BLOCK I
The Private Dance
dir. Ray Nomoto Robison
USA 2021
09:30 min
Marla’s life has never been easy and recent years have proven to be very trying. She is emotionally drained when one night she decides to do something totally out of character to give herself an uplifting experience and memory.
Ray Nomoto Robison – A Fine Arts major in college Ray Nomoto Robison decided halfway through his freshman year that film should be his medium. Opting not to move to Hollywood he made a 20 year cereer of producing and directing television commercials before beginning production on his first film. Today Robison continues independent filmmaking primarily in Oregon USA where he makes his home.
Forgotten Falcon
dir. Sejo Bajraktarević
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022
14:30 min
The story of war hero.
Sejo Bajraktarević – Born in Sarajevo on March 21, 1955. He finished primary and secondary school in Sarajevo. He has been professionally involved in music since 1974. He is the author of 12 albums of pop music and 2 albums of music for theater and film. He has made music for over 200 documentaries, television reports and 30 theater plays. He won the Grand Prix in 1998 in Plvodiv for the film „Sagittarius” and the award for the most watched film at the Berlin Film Festival in 2003 for the film „Triton’s Fairy Tale”. „Roulette” is his first film and for this he won third place on Senior Movie Festival in Poland in September, 2020.
Berdyczów Express
dir. Tomasz Wiśniewski
Polska/Poland 2022
20:00 min
Marcin Obałek regularly brings help to people in Ukraine.
Tomasz Wiśniewski – journalist, filmmaker, writer, amateur.
A Good Place to Be
dir. Marcus Mandal
Dania/Denmark 2018
14:00 min
This film is produced for the Danish Autism Center Storstrøm to tell about their big effort to help people with autism. Autism Center Storstrøm is a special institution caring for the entire autism spectrum and in the film we meet three very different people with autism: Bo, Christian and Nicklas.
Marcus Mandal has achieved worldwide acknowledgement for his documentary films. The TV series “A Royal Family” has been viewed in a total of 150 countries. And “KAREN BLIXEN – Out of This World”, featuring Meryl Streep, is one of the most prize-winning Danish documentary films ever made. Marcus graduated from the Danish School of Journalism and the University of Copenhagen (Political Science). He has worked with TV news as a reporter, anchor, and editor-in-chief.
BLOCK II
Alba
dir. Javier Balaguer
Hiszpania/Spain 2022
18:00 min
Alba is a young novice expelled from the convent. She will meet her mother at her family home, where her widowed uncle lives. The pandemic forces them to extend their stay and her uncle begins to see a great resemblance between Alba and her deceased woman, which makes him uncomfortable until he suspects that something unwanted will happen.
Javier Balaguer – In 2001 he was nominated for the Goya Award for Best New Director for his first feature film „Solo mía”. In 2004 he directed his second film „Escuela de seducción”, starring Javier Veiga and Victoria Abril. In 2008 „Oriundos de la noche” and in 2016 „Cervantes, la búsqueda”, his two documentary feature films. As a director and producer of films, advertising an tv. He have won numerous national and international awards.
Three Monkeys
dir. Reyes Caballero
Hiszpania/Spain 2018
03:00 min
„The dry law” by prohibiting alcohol and not respond to existing demand, favored the generation of markets and black money, women of happy life and prostitution.
Reyes Caballero – I am a filmmaker for 11 years. I have studied in three countries and got scholarship on few film universities. I have made 9 short films, which were shown on international festivals and got 11 awards, 4 nominations and 2 honorable mentions.
Dajla: Cinema and oblivion
dir. Arturo Dueñas Herrero
Hiszpania/Spain 2020
15:00 min
Life is going on in Dakhla, one of the Saharawi refugee camps in southern Algeria, forgotten for 45 years. The celebration of a film festival, the Fisahara, breaks the monotony. The event ends, life (and oblivion) continues.
