{"id":59367,"date":"2024-05-25T13:40:32","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T11:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.krakowfilmfestival.pl\/short-matters-short-films-of-the-year-at-the-64th-kff\/"},"modified":"2024-05-25T18:35:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T16:35:53","slug":"short-matters-short-films-of-the-year-at-the-64th-kff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.krakowfilmfestival.pl\/en\/short-matters-short-films-of-the-year-at-the-64th-kff\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Matters! Short Films of the Year at the 64th KFF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What captivated, moved, and disgusted European filmmakers in the past year? Award-winning short documentaries, animated, and fiction films might help answer this question. Once again, the audience at the Krak\u00f3w Film Festival will have the chance to see productions that made it onto the prestigious list of films competing for a nomination for the European Film Awards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/span>Short Matters! Short Films of the Year<\/b> section has been a festival staple for years. This year’s edition has been dominated by short fiction films, but the program also includes animated and documentary films. All productions shown under its banner have been shortlisted for nomination for the European Film Award \u2013 the equivalent of the American Oscars. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animation<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the selected animated films is one of last year’s winners, <\/span>Szymon Ruczy\u0144ski’s <\/b>There Are People In the Forest<\/i><\/b>.<\/span> This intimate tale shows what is happening at the Polish-Belarusian border. <\/span>Refugees attempting to cross into Poland are hiding in the forest. Based on witness accounts and the author’s own experiences, this animated film provides a harrowing depiction of the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding since 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Perra<\/i><\/b>, directed by <\/span>Carla Melo Gampert<\/b>, is a powerful and distinctive anthropomorphic story about becoming a woman and the roles women assume in society and among their loved ones. The next animated film, <\/span>27<\/i><\/b> (dir. Fl\u00f3ra Anna Buda)<\/b>, also deals with the theme of womanhood. The Hungarian director immerses viewers in the highly intimate world of Alice’s erotic fantasies. Alice, turning 27, is still living with her parents, and escaping into dreams helps her disconnect from her everyday reality.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There Are People In the Forest<\/i> dir. Szymon Ruczy\u0144ski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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La Perra  dir<\/em>. Carla Melo Gampert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fiction<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short fiction films do not shy away from fantasies and dreams. <\/span>Christian Avil\u00e9s<\/b> crafts a vibrant tale of a much-anticipated holiday. The British teenagers in <\/span>Daydreaming So Vividly about Our Spanish Holidays<\/i><\/b>, fed up with the lack of sunlight and typical English weather, decide to head to the Balearic Islands. Once there, they yearn to soak up as much sun as possible to take back to their cloudy homeland. Similarly, the protagonists of <\/span>Women Visiting a City<\/i><\/b> (dir. Enrique Buleo) <\/b>embark on a journey, too.<\/span> Three newly widowed retirees decide to taste life by embarking on a tour across Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rita from <\/span>Chords<\/i><\/b> (dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren) <\/b>is also a pensioner.<\/span> She regularly attends choir rehearsals, which is in danger of being dissolved after the city refused further funding. A company, notorious for its heavy pollution that severely affects the town’s residents, including Rita\u2019s son, comes forward offering financial support. The choir members have to face a very tough decision. The queer activists in <\/span>Flores del otro patio<\/i><\/b> (dir. Jorge Cadena)<\/b> are often confronted with similar problems. They fight against the patriarchal system and social injustice in their native Colombia.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last drama evokes Agnes Varda’s essay films. <\/span>Les Chenilles<\/i><\/b> (dir. Michelle Keserwany, Noel Keserwany)<\/b> tells the story of Asma and Sarah.  The women hail from the Levant but live and work in France. They both carry the burden of the homes they had to leave behind. Initially wary of each other, they gradually discover a common thread, dating back to when the Silk Road linked Lyon to their homelands. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Flores del otro patio, dir<\/em>. Jorge Cadena<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Women Visiting a City dir<\/em>. Enrique Buleo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Documentary<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardly Working<\/i><\/b> (dir. <\/b>Susanna Flock, Robin Klengel, Leonhard M\u00fcllner, Michael Stumpf)<\/b> is a rather unconventional documentary, set entirely in the virtual world of the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2. The filmmakers delve into the lives of its non-player characters, finding their repetitive actions similar to working in capitalism. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manuel Mu\u00f1oz Rivas’s<\/b> film intriguingly echoes the themes of the first documentary. <\/span>Aqueronte<\/i><\/b> epitomises slow cinema, portraying a group of passengers crossing a river by ferry. Nothing happens, there is only movement.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hardly Working dir<\/em>. S. Flock, R. Klengel, L. M\u00fcllner, M. Stumpf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aqueronte<\/em>, dir. Manuel Mu\u00f1oz Rivas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Films in the <\/b>Short Matters! section:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n