Finalist Films Season 2 – 2021

Hesar (Gate)

The video is the backdrop for the song “Hesar” from Farnaz Ohadi’s Persian Flamenco debut album. It focuses on themes of Iranian women’s struggles, immigration, mental health and the artist’s journey when she arrived in Canada in 1990. The movie traces the journey of the artist from her home land, Iran to Canada, the angst and confusion and pain of immigration and finally choosing to put down roots in a new land.
——————————
Translation of the chorus:

What is it I am saying, behind this iron gate?
What am I seeking among these hazy nights?
What is it I hunt for in this strange city?
Behind these impure walls?
One night, the breath will say, no more
and the breath will stop beating
A blind bird will open its wings
and will take my life with it as it flies away

The Patagonia Triple Crown

A group of kayakers find themselves in the difficult mission of running the three less explored and most dangerous rivers of the south of the world.
The Pascua River, Bravo and Baker. They will overcome the difficult tests that the patagonia will put on them, in addition they will learn about of the complicated environmental situation that Chile is suffering in its fight for fresh water.

Living Idle

Living Idle
Movie Short

Living Idle is a symbolic short film that reflects actions have consequences.

This is the story of an artist – a creative sculptor of idols,
that puts life and colour into clusters of mud and clay.
Ironically, he fails to add colour to his own creation- his world, his family, his child.

The narrative revolves around how a creation of the sculptor-
an idol of Goddess Durga punishes him (by rendering him indisposed and idle),
when he crosses all limits of abuse and shows him a life of yearning.
The film concludes with a deep dawn of realisation – of how a single action-
takes away from him his ability to be a prolific sculptor-
that of clay and stone and that of his child’s future.

The film is embedded with contrasting symbolism, as aptly reflected in its title,
most strongly that of the strength of a woman, of a mother, which is –
representative in Goddess Durga’s rendition of ‘Good over Evil’.

IMDB :
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6126410/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Good Man – Honour your Father and Mother

A Priest willface the hard choice whether to save his soul or reliability. What on earth will he do?

Save our Planet

it’s a video about how human activity has damaged the fauna.

Wildlife- Our Lifeblood

A documentary about wildlife of Arunachal Pradesh.

Coastal Requiem

Coastal Requiem investigates the plight of displacement due to climate change amongst five coastal communities around the globe. Weaving Diane Tuft’s photography and haikus with deeply personal interviews, the short film portrays the global climate refugee crisis due to rising sea levels.

One Night In Tehran

Like New York, Tokyo، Mumbai and all the big cities around the world, Tehran has also its own night life, mischievous and underground. In a night at Tehran, a 30 yrs girl, running away from her birthday party, looking for happiness, gets into a night cab, unaware of how her life is going to change forever.

Exposure

The love between two women sours. Jo (Geerteke van Lierop) and Rachel (Erica Anderson) each set off on a journey of self-reflection and contemplation as their process in dealing with the break up.

Jo, a photographer, heads to Wisconsin to revisit the scenes at which she took portrait shots of Rachel on a previous trip. Finding the same locations, Jo takes a series of self portraits trying to give the project and her life meaning and artistic merit.

Rachel stays in the Algarve where the two women lived. She visits her favourite, beautiful, hauntingly empty beach, again and again, searching for peace.

These two journeys happen in parallel, and form the spine of the forward progression of the film. Two separate but synchronous journeys, intertwined.

But there is a third story line. Their memory of the relationship: how they met, their first kiss, their love, their pain, the breakup. We see the collapse of the relationship in their mind. Each blaming the other (or each blaming themselves). We see fights, we see tender moments, we see their relationship through their memories that form a narrative, but disjointed and fragmented. Leading to a conclusion in which they might, or might not, get back together.

The film is an exploration of memory and perception based on a simple, relateable event – a break-up.

ECHO

The story of echo is about understanding and perception of wildlife and environmental abuse and its consequences on human race….

THE GERMAN KING (dir. M’Cormack)

Set in 1914 at the start of World War I, The German King is the unbelievable true story of King Rudolf Douala Manga Bell; a German raised African prince who becomes king after his father’s death. Upon returning home to Cameroon, he sees his people being subjugated and enslaved under Kaiser Wilhelmʼs II oppressive colonial rule. He realizes the only way to put an end to his peopleʼs suffering, is to lead a rebellion against the man he once considered his brother.

