran, a long-haired man and a bald woman get fined over not wearing a proper hijab.

ur heinous habit

USA, Eugene Kolb, 14 min. A blackmail email prompts a filmmaker to explore the intersection of shame and masturbation through a series of zoom conversations with his friends.

A 6-year-old mute boy attends a pre-school health screening with his mother. At the test, a decision he makes changes everything.

Green Space

UK, Jamie Fraser, 21 min.

Private moments become public mishaps over one day in a south London park.

Teacups

Australia, Alec Green, Finbar Watson, 7 min.

For almost half a century, Don Ritchie would approach people contemplating suicide at the edge of a cliff 100 feet from his home. Reconciling the suicide of his best friend, Don’s surreal interactions with suicidal individuals asks: Can a simple act of kindness save a life?

Yellow

UK, Elham Ehsas, 13 min.

In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Laili walks into a chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full-body veil and face a new future.

In The Country

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 3:00 PM

CAMELOT 3, 88 MINUTES

From France to India, through small villages, fields and woods, these bucolic tales take us to rural lives and the rich diversity of experiences and stories you find there.

Almost Fall

France, Margot Pouppeville, 22 min.

Two women return to a small town in the Dordogne. Every step they take brings them closer to the event that changed their lives sixty years earlier.

Arnasa

Spain, Raúl Barreras, 14 min.

When his grandmother dies, Ekaitz returns to the family farmhouse to take care of his grandfather. Despite their differences, the two find unlikely comfort under complicated and precarious circumstances.

COUPLING & UNCOUPLING

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 5:00 PM

CAMELOT 1, 87 MINUTES

A captivating collection of stories that explore the dynamics of human relationships – from coming together to breaking apart, from choosing to spend a lifetime with someone to moving on – all conveyed with a blend of passion, humor, and wistfulness that feels just right.

For Those Who Don’t Know How USA, Brian Chamberlayne, 12 min. After a painful breakup, a fastidious and intellectual college professor, who has trouble expressing his emotions, wrestles with existential anguish as he tries to figure out how to move on.

The Kidnapping of the Bride

Germany, Sophia Mocorrea, 30 min. Luisa from Buenos Aires and Fred from Brandenburg have a unique relationship in which they’ve created their own universe. At their wedding, the two lovers are increasingly confronted with their social roles and intercultural prejudices.

Codes Of Conduct

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 5:30 PM

CAMELOT 2, 95 MINUTES

The unwritten rules of society can exasperate and confuse at every turn. From an awkward funeral, to an online video game feed, to marriage counseling, these shorts examine how we follow—and break—prescribed norms.

Best Friends on a Summer Hike

USA, Mario Furloni, 9 min.

Two men take an uneasy hike on a Northern California coastal trail. A cautionary tale.

Bizarro World

USA, Jonathan Salmon, Abdi Ibrahim, 8 min.

A series of comedic, surreal, and sometimes dramatic films revolving around absurd, and quick stories.

The Breakthrough

USA, Daniel Sinclair, 14 min.

Jane and Teddy are on the brink of divorce – but when their marital problems come to a sticking point, they have an unexpected breakthrough.

Eeva

Croatia, Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov, 16 min.

It’s a sad day in Eeva’s life. The rain is pouring down at her husband’s funeral. There is a lot of crying, too much wine, and a couple of strange dreams fill in the gaps.

Creamy

Hungary, Bálint Dániel Sós, 5 min.

An amateur ornithologist confronts a blithe confectioner. A tale of adultery, blackmail and violence unfolds in a small countryside pastry shop.

Home India, Aditi Sharma, 15 min.

A resident tea plantation worker dreads her approaching retirement as she is forced to choose between keeping her home or saving her daughter from an exploitative and back breaking labour system.

SCRED TBM

France, Kevin Le Dortz, 16 min.

Gabriel is a husband and soon-to-be-father leading a double life. He scrupulously organizes secret meetings from a gay hook up app in order to never be unmasked, but everything changes the day he meets a new profile.

Things Unheard Of

Turkey, Ramazan Kilic, 16 min.

A little Kurdish girl tries to put a smile back on her grandmother’s face after the disappearance of her television, her only window into the world.

À la vie à l’amor

Canada, Emilie Mannering, 15 min. Following a tough break-up, Cesar feels numb. On the day of his 30th birthday, he asks one thing and one thing only from the people he meets up with as he records them with his camera: their thoughts on unconditional love.

The Singles Retreat

USA, Jo Firestone, 16 min.

In hope of meeting some nice gentlemen, two 75-year-old friends attend a seniors-only singles retreat in the Poconos. Initially, only Mimi is hopeful for the weekends’ potential, but when Linda runs into her ex from 30 years ago, her outlook starts to change.

(spin)

UK, Precious Wura Alabi, 14 min. Picking a laundromat as the location for their first date, Zekiel has a full wash cycle to convince Izzy that they might just be perfect for each other.

