Amidst an icy dreamscape, a woman takes refuge in a black metal karaoke bar. Outside, she finds a lone penguin stranded in a tree, cut off from its colony.
Social & External
The people behind it
Fumiyo Ikeda
Rain
Joeri Happel
Till
David Mutamba
Katti
Kirsten Pieters
Ylva
Sakis Brönnimann
Silver Singer
Charles Dhondt
Aki
Desire Verhelle
Desire
A vibrant anthology of LGBTQ+ short films and music videos that delve into the complexities of youth, identity, and desire. This diverse collection showcases a range of cinematic voices—both emerging and established—exploring the exhilaration, vulnerability, and confusion of coming-of-age through stories that celebrate queer love, self-discovery, and the breaking of societal boundaries. Blending narrative shorts, experimental visuals, and music-driven pieces, the anthology offers an evocative, multifaceted portrait of innocence transformed.
A man and his daughter, living in an isolated log cabin built in an open field near an inhospitable forest, are terrified by the mysterious mist rising from the trees.
The 12-year old Dolores, a feisty preteen desperate to be seen as a grown-up in 1976 suburbia is on her humiliating, hilarious journey from girlhood to growing up. She fantasizes about sex, womanhood, work... and Freddie Prinze. The girl thinks she's got the lowdown on being a woman, but when her overworked single mom Janice hires Cleo to babysit her world collides with the super cool black 16-year old's, each learns painful truths about what it really means to grow up.
In an inhospitable place, a boy and his family struggle for survival.
'Lukas & the Aspies' is a story about 12-year old Lukas. In many ways, Lukas is a normal kid: He plays in a band, hangs out with his friends and fights with his little brother. But Lukas' has also Asperger syndrome - and hence his own set of unique problems.
Sincho is a cruise ship clown who is evicted from his home without much money. He hallucinates about a lawyer who offers to help him. Homeless, Sincho decides to commit suicide rather than suffer on the streets.
8-year-old Jérémy is ready for a typical evening with his parents and little brother. But his mother’s behavior grows more and more unsettling.
A young college student reluctantly meets with her estranged father only to discover the truth about the events of the wild summer of '75 that drove them apart.
Three friends leave their small town to walk to Chicago, but find the tension among themselves rising.
Mourad is a young Moroccan man who lives alone on his parents' farm. After a meal, Mourad's family realizes that the scars of the past are beyond anything they could have imagined.
Amanda struggles to keep something inside as she spends the day taking pictures of her best friend.
A tragic comedy of a sweet little girl, who grows up to be a crazy old cat lady.
A woman makes a powerful connection with a surprising stranger on her 30th birthday.
A short animation by Makoto Shinkai in Lightwave 3D. Inspired by Haruki Murakami's book "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" with music by Tenmon.
A look at the challenges of living in a small Australian town, portrayed through the lens of a novelist and her teenage son.
When a young girl’s father is taken to hospital, a familial bond between her and her uncle is tested.
A heartwarming story delivered by the New Santa.
China, 1997. An unhappy marriage, a love affair and a child who holds all the secrets.
A bride walks on the desert. She takes off her bridal ornaments and turns into a harlot. A multitude of people crawl on their bellies, become sick and soon die. A volcano erupts. White ashes of lahar cover the earth. The bride remembers her betrothal and repents--symbolically paving the way for the resurrection of her people. A final bridal march into a new heaven and earth takes place.
A top lad recollects fights, friends and painting his toenails with his dad.
An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.
A lost penguin rescued from an oil spill transforms the life of a heartbroken fisherman. They become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter. While stealing food at a Russian restaurant called ‘Winter Palace’, Clara meets Marc, who has been given the chance to help the old eatery regain its former glory. The ‘Winter Palace’ soon becomes a place of unexpected encounters between people who are all undergoing some sort of crisis and whom fate has now brought together.
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Deep into Hell Week, a favored pledgee is torn between honoring his code of silence or standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing.
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
The human resistance works to convert a sentinel to their side. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
The story of Prince Hal who sets out to avenge his dead father against the city's rivals, the Zeriths, little knowing it was his wicked uncle Nezo who is the real killer, with his own designs on the throne.
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
When Tragedy Strikes three Families, their Destiny forces them on a coverging path and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
