09-05-2024 GIEFF-Films (Kopie)
Student Film Competition continued
Couple More Shovels for a Few More Levs, Lullaby of Waves, Estuary / Artery, Human Factors, Sisyphuses, Land in Sight?, Game Over, On the Edge of Gold, The Amazon Messengers, Just Beneath the Surface, End of the Road, Memories of Stone Faces, Baigal Nuur - Lake Baikal, Lydia, Where Zebus Speak French
Couple More Shovels for a Few More Levs
Not Specified, 2023, 42 min
Location: Bulgaria
A Film by: Pauline Shongov
The film features a group of workers at an archaeological site in the Sub-Balkan region of eastern Bulgaria whose statements to the camera explore the conditions of contemporary life in a country shaped by over thirty years of lethargic political transition. Taking a cinema verité approach, the film observes acts of digging into the ground, into the past, and through personal woes as they bring to surface unspoken desires, resentment, frustrations, hope, nostalgia, and resignation. Through intimate portrayal of characters navigating day-to-day trials and tribulations, the film paints a vivid portrait of the country, at a time when Bulgaria prepares to transition from the lev to the euro.
Screening: 9.05.2024 09:30
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Lullaby of Waves
India, 2023, 16 min
Location: India
A Film by: Ayon Pratim Saikia
"Lullaby of Waves" intimately explores belonging and identity as filmmaker Ayon Pratim Saikia follows his mother's journey across the Brahmaputra river, which divides the remote land of Sadiya from the rest of Assam. Through the mother's voice, pivotal events shaping past and future unfold, revealing a constant quest for validation and a home amidst societal labels as outsiders. The film is a poignant quest for understanding and acceptance of the profound sense of belonging associated with space and time, while challenging conventional notions of identity and belonging.
Trailer of Film: https://filmfreeway.com/submissions/27554064
Screening: 9.05.2024 10:25
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Estuary / Artery
United Kingdom, 2023, 26 min
Location: United Kingdom
A Film by: Liv Kisby
"Estuary / Artery," combines semi-fictional narrative with ethnographic materials gathered along the Thames estuary during an MA in Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Blurring boundaries between maker and viewer, Kisby explores belonging and movement amidst water and land tensions, guiding viewers on a sensorial journey encountering human and non-human 'dwellers' along the way. The film reveals the socio-cultural fabric of urban edgelands and speculates on future inhabitations amidst redevelopment and climate change, offering a unique perspective on our relationship with the earth in a turbulent global present.
Screening: 9.05.2024 10:45
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Human Factors
United Kingdom, 2023, 24 min
Location: United Kingdom
A Film by: Anna Dobos
"Human Factors" by Anna Dobos is an experimental documentary examining professionalism, care, and capacity within healthcare and emergency services post-COVID. Collaborating with institutions like Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Casualties Union, the film explores crisis and trauma management in institutional settings.
Website: https://www.somewherefilms.com/human-factors
Trailer of Film: https://vimeo.com/869593452
Screening: 9.05.2024 11:35
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Sisyphuses
Korea, Republic of, 2023, 39 min
Location: Korea
A Film by: Donghyeok Yi
"Sisyphuses" by Donghyeok Lee (Yi) depicts the journey of two young wheelchair tennis players in South Korea as they prepare for and participate in a tournament in Busan. The film sheds light on the current state of wheelchair tennis and the disabled community, portraying these individuals as athletes and showcasing the people they encounter along the way. Through the protagonists' life attitudes, the film explores how individuals in society define their own value in a world filled with "probabilities".
Trailer of Film: https://filmfreeway.com/submissions/27058561
Screening: 9.05.2024 12:10
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Welcome to the main festival
Land in Sight?
Belgium, 2022, 88 min
Location: France
A Film by: Mattia Petullà, Giulia Angrisani
"Terra in Vista" (Land in Sight) by Mattia Petullà and Giulia Angrisani follows Cecilia, Armelle, Gibbo, and Sisco as they have chosen an unpredictable life punctuated around seasonal work. Moving from one camp to another, forming temporary communities on borrowed or occupied land, they oscillate between discovery and feeling misunderstood. Returning sporadically to civilization, they face both judgment and admiration for their adventurous spirit.
Website: https://cvb.be/en/movie/terra-vista-0
Trailer of Film: https://vimeo.com/709022637
Screening: 9.05.2024 14:00
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Game Over
Turkey, 2023, 29 min
Location: Turkey
A Film by: Saeed Mayahy, Miriam Carlsen
In a basement in Istanbul a group of illegal Afghan teenage boys are determined to smuggle their way into Europe – a utopia far away. Caught in the no-man's land between childhood and adulthood they fearlessly play a dangerous game of destiny over and over again. Their incredible strength and vulnerability intertwine as they strive for safety and freedom at any cost, shedding light on the precarious journey between childhood and adulthood in the pursuit of a utopian dream.
Trailer of Film: https://filmfreeway.com/submissions/27215338
Screening: 9.05.2024 15:30
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
On the Edge of Gold
Brazil, 2022, 95 min
Location: Brazil
A Film by: Sandro Kakabadze
Penedo, a tiny community in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon, is home to the stories of men and women whose lives are linked to the illegal practices of gold extraction. The film deals with the brutal and life-threatening reality of illegal gold mining, both for humans and nature. Immersed in the deafening noise of machines and miners, one of the poorest communities in the country is engaged in the extraction and processing of gold, the symbol of wealth and prosperity. Considered as lawbreakers and criminals, they have never had an opportunity to do anything else than what they do – inflict damage on nature for their own survival.