PILÁTUS – PILATE (dir. Dombrovsky)

Anna, an elderly, village woman, is widowed. Her daughter, a big city doctor, believes that the best thing would be to take her mother in. But the relationship between Anna, torn from her own environment, and Iza, living her city life, doesn’t work out; Anna slowly withers in their life together lacking genuine love.

FLOWERS (dir. Daskarolis)

A man directs, a woman follows.

When Gal opens the door to the outside, she’s immediately captivated by it. She is looking for her favourite thing in the world. But outside is not for her.

STICKER

After an unsuccessful attempt to renew his car registration, Dejan falls in a bureaucratic trap that tests his determination to be a responsible father.

Skin

A small supermarket in a blue collar town, a black man smiles at a 10 year old white boy across the checkout aisle. This innocuous moment sends two gangs into a ruthless war that ends with a shocking backlash.

XY (dir. Lárusdóttir)

Lísa is fifteen years old and lives with her mother in the suburbs in Iceland. She is different from girls her age, but she hasn’t reached puberty. She is isolated and has a big secret about herself. Regular uncomfortable doctors visits and struggling with her self image demonstrates her everyday life. She avoids her peers, especially the girls who she feels very disconnected from. One of these girls is her childhood friend Bryndís, which Lísa has pushed away over the years. When Bryndís is being bullied by some boys in their class Lísa decides to reach back out to her, the two reunite, leading her to tell Bryndís about her secret. Bryndís’s curiosity and bluntness leads Lísa to discover more secrets about her body and even darker about her medical history.

We have to rethink everything

Italian winemaker Daniele Delaini notices water, sky and air becoming cleaner within only a few days during corona shutdown. In the movie he tells his German friend Martin on his observations and draws clear conclusions.

Cigarette

A woman is forced to take a big step after battling a constant inner war with herself for the amelioration of her family.

A Bloody Mess

Varsha is a young South Asian girl who battles against her family’s traditional beliefs surrounding menstruation, which comes with rules prohibiting her from having an open dialogue with her father about periods. Since she was a child, Varsha has been told that while periods are normal, there are certain things she cannot do while menstruating, which manifests in Varsha’s mental suffocation. This film depicts Varsha’s internal struggle as she tries to strike a balance between respecting her family and her own individual autonomy.

Feel India

The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame.
– Salman Rushdie

Braided Prayer: The Making Of White Moon

In 2011, in response to the rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic violence in the United States and around the world, three renowned musicians, from three different religions, formed a band called “Abraham Jam.” They hoped to do more than simply exchange ideas and art; they wanted to create music that braided these traditions and worldviews together in harmony – not singing the same notes, but singing notes that resonate. They wanted to respond to interreligious hatred by modeling a better way. This journey would include explorations of the commonalities and the differences in their faiths, searching to create a common voice that highlights the unique strengths and beliefs of each musician and each tradition. Braided Prayer is a documentary film that follows these three musicians, Billy Jonas (Jewish), David LaMotte (Christian), and Dawud Warnsby (Muslim), during the creation of their 2019 album “White Moon” and two concerts to celebrate its release.

Paath ( The Lesson)

the film is a story about a girl who becomes a victim of Bride trafficking that has been taking place in certain parts in India

Limit

Someone in a quiet area asked help from the people who he sees till someone enters the house and suddenly…

Zulfi

Zulfi is a story about aspirations, misplaced faith and ignorance. It subtley deals with contemporary issues in our society that has plagued millions across the wrold. Zulfi is a boy who aspires to fulfill his dreams and is supported by his mother, but it would not be easy for them to realize their dreams.

Love X Bites

During Covid19 outbreak, two women enter the quarantine at a hotel and share a room. Soon, sexual tensions flare up and they find themselves in a passionate affair. But a dark secret is about to rupture this bliss.

If you love her, let her go

The McHenry Trial – Don’t Judge a Kid by Their Hoodie

A young and brilliant academic phenom who not only passes the bar exam at age 14 but finds himself defending his homeless father on a murder charge when few believe he is innocent. He faces a shrewd law firm, an old school segregationist judge, and an arrogant prosecutor who is preparing to celebrate his 50th consecutive case win.

