Synopsis

Unbound obsessions and delusional desires fuel these hilarious shorts that embody the essence of “fake it ‘til you make it!” From the delightfully heartwarming to the absolutely bonkers, these films remind us to dream big, live large, and leave it all on the field. Featuring works by Natalia García Agraz, Isabel Perry, Adam Yates, Stéphanie Bélanger, Luisa Arraes, Chris Cole, and Wissam Charaf.

In Passarinho (Mexico), two teenage best friends devise a plan to meet their dreamy idol, a superstar Brazilian soccer player. But things change when one of them gets their first period at the game. Fishbowl (United States) captures the joy and futility of trying to relive one’s youth when an unlikely pair of twentysomethings spend a summer weekend doing whatever it takes to forget their exes — and also keep a goldfish alive. Lumen (Canada) takes “the customer is always right” to new heights when an isolated woman discovers that her Facebook Marketplace order has been canceled. A wealthy matriarch’s important work dinner is thrown into disarray when her housekeeper doesn’t show up in Dadá (Dependências) (Brazil). Out of options, a grandson tries to save his hospitalized grandmother’s life with a freestyle rap, and finds himself joined by a handful of unlikely participants in Terminally Ill (United States). And a dedicated security guard finds his assignment guarding a waterfront construction site to be much more difficult than he thought in If the Sun Drowned into an Ocean of Clouds (Et si le soleil plongeait dans l’océan des nues) (France, Lebanon).

Synopsis

From unforgettable chance encounters to complex lifelong relationships, these powerful films from visionary auteurs explore the depth of human connections, the transcendent nature of shared language, and the ways life’s twists and turns can strengthen — or challenge — those bonds. Featuring works by Adebukola Bodunrin, Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, Tara Shehata, Rúnar Rúnarsson, and Alkis Papastathopoulos.

In We Are Not Alone (Canada, United States), a young Nigerian immigrant enlists the help of a stranger to communicate with an extraterrestrial vessel approaching Earth that promises to take her away from a lonely world. A man who lives in the forest may be the cause of a series of disasters plaguing a small village in Vox Humana (Philippines, United States, Singapore). Alone with You (Lewahdena) (Egypt) explores the weight of cultural expectations on an Egyptian couple in their thirties. A lonely man struggles to hide his alcohol addiction during an important reunion with an estranged loved one in O (Iceland, Sweden). And in Honeymoon (Greece, France, Cyprus), a road trip is troubled by transphobic violence against two best friends, and the fluctuating emotions between them.

Synopsis

Two best friends, Fay and Sandra, go on a road trip across Greece as one makes plans to leave everything behind and move to France. After a transphobic attack by a former acquaintance, the two end up traveling by different means as the limits of their friendship, flirtation, and intimacy are tested.

This film screens as part of the Dramatic Shorts: Talk To Me program.

Synopsis

Aicha lives in Tunisia’s isolated north with her husband and youngest son. Following the departure of their oldest boys to fight alongside ISIS in Syria, the family exists in a state of fear and uncertainty. Then Mehdi, her oldest, reappears unexpectedly with a mysterious, pregnant bride, and a creeping panic begins to take hold of the family and surrounding community. Mehdi’s return seems to trigger strange happenings around the village, and an unseen darkness lurks around every corner. Shot with stunning intimacy, director Meryam Joobeur deploys breathtaking close-ups that turn faces into landscapes. Charged, wordless gazes and an unsettling, dreamlike atmosphere deepen the sense of mystery as Aicha quietly struggles between her instinct to protect her family and her moral commitment to root out the truth.

Synopsis

Spanning one sunset to another, When the Light Breaks is a whisper-quiet rumination on love, beauty, and human perseverance in the face of disaster. Two lovers, Una and Diddi, look toward the horizon at the end of a long Icelandic summer day. Una, a passionate performance art student, dreams of the future, which begins with the two lovers announcing their well-kept secret relationship to their friends. Then a sudden, devastating tragedy befalls Reykjavík, and Una and her friends are forced to reckon with a broken new reality. Visionary director Rúnar Rúnarsson (Sparrows, 2015) deploys a haunting score while training his expressive, incisive camera on a talented young cast to create an intimate, hushed examination of loss and grief.