Arturo Dueñas Herrero – Born in Valladolid, Spain, 1962. Bachelor of Arts, Qualified in Cinematography and Filmmaking Course at the New York Film Academy. Full member of the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain. Actor, director, producer, editor and scriptwriter in several short films, he has produced and directed the feature films „Aficionados” (2011), selected and awarded in over 30 international festivals, „Corsarios” (2015), „Misión: Sáhara” (2016), „Tierras construidas” (2019) and „Pessoas” (2020).
Blind Girls in School
dir. Jens Nagels
Niemcy/Germany 2022
13:00 min
For people who can see, it is almost impossible to imagine what life would be like without visual perception. This film draws on material that I recorded in 2013 in a school for the blind in Pune, India. These impressions occupied my memory for years, so I decided to use the material again for a film. Again and again I wondered how the lives of these girls and young women might feel like. Again and again I was surprised how naturally they managed everyday life and with what joy many things were done.
Jens Nagels – Completed painting studies in Dsseldorf at professors Andre Thomkins and Alfonso Hüppi. Completed studies in Visual Communications at the University of Kassel at Prof. Gunter Rambow. Got teaching position in photography at university. Lives and works in Kassel.
BLOCK III
Wspomnienia ze śląskiego familoka
dir. Henryk Latusek
Polska/Poland 2022
12:00 min
A nostalgic story of a native Silesian. Heroes use pure silesian dialect, recall their youth.
Henryk Latusek – Amateur filmmaker. AKF „NURT 58” instructor who has several awards and honorable mentions on domestic and international film festivals. Pormotor of Silesian culture.
Television Head
dir. Alistair Kerr
Wielka Brytania/Great Britain 2022
11:00 min
A young fellow watches too much television… What will the side effects be?
Alistair Kerr – Film making is very new to me and working on very low budgets gives me great satisfaction when festivals include my animations. My set up is very amateur but I am very enthusiastic and passionate about animation and hope I can entertain audiences worldwide. My backgroud has been forty five years in music but now in retirement my time is taken up creating animations.
Mr Mix
dir. Srdjan Vukajlovic
Serbia 2022
30:00 min
Mr Mix is a story of a ballet dancer who successfully adapted his talents to the changes that took place in society in transition.
Srdjan Vukajlovic – Born in 1951, Belgrade. He received a BFA in 1976 and MFA in 1979, both at Belgrade Academy of the Fine Arts, Department for Sculpture. Participated in about 100 group exhibitions and held 12 one man exhibitions. He has made several documentary movies which had been shown in Serbia and abroad. He is a member of ULUS/Association of Fine Art Artists of Serbia.
BLOCK IV
Dignity
dir. Pat Battistini
USA 2020
25:30 min
„Dignity” is a love story between a woman and her family. However, the family’s strength is tested when a moral decision must be made.
Pat Battistini – With his writing, directing and producing, Pat has earned a reputation for developing and creating unique and wonderful stories. An award winning writer, director and producer who brings over thirty years of experience to the set that takes pride in his onset relationships and communication with actors. His actors have received numerous stage and screen nominations and awards.
The German
dir. Rafael Navarro Miñón
Hiszpania/Spain 2021
20:00 min
There’s always a chance.
Rafael Navarro Miñón – Born in Gran Canaria, Spain 1945, architect. In 2012 he began writing scripts, directing and acting in various films. His works have been screened at festivals around the world, Lisbon, Busan, New York, Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Gijón, etc.
Bad Rhyme/Duel Lament
dir. Pamela Falkenberg, Jack Cochran
USA 2020
05:00 min
Usually Jack is the poet in the Outlier outfit. But this time, Pam wrote a poem of her own in response to one of Jack’s, which interweave and explain the dual title of their new film poem, “Bad Rhyme/Duel Lament”.
Pam is an independent filmmaker who received her PhD from the University of Iowa and taught at Northern Illinois University, St.Mary’s College, and the University of Notre Dame. Her other films include museum installations, scholarly/academic hybrid works shown at film conferences, and a documentary commissioned by the Peace Institute at the University of Notre Dame.
