ShorTS International Film Festival 2021: all the short films in competition

Now in its twenty-second edition, the ShorTS International Film Festival will screen eighty-one short films from forty-four different countries for the competitive section Maremetraggio

Among the most awarded titles in the main international festivals during the last year, titles such as Nina by Hristo Simeonov, a Bulgarian short nominated for the European Film Awards 2020 that tells of a thirteen-year-old girl who wants to escape from the bullying Vassil, who would like to turn her into a pickpocket; Marlon brando by Vincent Tilanus, directly from the Netherlands, among the shorts of the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes 2020 and in the running for the EFA 2021, which tells of the fraternal friendship between two teenagers and how their plans for the future could crack it; the 2021 Belgian-Ghanaian Oscar nominee titled Da Yie, by Anthony Nti, the story of two very young boys struggling with a ruthless world; the Egyptian short I am afraid to forget your face, by Sameh Alaa, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and the first film in the country to have entered the short film competition in fifty years; the Vietnamese A trip to Heaven, by Linh Duong, who takes us on a bus along the Mekong Delta where a woman meets an old love of youth; Pilgrims, by Ali Asgari and Farnoosh Samadi, directly from Turkey, which tells of two children brothers who come down to transgress their father’s will and leave for Istanbul in search of their mother.

Among the Italian short films, we will find Gas Station, by Olga Torrico from Caserta in the role of director and interpreter of the short film that in Venice won the SIC @ SIC Short Italian Cinema Award as the best technical contribution; from the selection of Alice in the city comes Ape Regina, by Nicola Sorcinelli, which brings to the screen a story of solidarity and acceptance; The technique, by Clemente De Muro and Davide Mardegan, presented at the Leeds International Film Festival and at the Turin Film Festival, which deals with the theme of first love; The border is a wood, by the Friulian director Giorgio Milocco and produced by the Quasar company, also from Friuli, and selected at the Los Angeles Italia Film Festival, a story of physical and emotional boundaries, told through the story of a man on the threshold of old age who lives far from the its homeland. The protagonist is Ivan, a sixty-year-old worker, born in the former Yugoslavia, who lives with his wife in a small town in Friuli called Torviscosa. One day he decides to embark on a journey that will take him back to the places of his childhood, in an attempt to atone for a sense of guilt that he carries within himself since he was a child.

As for animated films, we will find the French short in competition Sheep, Wolf and A Cup of tea, by Marion Lacourt, who recreates the dream world of childhood through 2D animation; Italian Solitaire, by Edoardo Natoli, who tells a moving story of loneliness in stop-motion; Your own bullshit, by Daria Kopiec, a playful and poetic Polish short always created with the stop-motion technique.

ShorTS International Film Festival 2021: the complete list of all the short films in the competition

500 Calories

by Cristina Spina

Italy, United States of America

54 / The Blind Turtle and the Endless Sea

by Isabella Margara

Greece

To nowhere

Into Nothingness

by Manu Manrique

Spain

Fascinating

by Elisa Baccolo

Italy

Al-Sit

di Suzannah Mirghani

Sudan, Qatar

Men are hungry too

Men Are Hungry Too

by Gabriele Licchelli, Francesco Lorusso, Andrea Settembrini

Italy

Ape Regina

Queen Bee

by Nicola Sorcinelli

Italy

Species-appropriate

Organic Love

at Carly Coco Schrader

Germany

Aura

di Chun Chun Chang

United States of America

Balkanika

by Lu Pulici

Italy

Bambirak

of Zamarin Wahdat

Germany

Cayenne

by Simon Gionet

Canada

Charon

by Yannick Karcher

France

The Cloud Is Still There

by Mickey Lai

Malaysia

The border is a wood

My Border, My Forest

by Giorgio Milocco

Italy

Cris Superstar

di Guillermo Fernández Groizard

Spain

Da Yiedi

Anthony Nti

Ghana, Belgium

Yes-Dzma

A Sister and a Brother

by Jaro Minne

Georgia, Belgium

Dante. Beatrice

at Iryna Kodjukova

Belarus

David

di Zach Woods

United States of America

Day-in Day-out

di Anna Turkish

Hungary

The two assholes

The Two Idiots

at Thibault Segouin

France

Tell me yes

Tell Me Yes

from Sophie Clavaizolle

France

Dye Red

by Vittoria Campaner

United States of America, Italy

Eggshell

di Ryan William Harris

Ireland, Italy

Between you and Milagros

Between You and Milagros

by Mariana Saffon Ramírez

Colombia

Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss

by Sonny Calvento

Philippines

The explosion of a bathing ring

The Explosion of a Swimming Ring

di Tommi Seitajoki

Finland

Ferrotipos

di Nüll García

Spain

Gas Station

by Olga Torrico

Italy

The big wave

The Big Wave

by Francesco Tortorella

Italy

I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face

di Sameh Alaa

Egypt, France, Belgium, Qatar

Interstate 8

by Anne Thieme

Germany, United States of America

It’s Desmond (Your Misguided Tour Guide)