LASTCALL

Life in a ordinary café is disrupted by the intrusion of a weird and authoritative woman who starts manipulating the customers as if they were puppets. In spite of themselves, they become both spectators and actors in a somewhat macabre drama. In this café turned into a stage, the life of a man from his birth to his death is (being) told. The story of his fate, bound to choices that are not always choices. The story of a mysterious man, in turn surprising or frightening, maybe because deep down we are very much like him. But is it just a game? Where is the story leading us to? Are we the spectators or the actors of that life?

The Living Tableau

Kiss the Ground

Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle.
This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible – to solve humanity’s greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future.

Sab Rab De Bande (We’re all God’s Creation)

Sab Rab De Bande brings forth the various challenges that LGBTQ Sikhs grapple with and the different ways in which they reconcile their faith and gender/sexual identities. The documentary, through interviews with LGBTQ Sikhs, captures the varied experiences of queer Sikhs. Featured in the documentary are five different people with different gender and sexual identities and belonging to different parts of India. By tracking their life, the documentary seeks to find answers to questions like: Did their religious identity (and teachings) come in conflict with their sexual/gender identity, or did they find strength in the teachings of their religion and religious identity? What was the reaction of their family when they came out? Did they oppose it in terms of religion? How did the lack of visibility and representation of queer Sikhs in media and online spaces affect them while growing up? What kind of discrimination they face within the queer community, which idolizes a clean shaved look? What did they feel growing up as a Sikh and a queer person?

Jungle is my garden

A migrant girl, who dreams of England, lives on petty larceny and trafficking in Paris. A former high-ranking military man has just delivered his wife from an incurable disease and now faces a life without purpose. Between these two marginalized that nothing predestined to meet, will be forged an unwavering relationship.

EXTERNAL

A revolutionary businessman tries to conquer the world with $2,000.

“Behind the Name SHAKESPEARE: Power, Lust, Scorn & Scandal”

WHO CREATED THE GREATEST WORK OF IAMBIC THUNDER IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE? “Behind the Name SHAKESPEARE: Power, Lust, Scorn & Scandal” answers that question in this fun yet important film. It is a costume-filled journey into literary history’s greatest mystery: Who really wrote the works of Shakespeare?

This charming documentary is clearly a labor of love, which one can feel in every scene. The world needs it and bravo to Christina di Marlo for doing it!” — Don Rubin, Professor Emeritus, York University Editor, World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre.

VENICE FILM AWARDS REVIEW, 11/11/2020

“BEHIND THE NAME SHAKESPEARE is an extraordinary one-woman show/documentary.

The exceptional Robin Phillips guides us through the exciting investigation about who is really behind the most important plays in the whole world and therefore behind the name of William Shakespeare…

Robin Phillips puts all her talent as an author, actress, and storyteller, playing sort of comedian detective (a brilliant choice that makes us remain glued to the screen for the whole duration of the film) but contextualized in the era we are referring to. She transforms herself several times, she steps out and gets back into the narration with delicacy and without ever being out of tune.

And as a consequence of this, it’s not difficult to get involved in the typical atmosphere of the sixteenth century, also thanks to the beautiful costumes designed by Phillips herself, who also worked on the music (“Best Sound Design,” Venice Film Awards) hairstyles, make-up, and artistic direction.

The documentary is full of information, anecdotes, details, and spins around two centuries, between literature, history, and art. Despite being so full of news and quotes, you can easily follow it from start to finish. Not only without ever getting bored but remaining with bated breath in search of yet another proof that helps to agree with an increasing number of groups of people who support this extraordinarily beautiful and thrilling theory.

It’s difficult, after having seen it, not to want to join the chorus of voices of these artists, historians, writers, who claim that a glove maker’s son could not have created what are among the greatest masterpieces of world theater literature. And that it’s much more likely that it was the 17th Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere, lover (to be reductive) of Queen Elizabeth, and an erudite and brilliant man of letters.

Art Harman enriches the movie with his cinematography and his technical effects, which join the narrative moments in a fluid and coherent way .To quote Anna Rice, even within the documentary itself this is “very very interesting stuff”, which could not tell this crazy part of history in a better way.

