Maremetraggio Section at ShorTS International Film Festival announced,
the competition for shorts from all over the world.
The 81 shorts – including fiction, documentaries and animation – in competition in the Maremetraggio section of the upcoming ShorTS International Film Festival, directed this year by Maurizio Di Rienzo and scheduled from 1 to 9 July in Trieste, come from 45 different countries and are to offer a broad overview of the energy of this film idiom.
A programme spanning eight evenings, at the Giardino Pubblico Muzio de Tommasini, in which to see these 81 high-quality shorts that are prime examples of cultural richness, exploration of form and the pleasure of telling and sharing stories, structured according to a variety of themes and aesthetics.
The shorts will be judged by a truly outstanding international jury, composed of Egypt’s Sameh Alaa (director) who last year with I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face won the Maremetraggio competition and the Palme d’Or at Cannes for best short, the Lebanese Nicolas Khabbaz (artistic director of the Beirut Shorts International Film Festival, festival programmer and producer) and the Israeli Ella Kohn (director). These are people who, despite living in countries that unfortunately are in political and ideological conflict, recognise and appreciate each other not only professionally.
The films in competition at ShorTS include Mark Albiston’s Datsun (New Zealand, 2021), to be premiered nationally. A wild journey filled with near misses, euphoria, courage, fear, devastation and empowerment as experienced by two teenagers. Über Wasser/On Solid Ground by the promising Jela Hasler (Switzerland, 2021), which reflects on the seemingly trivial daily aggression to which women are exposed and was presented last year at Cannes. Warsha by Dania Bdeir (Lebanon, France, 2022), a story set in Beirut, where Mohammad, a quiet, calm and reserved man, is looking for a space of freedom that will allow him to express himself. Nitty-Gritty Punjab Police by Kabir Mehta (India, 2021, 12′), a hybrid work incorporating found footage, memoirs, mockumentary and dance video set in the Punjab and denouncing police brutality. Techno, Mama by Saulius Baradinskas (Lithuania, 2021), a film shot with a mobile phone that explores two generations – the lead players are teenager Nikita and her mother, unable to find a way to love each other, a story of kids who missed out on childhood because their dreams were shattered in post-Soviet urban backyards, and Marija Apcevska’s Severen pol/North Pole (Macedonia, Serbia, 2021), a moving portrait of teenage discoveries and the narrow gap that separates childhood from the difficult entry into the world of adults, in competition last year at Cannes.
Participation by Italy includes the documentary Terra dei padri/Fathers’ Land by Francesco Di Gioia (Italy, 2021), which blends archive material with the verses of Libyan poet Fadil Hasin Ash-Shalmani, to recount the deportation of numerous civilians during the early years of the Italian occupation of Libya. Chiusi fuori by Giorgio Testi (Italy, 2021), a short with Stefano Accorsi and Colin Firth on the wounds that lockdown has inflicted on the world of culture and theatre in particular, and Being My Mom by Jasmine Trinca (Italy, 2020), a metaphorical walk through the existence of two women, a mother and a daughter, two protagonists who are only protagonists of their own lives, a debut work by Jasmine Trinca with Alba Rohrwacher.
Animation is represented by Homebird by Ewa Smyk (UK, 2021), a work produced using the technique of painting on cel using thousands of felt-tip pens, tubes of paint and sheets of acetate, and Le bourreau chez lui/The Hangman at Home by Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot (France, Denmark, Canada, 2021), a film inspired by Carl Sandburg’s 1922 poem of the same name and the work of two top names in world animation, which explores themes surrounding recognition and the awkward intimacy of humanity.
Also noteworthy is Leonardo Martinelli’s Fantasma Neon/Neon Phantom (Brazil, 2021), winner of the Pardino d’Oro for best short at the last Locarno Festival, which revisits with critical irony the typical places of the Hollywood musical through the story of João, a young rider who dreams of a new motorbike. Underneath the humorous exterior, an implacable portrait of life in the age of the gig economy.
The section is curated by Massimiliano Nardulli, who says: “From the very first screenings, you will be hit by a wave of first-rate films that use different idioms and styles, a good representation of the incredible multiple forms of shorts today. If there is perhaps one point we should stress, it is that these works have a natural function: that of bringing people together in the act, which we like to define as almost sacred, of viewing them”.
The 81 works in the contest will compete for the Premio EstEnergy/Gruppo Hera for the best short, a prize of 5,000 euros, and the Premio AcegasApsAmga of 3,000 euros for the best Italian short (which will again be awarded by a jury made up entirely of employees of the group at the end of a training course to begin on 18 May with a masterclass by director Davide del Degan). They are joined by the Premio Mymovies.it for the best Italian premiere in competition, Premio AMC for best Italian editing, Premio Shorts TV which consists in the acquisition of the TV and VOD rights licence for a short and Premio Bazzara Caffè to be awarded to the best short as voted for by the public.
