Hungry Ghost (Belgium) by Guido Devadder, Kaitlin McSweeney

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Synopsis: The feelings of both loss and desire are among the first and strongest emotions we experience as human beings. Desire is what keeps us alive, propagates us, but also destroys us. 'Hungry Ghost' is a poetic journey into the hazy netherworld of human craving, visualised through looping zoetrope animations. Running time: 0:06:52.

Selections/awards: Hallucinea FF Paris, Pupila FF (Best Experimental Short, Best Original Concept, Best Soundtrack), Brazil New Visions FF, Kortfilm Festival Leuven.

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Filled Up, Torn Open (UK) by Deividas Vytautas

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Synopsis: The film explores power structures, looking at how the notions of submission and domination function within the present in relation to themes of sex, desire, war, pop culture and spirituality. Running time: 0:08:56.

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Desert Prostitute (USA) by Olivia Jean Allbritton

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Synopsis: Desert Prostitute is our initiation to the magical reality of hot pink silicon animals, golden strap ons, and angels with gynecological tools. Both provocative and comical, Olivia stars in her film as the main character Crystal, a hot pink wigged prostitute experiencing a hallucination in the sand dunes of Nevada. The performance of struggling to care for her personified pink pet in a sand storm is narrated by a monologue of woven anecdotes, tangents, and philosophies on gender, religion, and sex work. The narration speaks in the language of a dramatized unstable woman searching for something to reignite her sexual divinity. Running time: 0:05:55.

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King of the World (Belgium) by Ron Chiers

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Synopsis: Marc is an artist with bipolar disorder. He filmed himself, and was filmed, during a psychosis. It is an insight into the raw reality of someone struggling with mental illness. Like a lonesome rider, he lets us see into the depths of his soul and goes off the track with his uncontrolled connections. Marc let music take him into higher realms and paints himself with battle colours. A wall is used as a canvas for a manic work of art. With a state of mind that alternates between euphoria and sadness, he struggles through a rollercoaster of delusions. Wandering through past and present, through his own reality versus reality, he imagines himself to be a king, performer, stripper, art teacher, advertising man and child. In this search for himself, Marc shares his vulnerability with us. Running time: 0:25:45.

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She's Still Here (Belgium) by Kris J.Y. Verdonck

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Synopsis: Weirdness all over. Running time: 0:02:58.

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Skin Pleasure (Belgium) by TRIPOT (Marius Packbier & Aïlien Reyns)

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Trailer

Synopsis: “Skin Pleasure” is a video essay that investigates the different functions of the skin in relation to the reception of internet pornography. Interweaving found footage - like amateur porn, ASMR videos and other web-based body genres - with close-ups of the filmmakers' body, Skin Pleasure is a highly reflective and at the same time deeply personal exploration of our bodily engagement with online media. Running time: 0:36:16.

Selections/awards: Brussels Porn FF, Festival des cinémas différents et expérimentaux de Paris, Malatesta Short FF, Istanbul International Experimental FF.

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