Make or Break, Mike Plitt, Falk Schuster, Germany, 2022, 8’06’’
Alex grows up in the GDR era with his single mother, the two make a good team. When his mother publicly criticises the state, the youth welfare authorities decide to send Alex to a children’s home. He longs for his family and makes several escape attempts. As punishment, he is sent to the Closed Juvenile Detention Centre Torgau, the only one of its kind in the country.
It’s pouring down with rain at the funeral. There’s a lot of crying, too much wine, several woodpeckers and a couple of dreams that fill in the gaps.
There Are People in the Forest, Szymon Ruczyński, Poland, 2023, 9’53’’
A lonely man limps down the road. A truck drives up to him. Several armed men jump out of it. They capture the limping man and transport him to the forest. The only witnesses of the scene are people from a nearby village. Since 2021, situations like these are commonplace on the Polish-Belarussian border of the EU, which is the scene of an ongoing refugee crisis. An animated documentary whose creator happens to live in a town by the border.
The Family Portrait, Lea Vidakovic, Croatia, 2023, 14’35’’
A quiet Sunday afternoon in the aristocratic, family home, just before the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Andras and his daughter Zsofia are caught by surprise when Andras’ brother Zoltan intrudes in the intimacy of their home, along with his big family. A poetic, dark, and somewhat humorous social observation, in which family ties and relationships are broken down and dissected to pieces.
Her Dress for the Final, Martina Meštrović, Croatia, 2023, 8’47’’
One day my granny dyed her wedding dress black. She wanted to be buried in it.
Lack, Paweł Prewencki, Poland, 2023, 10’45’’
The film tells a story about struggling with pain and suffering. It touches on a very personal experience. It is a story of loneliness, anger and grief experienced by parents who lose a child. It is an intimate and emotional visualization of the world in which bereaved people live. It tells about a situation for which no one is prepared, and the 'catalogue’ of reactions we have known up to that point becomes useless.
All Is Lost, Carla Pereira, Juanfran Jacinto, Spain, 2022, 7’05’’
The Pérez family are an almost normal family, although their behaviour is somewhat dysfunctional. The couple plans to fertilize an egg she laid last night.