Digits of Pi (USA) by Tom Bessoir, Joshua Pines

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Synopsis: Pi meets Duchamp in a transcendental film. Inspired by Marcel Duchamp's “Anemic Cinema,” the filmmakers set out to create a film composed within a circular frame. This circular composition led directly to using the number pi for the underlying structure. Having the digits of pi sung on the soundtrack is an homage to “Einstein on the Beach” by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson. Running time: 0:03:14.

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Cygnus (Canada) by Brandon Poole

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Synopsis: A networked planet; an improvised signal; the last swan. Filmed on the northern shores of Lake Ontario, amid the ruined utopic architecture of Ontario Place, “𝘊𝘺𝘨𝘯𝘶𝘴” takes the geodesic-domed Cinesphere (the first permanent installation of IMAX), a sunken lake freighter turned breakwater, and an invasive mute swan as subjects of its tripartite cosmic zoom. Running time: 00:06:22.

Selections/awards: Antimatter, non-syntax Experimental Image Festival, Brussels Independent FF.

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Exterior Day (Italy) by Giulia Magno

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Trailer

Synopsis: In collaboration with Archivio Michelangelo Antonioni. Inspired by a famous exchange of letters between Antonioni and Rothko, “Esterno giorno” is an experimental love letter to Italian cinema. Following in the footsteps of the characters played by Monica Vitti, the film retraces the geography of Antonioni’s vision. From the metaphysical squares of Rome’s EUR district to the smokestacks of industrial Ravenna, from the red desert of Wadi Rum to the pink granite cliffs surrounding La Cupola—the futuristic house in Sardinia designed by architect Dante Bini for Antonioni and Vitti—, the physical spaces explored by the camera become psychological landscapes, states of mind, atmospheres. The filmmaker poetically weaves contemporary footage shot on location in Italy and Jordan, together with archival materials and excerpts from “Eclipse” (1962) and “Red Desert” (1964), creating an illusion of continuity between past and present. Running time: 00:08:08.

Selections/awards: Flickers' Rhode Island IFF, Cork IFF, Venice Film Week, B3 Biennial of the Moving Image Frankfurt, Lund Architecture FF, Milano Design FF, Amarcort FF Rimini, and more.

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Demon Box (Canada) by Sean Wainsteim

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Trailer

Synopsis: After festival rejections, a director revises his intensely personal short film about trauma, suicide, and the Holocaust, and transforms it into a painful, blunt and funny dissection of the film and his life. Ten years in the making. (*Please be advised that this film deals with themes of trauma and suicide.) Running time: 0:14:00.

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Für Lilith / ლილიტს (Georgia) by Mariam Elene Gomelauri

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Synopsis: In the hands of a young filmmaker, a handycam primarily used for homemade family movies, transforms into a tool for self-reflection. Compilations of personal archives and images from the subconscious prompt us to embark on a journey of reexamining their gender-identity formation in a conservative, post-soviet Republic of Georgia. Running time: 0:10:00.

Selections/awards: Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen.

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Below the Surface (Netherlands) by Tomas Ponsteen

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Synopsis: Elkin left his family in Colombia and came to Europe to explore his gender identity. As a sex worker, he searches for himself through his various alter egos: Caroline, Gabriella and Brandon. Having no permanent residence he travels continuously. Parallel to his physical journey, he is in a mental quest within himself. “Below the Surface” is an intimate portrait through which you get extremely close to the character. Running time: 0:14:00.

Selections/awards: Go Short - International Short FF Nijmegen, ShortCutz Amsterdam, Amsterdam LGBTQ+ FF (Roze Filmdagen), Queer FF Utrecht, GAZE LGBTQ+ FF Dublinn and more.

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Ruined Arbor (Mohsen Namjoo) (Iran) by Kasra Yazdani, Golrokh Hemmati

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Synopsis: Music is based on an old Iranian poem about a carpet weaver girl weaving a carpet under a ruined roof. Images have been photographed from different carpets of Iranian ethnicities. Running time: 00:02:00.

Selections/awards: Light Matter Experimental Film and Media Arts Fest, International Folklore FF Thrissur, Martinique IFF, Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art Festival, Film Buzz Festival.

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The Path of a Memory (Belgium) by Katerina Indesteege

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Synopsis: Growling mountains, trees full of fruits, giggles, whispers and tears. The past is still present in the mind of the daydreamer. Documentary meets fiction when the filmmaker fantasizes about her mother's memories. How could her life have looked like in a country far from here, in times of a dictatorship? Running time: 0:11:52.

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Before Pandemic and War, There Were Bed Bugs and Love! (Lithuania) by Nuruzzaman Khan

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Synopsis: He was filming her. They were dreaming of living together between Bangladesh and Lithuania. They were dreaming to make films together, to open a 5 meals restaurant and to adopt orphans. Now he looks back at his life and his broken love relationship. Running time: 0:17:00.

Selections/awards: Drama International Short FF, Glimpses of Europe Scanorama Vilnius, Diorama IFF, Liberation Docfest Bangladesh, and more.

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