Klette

Belgium, Michael Abay, 17 min.

Morgane, 26 years old, still lives with her mother, has not yet completed her studies, and her love life doesn’t get beyond one-night stands. Now it’s time for her to make a decision.

Movement

Switzerland, Valentine Moser, 7 min.

They wake up next to their loved one, have a job that suits them, and enjoy the simple things around them. Yet, in a society that constantly pushes and demands more, their joy is threatened by problems beyond them.

Simo

Canada, Aziz Zoromba, 24 min.

Simo and Emad’s brotherhood is filled with competition and jealousy. In a desire to prove his popularity and his capabilities to his older brother, Simo does something that has the effect of a bomb on the whole family.

Crossroads

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 6:00 PM

CAMELOT 3, 89 MINUTES

The characters in this program stand at a crucial juncture, facing pivotal decisions and life-altering events.

ChaCha

China, Chenghua Yang, Shang Zhang, 13 min.

Two middle-aged couples with very different personalities and habits meet in France for some reason and embark on a meaningful and extraordinary journey in an unfamiliar country.

Piece by Piece

Austria, Reza Rasouli, 9 min.

Two teenage friends stroll around the neighborhood, simply passing the time together, but piece by piece new perspectives and identities are revealed.

Room For One More

Australia, Jesse Vogelaar, 7 min. When an entire house collapses on him, Alex realizes he’s close to death. Will he use his final moments to reconnect with loved ones? Or will he go all-in on pitching his brilliant short film idea to old friend Bruno?

The Summer I Got Tough

Euridice, Euridice

Switzerland, Lora Mure-Ravaud, 41 min.

Ondina shares her life with Alexia, with whom she is madly in love. Their love story is passionate and carnal. But one day, Alexia flies to her native Greece and does not return.

I Have No Legs, and I Must Run

China, Yue Li, 15 min.

A competitive runner past his prime struggles with injuries when the arrival of a talented new teammate plants the seeds of dark, obsessive jealousy in his mind.

Killing Bagheera

Germany, Muschirf Shekh Zeyn, 13 min.

Alan and Bekes are refugees who want to enter Europe. While on the run, the two Kurdish brothers are confronted with hidden fears that threaten to divide them.

You Know Where To Find Me

USA, Sam Davis, 20 min.

Frankie’s waited for this day for 23 years. With his mom’s help, he packs up everything he owns and sets out to start a new life alone. The euphoria of newfound independence is short-lived, as the night falls, he misses his mom.

Friends Like These

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 8:00 PM CAMELOT 1, 92 MINUTES

We can’t always choose the members of our social circles. Unconventional pals, disrespected boundaries and serious fun loom large in this collection of films.

Burial of Life as a Young Girl

France, Maïté Sonnet, 33 min.

Recovering from a break-up, Axelle has to go to her sister’s bachelorette party in a ghostly spa in the mountains. Fortunately, among the guests, there is Marguerite. Through one gaze, love is awakened again.

USA, Victoria Shan Wang, 6 min. Summertime, high school. Jessie wants a reputation of being a tough girl and she knows just how to do it - get punched in the face. Too bad her best friend Savannah can’t bring herself to do it.

The Vacation

USA, Jarreau Carrillo, 11 min. In Flatbush, Brooklyn, four friends are stuck in their car after it breaks down on the way to the beach on the last day of the summer.

CAMELOT 1, 93 MINUTES

An intriguing blend of science and speculative fiction through a collection of eclectic films that explore imagined futures and offer fresh perspectives on our present reality.

Wank

UK, Yasmin Afifi, 13 min.

Four rambunctious boys recount wild tales of boyhood while taking turns going into the bathroom to wank to a seemingly disturbing internet video. As the night progresses, the boys’ true struggles with masculinity are put on display.

Hot Rod

France, Juliette Gilot, 17 min.

Summer 2031, 104°. Saadia, a car mechanic, struggles with a lack of work, when her friends ask ‘what if the car of the future was a horse?’

Mulika

Democratic Republic of Congo, Maisha Maene, 14 min. An ‘afronaut’ emerges from the wreckage of a spaceship in the volcanic crater of Mount Nyiragongo. As he descends into the city below, encountering the people of present-day Goma, he begins to understand what he must do to change the future for his people.

Power Signal

USA, Oscar Boyson, 20 min.

Desperate to find a bathroom in a city that refuses to provide him one, a bike delivery worker discovers an unearthly presence infecting women all over New York.

Rabobesto - Or How I Saved a Monster

Finland, Mari Mantela, 15 min.

On the verge of her marital life, a young woman makes a journey into the night to find out why she has lost her heartbeat and turned golden.

We Were Meant To

USA, Tari Wariebi, 27 min.

In a world where Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage, Akil must defy fears, insecurities, and societal barriers while discovering his perfect launch into manhood.