Shorts Competition. Block 2

Why My Mum Loves Russell Crowe
The Netherlands, UK, 2022, 26 min
Directed by: Emma van den Berg
Cinematography by: Emma van den Berg
Production: Imoje Aikhoje, Emma van den Berg / Emma van den Berg
Editing: Emma van den Berg
Selected festivals and awards: 2022 – DOK Leipzig

The film is presented as part of the Doc Alliance film section

“Sex does strange things to people!” This sentence reverberates from her childhood. What did her mother mean? What fears did she pass on to Emma? The budding filmmaker sets up the camera in her mother’s apartment, invites mum’s friends and creates an open atmosphere. Coby opens up more and more, and talks about a repressed topic. At the same time, she gets to show a wholly different side of herself, performing song and dance numbers in front of her daughter’s lens.

Spartivento
Italy, 2022, 34 min
Directed by: Marco Piccarreda
Cinematography by: Marco Piccarreda
Production: Marco Piccarreda
Montaż: Marco Piccarreda
Selected festivals and awards: 2022 – Visions du Réel Nyon

Rosetta is 90 years old. She and her special grandson Ariele have come from Naples to spend the summer at Capo Spartivento, as they do every year. It’s one day until the end of their holiday. In the heart of the Mediterranean, the song of cicadas barely covers the noise of cars and summer hits. In this landscape lulled by sunshine and routine, a grandmother attempts to make the most of every minute she still has to live with her grandson Ariele. Marco Piccarreda creates a film full of poetry and tenderness, on the pursuit of happiness.

Border Conversations
Germany, 2022, 30 min
Directed by: Jonathan Brunner
Cinematography by: Marie Scholjegerdes
Production: Tristan Schneider / Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Selected festivals and awards: 2022 – DOK Leipzig: Silver Dove Award, 2022 – Jihlava IFF

In November 2021, people tried to enter the EU via Belarus and Poland, but the route turned out to be a death trap. All access points to the border region were blocked in order not to create an escape corridor. Men, women and children were stuck in no man’s land – in the middle of winter, in the middle of the forest, for weeks. The film follows Polish activists on their mission. They learn that humanitarian aid, just like the refugees themselves, comes up against borders.