I challenge the public not to fall in love with this story, with their protagonists, and with Robin Phillips in this delightful documentary film, which teaches and entertains, thus remaining faithful to the primary purpose of Elizabethan theater.”

Before I Die

“Before I die” is a non-fiction about an Environmentalist who, from his childhood days, was fascinated by the beautiful landscape of Nature. The healthier Environment that he had seen during childhood was now taken over by the human harshness. The surge in the Environmental Pollution made him feel distraught and it ached deep inside. This very Ache led him to conceive the Movement, “Remove Litter, Plant Flowers”, 13 years back.

“Before I die” is a Journey from the conception of this Movement, to its implementation, to its expansion despite ruthless challenges. It shows a permanent Solution to a crucial Problem affecting our Planet and survival and well-being of its inhabitants.

This Film also reveals the disastrous consequences of the Flora and Fauna going extinct and shows many species returning to Life post this Movement.

The Movement “Remove Litter, Plant Flowers” aims to replace Garbage with Flowers. Once saplings are planted, people stop dumping Garbage at those places and instead plants begin to grow there. It has come a long way, from distribution of 20,000 free saplings in one year to daily distribution of saplings in crores.

This Film is a story of resilience in the face of protests, social boycotts, physical attacks, humiliation and scarce resources. It’s a story of manic craziness of Dr. Ramji, for an Environmental Cause.

DỌLÁPỌ̀ IS FINE

A story about a young black girl’s relationship with her hair and name, and how it helps her understand who she really is.

The Pink Band

A Man, wants to become a father of a baby boy, for which he can cross any limits. His wife doesn’t have any say in front of him. later he became a father of a boy whom he was very proud off. But after 17 years his son, on his birthday, reveals the ultimate secret which turns around his life.

ENIGMA – The Fallen Angel

A seemingly perfect, yet flawed young woman has her routine appointment with the town’s most renowned psychiatrist. Turns out, Richa has more than usual to share today. The 60-minute appointment is about to begin now…
Richa Kapoor, hailing from a wealthy background has been suffering from an unusual disorder. She has been treated & experimented with everything to find the perfect cure. However, everything of this has just left her with pain, hopelessness & rage.
Ultimately she leaves on a quest to find one herself which is when Myra Singh enters her life. A stark contrast between both of them unknowingly blossoms into a friendship, which is when Richa plans to confess Myra, the real reason behind her mood swings & erratic behavior.
Richa is surprisingly taken aback when Myra takes all of her pain in an extremely understanding manner & in fact, even has a cure for her. However at what cost?
On a parallel track, Dr. Rajiv Menon has a diagnosis, a reveal that shall rock her to the core.
It is often said that to understand whether a person is good or bad, right or wrong; it should be seen what are the choices he makes when he has to choose between his convenience & morality. ENIGMA is an extremely different take on the real, dark & selfish instincts that reside among all of us. Summing up, we need to understand the great words of Friedrich Nietzsche, “ He who fights his own demons, must take care he doesn’t become one.”

Colorful Dreams

When I stepped into Dashtyari Region in Baluchestan for the first time, it was even beyond my imagination to see that the region and its people would change into the most important part of my life, a very important one.
In the movie “Colorful Dreams”, despite all the “non-existing elements”, I tried to talk about the “existing elements” whose initiators were the same people who had been living those “non-existences” for years, but after putting an end to “why”s and “how”s, have achieved a large portion of existences which did not exist before. To all those people who courageously fought and are fighting to make their dream

You bet I dance! – Und ob ich tanze!

In 2019, a dance workshop for children with cerebral palsy takes place for the first time in Germany, more precisely at the Staatsballett Berlin.
Leonie and Hannah, two girls with very different manifestations of this early childhood brain injury, embark on their first big dance adventure together with eight other children. But what is possible for children with physical and sometimes also cognitive restrictions? And then at one of the best dance theaters in the world – the Staatsballett Berlin? The children give an impressive answer. They dance. In their own special way.
Dancing means being happy. And that happiness makes the documentary “You bet I dance!” through the irrepressible zest for life of the children and the noticeable love of the parents formally tangible.