Jack is an independent filmmaker who has produced, directed, or shot a variety of experimental and personal projects. As a DP he has extensive experience shooting commercials, independent features, and documentaries. His commercials and documentaries have won Silver Lions from Cannes, a BAFTA (British Academy Award), Peabody Awards, and Cable Aces.
Years
dir. Raghu Kondori
Tajwan/Taiwan 2022
03:00 min
A film without dialogue, shows an old man reliving the years of his life, the deepest moments of joy, fear, anxiety, sadness and agony.
Raghu Kondori – Actor, Director, Writer. I’m French of Iranian origin, expatriate to Taiwan. Grew up in Iran, with the poems of Hafiz, Omar Khayyam, Rumi, and the Sufi culture. In 1984, I moved to France, and study french literature. In 1998 I moved to India. Since 2008 I live in Taiwan, and worked as energy therapist, Actor, Director, Writer and Poet.
BLOCK V
Wieś Sprawiedliwych. Świadkowie
dir. Andrzej Dudziński
Polska/Poland 2020
30:00 min
The film tells a story of an unknown episode from the II World War – a help given to the marching prisoners of KL Stutthof concentration camp, led by Germans in the so-called The Death March was given by the inhabitants of the Kashubian village of Pomieczyno. They were motivated to act by the will to help their neighbors in their desperate, seemingly hopeless situation and the desire to save their lives – universal values.
Andrzej Dudziński – author of documentary films, TV screenwriter, writer, reporter. He has made over 45 documentaries, spproximately 200 episodes od TV series, 17 books, including novels and collections of reportages. For over a dozen years he takes up the subject of Kashubia in his films.
Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy
dir. Carlos Saura
Hiszpania/Spain 2021
06:00 min
Saura creates and recovers more than thirty images, drawings and photos that he prints, manipulates, plays with and then films, to create a story that, recreates the Spanish civil war, but also reflects the horrors of a universal war, from the gaze of a child and its environment.
Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film and theatre director, photographer and writer. He is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career that spans over half a century. His films have won many international awards as Gold Bear in Berlin two times, four prizes in Cannes as the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix of the Jury or Award of Best Artistic Contribution or three Oscar nominations, among others.
Phone Gal
dir. Laura Lewis-Barr
USA 2021
03:00 min
A 3 minute modern retelling of „The Little Match Girl” – a cautionary tale about addiction and losing oneself.
Laura Lewis-Barr was a graduate student in clinical psychology but eventually switched majors and earned M.A. in theatre. Laura’s focus is on animating fairy tales and mythic stories that feed the soul. She is inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Michael Meade.
The Trunk
dir. Ray Nomoto Robison
USA 2020
05:00 min
When a young woman finds herself being accosted in a parking garage she must tap in to her unique talents to resolve the situation.
Ray Nomoto Robison – A Fine Arts major in college Ray Nomoto Robison decided halfway through his freshman year that film should be his medium. Opting not to move to Hollywood he made a 20 year career of producing and directing television commercials before begining production on his first film. Today Robison continues independent filmmaking primarily in Oregon USA where he makes his home
SENIOR TOPIC COMPETITION
BLOCK I
The Shift
dir. Chiara Marotta, Loris Giuseppe Nese
Włochy/Italy 2021
14:30 min
Anna and Lucia, two young women in their twenties, one from Italy and one from Nigeria, work as caregivers of Mrs. Maria, a bedridden elderly woman. Anna assists Maria during the day, while Lucia is responsible for the night-time: the shift change is the only moment the two girls meet. Despite this short time, the differences between them erupt daily in a conflict to assert, damaging one another, their position in the world
Chiara Marotta and Loris Giuseppe Nese are two director, editor, animator and director of photography. They won prize as Pitch me award from Cartoons on the Bay, Best editing at the 33rd Venice Critics’ Week for “Those bad things” and at the 34th Venice Critics’ Week they won Best Short Film for “Veronica doesn’t smoke”. They work together as directors for the film the shift, in which Loris also took care of the photography and Chiara also took care of the editing.