Os abismos da alma, Guilherme Daniel – Portogallo / Portugal
Al motociclista no le cabe la felicidad en el traje, Gabriel Herrera – Messico / Mexico
Ángela, Benjamín Berger – Cile / Chile
Apallou, Niko Avgoustidi – Grecia, Francia / Greece, France
Ayaan, Alies Sluiter – Australia
Babičino seksualno življenje, Urška Djukić, Émilie Pigeard – Slovenia, Francia / Slovenia, France
Le bain, Anissa Daoud – Tunisia, Francia / Tunisia, France
O barco e o rio, Bernardo Ale Abinader – Brasile / Brazil
Bardo, Aisling Conroy – Irlanda / Ireland
Barter, Ziba Karamali, Emad Arad – Iran
Being My Mom, Jasmine Trinca – Italia / Italy
Le bourreau chez lui, Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot – Francia, Danimarca, Canada / France, Denmark, Canada
Bracha, Mickey Triest, Aaron Geva – Israele / Israel
Branka, Ákos K. Kovács – Ungheria / Hungary
Burros, Jefferson Stein – Stati Uniti d’America / United States of America
Cai-Ber, Ahmed Abdelsalam – Egitto, Regno Unito / Egypt, United Kingdom
Camerieri, Adriano Giotti – Italia / Italy
Chiusi fuori, Giorgio Testi – Italia / Italy
Criatura, María Silvia Esteve – Argentina, Svizzera / Argentina, Switzerland
Cromosoma X, Lucia Bulgheroni – Italia/ Italy
Danzamatta, Vanja Victor Kabir Tognola – Svizzera / Switzerland
Datsun, Mark Albiston – Nuova Zelanda / New Zealand
Descente, Mehdi Fikri – Francia / France
Destinata Coniugi Lo Giglio, Nicola Prosatore – Italia / Italy
Le discours, Mohammad Hijazi – Francia / France
Ditë e kuqe, Besim Ugzmajli – Kosovo
Downfall, Rona Fayad – Libano / Lebanon
Écoutez-moi, Paula Armijo – Spagna / Spain
L’effort commercial, Sarah Arnold – Francia, Svizzera / France, Switzerland
Empiric, Ioana Turcan – Romania
Fainanın sirri, Durna Safarova – Azerbaigian / Azerbaijan
Fantasma Neon, Leonardo Martinelli – Brasile / Brazil
Farrucas, Ian de la Rosa – Spagna, Stati Uniti d’America / Spain, United States of America
Flumina, Antonello Matarazzo – Italia / Italy
Homebird, Ewa Smyk – Regno Unito / United Kingdom
Ihmissoihtu, Risto-Pekka Blom – Finlandia / Finland
In the Upper Room, Alexander Gratzer – Austria
Las infantas, Andrea Herrera Catalá – Spagna / Spain
Iskioma, Kostas Gerampinis – Grecia / Greece
Jihad Summer Camp, Luca Bedini – Italia / Italy
Khadiga, Morad Mostafa – Egitto, Francia / Egypt, France
Kollegen, Jannis Alexander Kiefer – Germania / Germany
Kurschatten, Alina Yklymova – Germania / Germany
Lo chiamavano Cargo, Marco Signoretti – Italia / Italy
Lost Kings, Brian Lawes – Stati Uniti d’America / United States of America
Mamma, Aslak Danbolt – Norvegia / Norway
Milý tati, Diana Cam Van Nguyen – Repubblica Ceca / Czech Republic
Mulaqat, Seemab Gul – Pakistan
Murmures, Léa Morelli – France / France
Nitty-Gritty Punjab Police, Kabir Mehta – India
La notte brucia, Angelica Gallo – Italia / Italy
Nuisibles, Juliette Laboria – Francia / France
Oro rojo, Carme Gomila – Spagna / Spain
Pirmas sekmadienis po pirmos pilnaties, Greta Griniūtė – Lituania / Lithuania
Piscine pro, Alec Pronovost – Canada
Podul de piatrâ, Artur-Pol Camprubí – Spagna / Spain
Poka my des, Anastasia Maltseva – Russia
Reduction, Anna Reka Szakaly – Ungheria / Hungary
Roger’s Eye, Daniele Grosso – Portogallo / Portugal
Ruthless, Matthew McGuigan – Irlanda, Regno Unito / Ireland, United Kingdom
S.O.S., Sarah Hafner – Francia / France
Safe, Ian Barling – Stati Uniti d’America / United States of America
Sbadigli, Luca Sorgato – Italia / Italy
Severen pol, Marija Apcevska – Macedonia, Serbia
Sin prisa por llegar a ninguna parte, Pepe Sapena – Spagna / Spain
Spodeleno sarce, Dess Atanasoff – Bulgaria
Suspensão, Luís Soares – Portogallo / Portugal
Sve te senzacije u mom trbuhu, Marko Djeska – Croazia, Portogallo / Croatia, Portugal
Ta presneta ocetova kamera!, Milos Tomic – Slovenia
Techno, Mama, Saulius Baradinskas – Lituania / Lithuania
Teplica, Andrey Lukyanov – Russia
Terra dei padri, Francesco Di Gioia – Italia / Italy
Titan, Valéry Carnoy – Belgio / Belgium
Tou sheng, ji dan, zuo ye ben, Luo Runxiao – Cina / China
Twierdza, Slawek Zalewski – Polonia / Poland
Two-Spirit, Mónica Taboada-Tapia – Colombia
Über Wasser, Jela Hasler – Svizzera / Switzerland
Vlada nosaat le-London, Arti Savchenko – Israele / Israel
Warsha, Dania Bdeir – Libano, Francia / Lebanon, France
Y’a pas d’heure pour les femmes, Sarra El Abed – Canada
You Can’t Automate Me, Katarina Jazbec – Paesi Bassi, Slovenia / The Netherlands, Slovenia