Big appetites, 18:00
The desire to stay in the game of life, whose pace increases daily, instinctively augments our capacities and appetites. The dynamic life of the market in the documentary film Neighborhood Fair by Ana Caroline Aliaga and Vitória Marques is a real street symphony whose crescendo and decrescendo of actions, characters and voices reveal art in the everyday, well-established mechanism of buying and selling. The food is equally rarely vivid and intense in Misje Overberg’s Sous vide, in which a chef is wary of a young and innovative colleague on the rise.
Appetites also grow in the Croatian documentary film Core Business by Lucija Marčec, when, in the fight for every vote, political science students immerse themselves in university politics, practicing the roles of their future careers. At the same time, the animated Hervé’s case Luna Filippini reminds us that, with masks off, not every day is made for big wins.
The Neighborhood Street Fair
Ana Carolina Aliaga, Vitória Marques, documentary, 19’, Brasil, 2024
This is an invitation to the audience to spend a day in the stream of people in the Aclimação open fair in São Paulo (Brazil), where they choose to go, come or stay among its various visual and sound stimulations. How many fairs can fit into one?
Producer: Isadora Maia, Senac University Center – Santo Amaro
Distribution: Gabriel Gomes Macedo
Sous vide
Misja Overberg, fiction, 15’, Netherlands, 2024
Emil, the head chef of a high-end restaurant in the Dutch province Zeeland, is struggling to connect with his (younger) kitchen staff. When an ambitious sous chef is suddenly appointed without his knowledge and seems to give new life to the kitchen staff, Emil feels his position and authority crumbling.
Producer: Sam Vroom
Distribution: Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU)
Core Business
Lucija Marčec, documentary, 20’, Croatia, 2024
During the elections for the Student Council at the Faculty of Political Science, a group of students comes together to form a candidate list. As they develop their own policies and strategies for victory, we follow them through political processes and their struggle for success in the elections. Are these some of the faces we will see in Croatia’s ruling structures in the future?
Production: Academy of Dramatic Art
Distribution: Academy of Dramatic Art
Hervé’s Case
Luna Filippini, animation, 6’, Belgium, 2023
It’s a more or less ordinary day, as we invite ourselves into the intimacy of various characters and wander through a surreal urban landscape, moving from one scene to another. Each moment of life leads to another and cyclically connects them.
Production: Atelier de Production de La Cambre, ASBL
Distribution: Atelier de Production de La Cambre, ASBL
Knots, 19:15
Beneath the intricate circumstances of life lie equally complex truths about our desires and motives, which the authors of the Knots block untangle meticulously and present clearly. In the film The Taste of Pork Belly by Sophie Shui, the touching depiction of everyday life in a poor Thai village brings a simple child’s perspective, clouded by the actions of adults that are difficult to understand. Amit Chins’ Outside Noises bring unrest and discord
into the home of a seemingly ordinary couple, pressed by the need to respond to complex and pressing social issues with deeds and actions. Katarina Lukec’s documentary Breadcrumb Trail finds its way through an unusually strong sense of home in the abandoned areas of Croatia, where human life is an almost endemic but very persistent species.
The Taste of Pork Belly
Sophie Shui, fiction, 20’, Taiwan, 2024
When the boy discovers the secret of his mother’s floral skirt and his father suddenly came home, his untroubled childhood begins to darken…
Producer: Elen Ji
Distribution: Sophie Shui
Outside noises
Amit Chish, fiction, 26’ Israel, 2023
Stuck at home with his pregnant partner and the news on, a young filmmaker convinces himself that a civil war is imminent.
Producer: Amit Chish
Distribution: Constanza Films
Breadcrumb trail
Katarina Lukec, documentary, 37’, Croatia, 2023
In the karst of the Dalmatian hinterland, despite the history of displacement, the enduring pull of home has drawn people back to the place of their roots.
Production: Akademija dramske umjetnosti, Dora Sabljić
Distribution: Akademija dramske umjetnosti
Boiling, 20:55
Beneath the carefully arranged social masks, our insecure self is burdened by other people’s expectations and our own capabilities. Boiling questions how much we can bear without damaging the fragile construction of identity and that extremely slippery slope we tread on. Ambushes are real and, unfortunately, very much expected. The Slovenian documentary Juvies by Jure Štern opens the doors of a home for young people, where he reveals how neglected children and young people build their future on shaky foundations. In Behrouz Shamshiri’s simple yet extremely moving Iranian feature film Bench school, a vulnerable boy with the best wishes receives the worst treatment.
Meanwhile, Szymon Wackowski’s tense Polish family drama The Joy of Living confronts us with the truth we are afraid to utter. But sometimes an unwanted encounter becomes a lucky finger of fate, as is the case in the Israeli feature film See You ‘Round the Block by Daniel Gat. This block closes with a story of an interruption in the Croatian animated Windows from the South by Eugen Bliankov encourages the idea that, in a state of boiling and loss, the power of our experiences is always a good pledge for the future.
Juvies
Jure Štern, documentary, 21’, Slovenia, 2023
Emanuel and Timi are juvenile delinquents at the Maribor Youth Home, Slivnica unit. Timi looks up to Emanuel.
Producer: Jožica Šmid, Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television
Distribution: Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television
Bench School
Behrouz Shamshiri, fiction, 12’, Iran, 2023
The story of the boy who takes the old flowers from his house to the teacher as a gift on Teacher’s Day, but he is forced to return the flowers home.
Producer: Behrouz Shamshiri
Distribution: Behrouz Shamshiri
The Joy of Living
Szymon Wackowski, fiction, 29’, Poland, 2023
During a weekend visit at an amusement park, a young married couple tries to hide the husband’s suicide attempt from their children.
Production: Ewa Jastrzębska, Jerzy Kapuściński
Distribution: Studio Munka
See You ‘Round the Block
Daniel Gat, fiction, 11’, Israel, 2023
As the morning rises over Tel Aviv, Dror encounters Eitan, his ex. Both are on their way back home from a long night out. When it turns out that Eitan has moved right across the street from Dror’s apartment, they realize that they have no choice but to take their “walk of shame” together.
Production: Maya Schwartz
Distribution: Go2Films
Windows from the South
Eugen Bilankov, animated, 5’, Croatia, 2024
A film about a breakup. The narrative unfolds through conversations between the author and his long-term partner, exploring the contemplation of ending a nine-year romantic relationship.
Production: Academy of Fine Arts
Distribution: Academy of Fine Arts