Screening: 9.05.2024 16:35
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
The Amazon Messengers
Brazil, 2022, 17 min
Location: Brazil
A Film by: Munduruku Collective, Beka Munduruku, Rilcelia Akai, Aldira Akai, Joana Moncau
In the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land, in southwest Pará, three Munduruku women use cameras, drones and cell phones to convey their people's grievances beyond the banks of the Tapajós River. They form the Munduruku Daje Kapap Eypi Audiovisual Collective. We follow these young people during the production of a documentary about their people’s actions to protect the Amazon and defend the territory from invaders, mainly loggers and miners. Expelling the invaders has always been risky, but in times of the Bolsonaro government it is even riskier.
Screening: 9.05.2024 18:15
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Just Beneath the Surface
Australia, 2023, 6 min
Location: Australia
A Film by: Jimmy John Thaiday
“Just beneath the Surface” explores the fragility and power of our environment, and the threats posed by ocean pollution. Indigenous communities that rely on the land and sea for their livelihoods face additional challenges such as ghost nets that kill wildlife indiscriminately. Through a kaleidoscopic journey, the film immerses viewers in the protagonist's final moments, prompting reflection on whether he will defy nature's forces or succumb to its power.
Screening: 9.05.2024 18:45
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
End of the Road
Serbia, 2022, 19 min
Location: Serbia
A Film by: Ivana Todorovic
"End of the Road" by Ivana Todorovic delves into the poignant story of Željko and Viki, who dedicate themselves to providing a compassionate end-of-life care for discarded horses on their small plot of land. The documentary explores themes of mortality, compassion, and dignity, highlighting the importance of extending empathy to all living beings throughout their journey. Using observational cinema with stylized shots, Todorovic invites viewers to empathize with both the animals and the caregivers, ultimately delivering a powerful message of love and empathy for all living beings.
Screening: 9.05.2024 20:00
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Memories of Stone Faces
Switzerland, 2022, 9 min
Location: Switzerland
A Film by: Andrea Bordoli
"Di Visi Di Pietra Memorie" (Memories of Stone Faces) by Andrea Bordoli is a short piece that explores the intersection of geological and human memories at a specific site. Through a blend of documentary and fictional storytelling, the film narrates the story of workers who vanished during the construction of a dam on a toxic water basin in the Alps.
Website: https://cargocollective.com/andreabordoli/DI-VISI-DI-PIETRA-MEMORIE-WIP
Screening: 9.05.2024 20:30
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Baigal Nuur - Lake Baikal
Canada, 2023, 9 min
Location: Canada, Germany
A Film by: Alisi Telengut
In "Baigal Nuur - Lake Baikal" by Alisi Telengut, the film offers a reimagined perspective on the formation and history of Lake Baikal in Siberia. It incorporates the voice of a Buryat woman, preserving some words in her endangered Buryat-Mongolian language. With a focus on revitalizing the spiritual significance of the landscape, the film addresses the decline in Buryat language proficiency, attributed to historical colonialism and modern Russian education policies. Through hand-painted animation and physical objects, the film explores the intangible history and formation of the lake, aiming to convey indigenous language, stories, and cosmology in a non-anthropomorphic manner.
Website: https://www.alisitelengut.com/Baigal-Nuur-Lake-Baikal-2023
Screening: 9.05.2024 20:40
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Lydia
Germany, 2021, 21 min
Location: Germany
A Film by: Christian Becker
Christian Becker explores in his film "Lydia" the lives of his aunt Lydia and uncle Wolfgang B. over two decades, revealing their joys, struggles, and the hidden turmoil of Lydia's battle with cancer. Through private film recordings taken by the couple in the late 1970s and Wolfgang's diary texts from 1992, Becker paints a vivid picture of their symbiotic marriage, filled with passion, disciplined work and Lydia's fear of a fatal second tumor. Despite its deeply personal origins, "Lydia" transcends individual boundaries to deliver a universal narrative, serving as a poignant reminder of life's inherent fragility.
Website: http://field-recordings.de/in-produktion/
Screening: 9.05.2024 20:50
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.
Where Zebus Speak French
Madagascar, 2023, 104 min
Location: Madagascar
A Film by: Nantenaina Lova
"Where Zebus Speak French" by Nantenaina Lova portrays the struggles of Ly, a peasant living near an airport and military camp in Madagascar's Bomb Bay. As the rice fields surrounding his village become the focal point of political promises, with presidential projects, colonels, generals, and foreign investors vying for control, Ly and his community resist by nurturing their land and souls amidst adversity. Through humor and oral culture, the film explores their resilience, with the director aiming to craft a "kabary film" that blends satire and metaphor to highlight the absurdity of injustice and the importance of resistance to resignation.
Website: https://www.papangfilms.com/sitabaomba
Trailer of Film: https://vimeo.com/836930401
Screening: 9.05.2024 22:00
You would like to watch the film online? Please register for online viewing and login.