We are extremely proud to have been presenting the “Short Matters!” program to our audience for many years now. We are pleased to have in this group a number of films that we showcased in Kraków last year and we are very curious how our audience is going to react to the remaining short films, <\/em>comments Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła, Head of Programme Department. <\/strong>The program is as diverse as ever, which shows that European cinema does not close itself off but continues to experiment and search for new forms.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two animated films previously presented at the Krakow Film Festival will be shown this year. The program includes Affairs of the Art<\/em> <\/strong>(dir. Joanna Quinn<\/strong>) and last year’s Silver Dragon winner Love, Dad<\/em><\/strong> directed by Diana Cam Van Nguyen. <\/strong>The latter title made it to the final five of films nominated for the European Film Awards. Ultimately, the award for best short film production went to the Slovenian-French animation Granny’s Sexual Life<\/em> <\/strong>directed by Urška Djukić<\/strong> and Émilie Pigeard<\/strong>. This unabashed and taboo-breaking film is also going to appear in the “Short Matters!” section.atters!”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is one more animated film among the European Film Awards nominees that will be screened in Kraków. It is the Portuguese-British-French production Ice Merchants<\/em><\/strong> (dir. João Gonzalez<\/strong>), also appreciated by the Oscar committee. The film is a beautiful, intimate story about the relationship between a father and his son. Similar themes are also addressed in the fiction film Cherries<\/em><\/strong> (dir. Vytautas Katkus<\/strong>). In this Lithuanian short, we watch two generations of men working together while picking fruit from the titular tree, which becomes a pretext for deepening the bond between parent and growing child. Complicated family relationships are also the focus of another excellent story from Lithuania. In the film Techno, Mama<\/em><\/strong> (dir. Saulius Baradinskas<\/strong>), we are presented with a portrait of a possessive mother and a son who tries to escape from the country and the toxic influence of his parent. The teenage protagonist in Sofia Georgovassili’s Memoir of a Veering Storm<\/strong> has more freedom. The girl manages to hide a certain secret from her parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two dominant themes emerge from this year’s selection. Alongside family relationships, the issue of abuse of power resonates just as strongly. In the powerful documentary Handbook<\/em><\/strong> director Pavel Mozha<\/strong> reconstructs the tortures and repressions suffered by opponents of the government in Belarus. Meanwhile, in the feature film Will My Parents Come to See Me<\/em> (<\/strong>dir. Mo Harawe)<\/strong>, we see the harrowing story of the interrogation of a young, lost Somali boy who falls victim to the unforgiving system. A response to these experiences may be found in the experiment conducted by the protagonists of the documentary Neighbour Abdi<\/em><\/strong> (dir. Douwe Dijkstra<\/strong>). Two neighbours create a virtual reality in which victims of wars and persecution can confront their past. As a breather, the audience in Kraków will have the opportunity to see a reflective and soothing story. It is the Spanish film The Sower of Stars<\/em><\/strong> directed by Lois Patiño<\/strong>, <\/strong>which won an award at last year’s Berlinale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Films in the Short Matters! section:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.krakowfilmfestival.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/kocham-tata-rez--diana-cam-van-nguyen.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>