by Daniela Di Salvo

Canada

Me and my rough ass

My Fat Arse and I

of Yelyzaveta Pysmak

Poland

Jeep Boys

by Alec Pronovost

Canada

Kilt

by Rakel Ström

France

Knitting Club for Men over 40

di Egor Gavrilin

Russia

Kosher

di Gideon Imagor

Israel

Lah gah

Letting Go

by Cécile Brun

Switzerland

Magnetic

by Marco Arruda

Brazil

Marlon brando

VINCENT gods Tilanus

Netherlands

Martin fell from a roof

Martin Fell from a Roof

say Matías Ganz

France, Uruguay

Masmelos

di Duván Duque

Colombia

May I Have This Seat?

of Tabish Habib

Pakistan

Migrations

by Jerome Peters

Belgium

Navazandeh

Musician

by Mohsen Mehri Darouei

Iran

Nina

di Hristo Simeonov

Bulgaria

Perpetual night

Perpetual Night

by Pedro Peralta

Portugal, France

Number 10

by Florence Bamba

France

The oceans are the true continents

The Oceans Are the Real Continents

by Tommaso Santambrogio

Italy, Cuba

Pain

by Anna Rose Duckworth

New Zeland

Painting by Numbers

di Radheya Jegatheva

Australia

Paranoia!

di Dilek Kulekci

Turkey

Stupid

by Sebastian Torres

Mexico

Blue border

Blue Frontier

by Ivan Milosavljević

Serbia, Slovenia

Play for Everyone

di Ivan Petukhov

Russia

Plot

Cone

from Sébastien Auger

France

The Adventures of Gloria Scott – Murder in the Cathedral

The Adventures of Gloria Scott – Murder in the Cathedral

di Matija Pisačić, Tvrtko Rašpolić

Croatia, Serbia

Sad Beauty

at Arjan Brentjes

Netherlands

The wild seasons

Wild Seasons

by Nathalie Giraud

France

Sheep, Wolf and a Cup of Tea… Sheep, wolf and a cup of tea…

by Marion Lacourt

France

The silence of the river

The Silence of the River

by Francesca Canepa

Peru

Simulation of Mr. Yellow

di Mahan Khomamipour

Iran

WastelandWasteland

by Daniel Milton

Sweden

Solitaire

by Edoardo Natoli

Italy

Stephanie

di leonardo van dijl

Belgium

Sticker

by Georgi M. Unkovski

North Macedonia

The technique

by Clemente De Muro, Davide Mardegan

Italy

Delivery

The Delivery

di Dogus Ozocutan

Cyprus, Turkey, Syria

Heaven calls the name

A Trip to Heavendi Linh Duong

Vietnam

Does it tickle you too?

Do You Also Feel a Tingle?

by Lucia Valverde

Luxembourg

Three steps

Three Steps

by Antonello Matarazzo

Italy

Shot with lightning

Struck by Lightning

di Raul Esko, Romet Esko

Estonia

Virago

di Kerli Kirch Schneider

Estonia

Viskas geraiIt’s Alright

di Jorūnė Greičiūtė

Lithuania

Wet & Soppy

by Cliona Noonan

Ireland

Wild Grass

di Shan Wu

Taiwan Own garbage

Your Own Bullshit

di Daria Kopiec

Poland

Wood Child and Hidden Forest Mother

di Stephen Irwin

UK

Passengers

Pilgrims

di Farnoosh Samadi, Ali Asgari

Turkey

ShorTS International Film Festival 2021: the awards

The eighty-one works competing in the Maremetraggio section of the ShorTS International Film Festival will compete for the prestigious award Estenergy / Hera Group for the best short film, a prize worth 5,000 euros, while the novelty will be the introduction of AcegasApsAmga award, worth 3,000 euros, for the best Italian short, awarded also this year by a jury entirely made up of employees of the group at the end of a training course that will begin on May 6 with the Masterclass of director Davide del Degan. The AMC Award for the best Italian editing and the Award assigned by the MYmovies audience.

Massimiliano Nardulli, composer and programmer who from this year will be the new curator of the Maremetraggio section, said:

I believe that the selection we are presenting, perhaps also carried by the wings of the enthusiasm of my first experience as a programmer of this historic and prestigious festival, responds to the dreams and needs that every film experience must offer to every spectator. And today more than ever it is important to feed on stories and visions from the most disparate corners of our planet.

The shorts of the Maremetraggio section will be evaluated by an international jury, composed of the German director and screenwriter Ella Cieslinski, by the Franco-Algerian actress Nadia kibout and by the director and producer Amos Geva, international manager of the Israeli online platform T-Port.

Magdalena Skrok is an accomplished writer who delves into the realm of new movies and TV series. With an unwavering passion for cinematic storytelling, Magdalena keeps readers informed about the latest releases, upcoming projects, and exciting developments in the world of entertainment.