ARTEMIS & THE ASTRONAUT | USA | 2018 | 13' | World Premiere
Director: Alice L. Lee
Artemis and Henri have spent a lifetime together. Loved one another deeply and imperfectly. Four weeks ago Henri died, and today the school is coming for his beloved piano. So much was left unsaid as Henri's mind ebbed away. And then Artemis hears Henri crying in the next room. Will Artemis get a chance to be with Henri one last time?
Screens in the short film block: Ageing Gracefully on Wednesday, March 21, 3:30 pm
FREE PERIOD | UK | 2017 | 6' | U.S. Premiere
Director: Alison Piper
When schoolgirl Leanne can’t afford a sanitary pad she lines her underwear with toilet paper and ends up bleeding in front of her class during a presentation. Leanne overcomes this humiliation with a shocking act of rebellion - against a bully, a teacher, and against the stigma which acts as a barrier to her needs.
Screens with the documentary Tampon, our Closest Enemy on Monday, March 19, 7:30 pm
HEAD ABOVE WATER | USA | 2017 | 10' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Eric Shahinian
A devoted husband is forced to confront his doubts about remaining the caretaker of his wife suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Screens in the short film block: Ageing Gracefully on Wednesday, March 21, 3:30 pm
I SEEK ASYLUM | UK | 2017 | 9' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Anna Southgate
Based on actual asylum interviews, the film shows what faces survivors of trafficking and torture when they come to the UK. Emma Thompson portrays one of the refugees in the film.
Screens in the short film block: Dreamers Having a Nightmare on Tuesday, March 20, 4:00 pm
INSIDE THE WARDROBE | France | 2017 | 25' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Sebastien Carfora
In a world where appearance is more important than what’s inside, Frank lost everything and now lives in the street. To survive and reintegrate into society, he can only count on his abilities to adapt, his incredible imagination, his suit and his closet…French with English subtitles.
Screens in the short film block: Where is Home? on Monday, March 19, 3:30 pm
MALIK & THE TURTLE | France | 2017 | 19' | U.S. Premiere
Director: Adnane Tragha
Eighteen-year-old Malik lives with his mother in La Courneuve, in the northern suburb of Paris. He wants to become a top athlete and he trains hard every day to accomplish his dream. One day his coach announces to Malik that he is registered for the next Junior French Championships. However, his entourage suspect him of taking performance-enhancing drugs.French with English subtitles.
Screens with the documentary Stickman on Friday, March 16, 9:30 pm
NO RESERVATIONS | Canada | 2017 | 11' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Trevor Carroll
Written and directed by Trevor Carroll, NO RESERVATIONS is political satire inspired by true-life events, giving a hypothetical look at what life would be like if the roles in Standing Rock were reversed. Protests erupt as an upper-middle-class Caucasian neighborhood attempts to thwart the construction of a pipeline from an Indigenous Corporation.
Screens with the documentary Keep Believing on Sunday, March 18, 9:30 pm
SIDEWALK ANGELS | Brazil | 2017 | 13' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Paulo Miranda
Sao Paulo, Brazil, a chaotic city, always in frenzy. At the corners of society, homeless people, helpless, forgotten. Paiva, a retired widow, lonesome, lives a monotonous routine, an idle existence. In his walking through the streets of the city, Paiva spots an ambulance picking up homeless people. Paiva believes that he may or may not have found a new purpose for his life. Portuguese with English subtitles.
Screens in the short film block: Where is Home? on Monday, March 19, 3:30 pm
THE GIRL | Israel | 2016 | 10' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Lihi Sabag
Dafna, a social worker, pays a visit to Esti, the single mother of a little girl. Dafna must deal with the agonizing decision of whether or not Esti is a fit mother for her child. If not, the child will be taken into state custody. Hebrew with English subtitles.
Screens with the documentary Jerusalem in Line on Tuesday, March 20, 7:30 pm
THE GRAVEDIGGER'S DAUGHTER | Israel | 2016 | 17' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Shira Gabay
Esther's father was a gravedigger who in his last will and testament left only one significant request: that one of his sons continue with his profession. None of his sons have the slightest interest in doing so. Esther is the only daughter in this traditional 'Sephardic' North African home and embarks upon a struggle to carry on her father's legacy of humility and kindness over the objections of her family and community. A feminist film with a sprinkling of graveyard humor. Hebrew with English subtitles.
Screens with the documentary Jerusalem in Line on Tuesday, March 20, 7:30 pm
THE HOSTAGE | Germany | 2017 | 30' | American Premiere
Director: Kerstin Höckel
The Hostage fetches Friedrich von Schiller's ballad about a friendship beyond death to highly topical today's Berlin: Two refugee girls exchange their identities because one of them shall be deported and desires to say goodbye to her lover. The airplane with her best friend is about to start. But she runs to free the hostage. This act of true love moves the passengers. And they stand up for the girls to prevent the take-off. German with English subtitles.
Screens in the short film block: Dreamers Having a Nightmare on Tuesday, March 20, 4:00 pm
THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING THE OTHER | USA | 2017 | 10' | N.Y. Premiere.
Director: Marcey Frutchey
The story of a young, biracial girl named Iris who sets out to discover what it means to be an "other." Along her way, she encounters a pair of immigrants, a homeless veteran, and a transgender female who all bring some piece of the definition to light.
Screens in the short film block: Dreamers Having a Nightmare on Tuesday, March 20, 4:00 pm
THE SHELTER | Germany | 2017 | 9'
Director: Ysabel Fantou
Based on true events: Erwin and Hildegard get lost whilst on a hiking holiday in Bavaria. They end up in a strange guest house, not knowing that it's long closed and now a refugee shelter. Only when demanding the bill for the delicious meal, the truth unravels. German with English subtitles.
Screens in the short film block: Dreamers Having a Nightmare on Tuesday, March 20, 4:00 pm
THE SWING | UK | 2017 | 9' | U.S. Premiere
Director: David Witchell
Maja, a young Polish girl living in England, learns the price of being different when she is subject to increasing xenophobia.
Screens in the short film block: Dreamers Having a Nightmare on Tuesday, March 20, 4:00 pm
UNHEARD | USA | 2017 | 18' | WORLD Premiere
Director: Lauren Ide
Young Emily, a local small town girl runs away from home after finally being fed up with the estranged relationship with her parents, and her struggle with being bullied at school. Having left her hearing aids behind, Emily is left to wander the unknown of the world. With little way to communicate and only a few dollars to her name, Emily struggles with her inability to hear. This is Emily's story, a world without sound.
Screens in the short film block: Whose Disability? on Friday, March 16, 3:30 pm