Directed by: Natalie Cubides-Brady
United Kingdom, 2019, 24 min

The transformation of the landscape over time, the impact of technology on nature, and the contrast between modern industry and the myths that have, since time immemorial, been associated with unspoiled nature. All these topics come together in this hybrid documentary about the search for a man who mysteriously disappeared while investigating a Scottish nuclear reactor.

Directed by: Jonatan Etzler
Sweden, 2018, 29 min

When Lukas asks his students to shoot a short film about their lives, he has no idea what might happen. Indeed, timid Vendela’s movie launches a chain of ridicule, bullying, and accusations that even the teacher can’t escape. Get Ready With Me exposes the cruel nature of the present day, where a cellphone can be a weapon and likes mean everything.

Directed by: Signe Birkova
Latvia, 2018, 25 min

After being kidnapped by aliens, copy shop employee Harijs Bērziņš doesn’t quite feel at home in his skin, and even ufologist Vilma doesn’t exactly elicit his trust. On top of that, he has no idea that the gray alien mother is giving birth to his son right now. The movie’s playful experimentation with form cleverly turns the clichés of the classic sci-fi genre on their head.

Directed by: Jorge Cadena
Switzerland, Colombia, 2018, 21 min

Vivian and Yandris are growing up in the ritual-filled environment of the Wayuu tribe, the last outpost of the ancient ways in northern Colombia, where the landscape is slowly being ravaged by the mining industry. After their father’s death they have nothing to tie them to their home anymore, so they decide to run away. An ethnographically precise yet poetically tender story about the courage to start a new life.

Directed by: Gregor Valentovič
Slovak Republic, 2019, 28 min

Hana is getting married, Maja is moving in with her boyfriend, Bažo is off to Canada, but there are no radical changes in David’s life. His friends grow distant, and now he must face the problem of dealing with his newfound loneliness. A congenially energetic film about the void that often grows between the world of carefree partying and the settled life of adulthood.

Directed by: Anna Roller
Germany, 2019, 29 min

Fourteen-year-old Leah lives with her ten-year-old brother Theo and their grandmother. A sad event that unexpectedly affects their lives forces her to take responsibility for the family, but she does so with the ease of a child. A perceptive film about losing a sense of security that had felt like paradise.

Directed by: Lun Sevnik
Czech Republic, 2019, 22 min

Teenagers Boris and Hugo have informed the internet that they’ll be committing suicide in one hour. Sixty minutes of wondering whether it’s a joke, provocation, or reality. The clock is ticking, the online voyeurs are growing restless, and Hugo, unlike Boris, is beginning to have doubts. A carefully constructed film about a decision that can’t be changed. Or can it?

Directed by: Irfan Avdić
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2018, 27 min

Seventeen-year-old orphan Alem lives alone with his grandmother. They have little money, and Alem begins to grow desperate at their never-ending poverty. He’d like to go on a school trip, but their modest budget makes it impossible. Endeavoring for once not to be the target of pity and contempt, the young man resorts to a desperate solution…

Directed by: István Kovács
Hungary, 2018, 23 min

Sarajevo, 1994. A city ruined by war. Most homes are without electricity, and the water mains dried up long ago. Widow Tea wants to wash her hair, but she loses her carefully guarded reserve of water. In an attempt at replacing the loss, she sets out on a journey that could cost her her life. A moving drama about trying to maintain a semblance of dignity amidst the madness of war.

Directed by: Eileen Byrne
Germany, Luxembourg, 2018, 21 min

Alice is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Her boyfriend Moritz tries to be supportive, but he isn’t capable of fully understanding her state of mind (or at least that’s how it seems to Alice). The young woman tries to overcome her fears of an uncertain future, but she struggles to come to terms with her operation-scarred body. An intimate film about a sensitive but also highly important topic.