Tego się nie robi kotu
dir. Jan Gębski
Polska/Poland 2021
10:15 min
A touching story about life passing and friendship, observed from a cat perspective. The story is being told as an internal monologue of the main character.
My name is Jan Gębski, I am 22 years old. I am a 3rd year student of cinematography in a Warsaw school of Film. My passion is making documentaries, thanks to which I become more sensitive to other people. The differences in my main characters are helping me to understand the complicated world surrounding me.
The Sculptor
dir. Catherine Deptuch
USA 2021
21:00 min
When a retired Polish sculptor is diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, his wife and former muse re-inspires him to sculpt her one last time, opening his eyes for the first time to her age-defying beauty.
Catherine Deptuch is a Polish-Americam filmmaker who is very close to her heritage, is fluent in the language and often visits Poland to visit family. She is the founder/director of Vulcat Studio, a showcase of her films and music videos. She has won awards in festivals around the world. She graduated USC School of Cinematic Arts.
The End of Two Lives
dir. Christina Ruloff
Szwajcaria/Switzerland 2021
07:50 min
An armchair, photos, dolls and many, many books fill my grandparent’s apartment. Forty-five years of history, their past and experiences, a mirror to their personalities. Now they are gone and their possessions must be cleared from the apartment. Everything must go, life removed in refuse bags. In the end only emptiness, a space for something new.
Christina Ruloff – Studied history in Zurich before rediscovering her old passion: storytelling. At the London Film School, she focused on directing as well as cinematography, winning an award for her camerawork on „England’s Lourdes”, an avant-garde documentary on Canvey Island. Christina’s main interest lies in exploring the relationship between individual and society.
BLOCK II
Ofelia
dir. Pierfrancesco Bigazzi
Włochy/Italy 2021
11:20 min
Ophelia is 92 years old, and her foggy memories continue to fade. The only way to slow down the unstoppable action of time is to document the present and rediscover the past in old Super 8s.
Pierfrancesco Bigazzi – While obtaining his degree in Film Studies from the University of Siena, Pierfrancesco Bigazzi worked as director and cameraman in several music videos for musicians such as Riccardo Tesi, Arlo Bigazzi, Ginevra Di Marco, The Gang and many others from the independent music scene. After graduation, he has been directing short movies and documentaries in both directorial and production positions and in 2018 he was artistic director of an artists residency for filmmakers in Florence.
Cisza
dir. Małgorzata Paszko
Polska/Poland 2021
08:20 min
Zygmunt and Halina live in a tiny council flat in Warsaw’s Praga district. The surrounding poverty, diseases and their old age only emphasize the extraordinary „beauty” of their relationship and the fact that despite constant arguments, they are unable to live without each other.
Małgorzata Paszko – born in 2002 in Gdańsk, Poland. She is currently studying film directing in Warsaw Film School. Author of both feature film etudes and documentaries, including a short documentary “Silence”.
Prelude
dir. Roberto Chinet
Hiszpania/Spain 2022
25:00 min
Irene has a great secret that she has kept in her memory for many years, a secret that is hidden in the chorus of an old song. With the complicity of her grandson Daniel de ella, in charge of taking care of her that afternoon in full confinement due to the Covid’19 pandemic, Irene will meet Marcela again in the same place where she last saw her.
Roberto Chinet is a filmmaker and audiovisual teacher from the Canary Islands. Diploma in film direction and screenplay at C.E.C.C. (Barcelona), and postgraduate in film post- production. With extensive professional experience, he has worked with prestigious filmmakers such as Tom Tykwer, Santiago Zannou, Ventura Pons or Isaki Lacuesta. As a filmmaker, he has created more than 15 short films. Works that have received numerous awards and distinctions at international films festivals. In addition, he has written and developed four feature film projects.