2022
SCREENING SCHEDULE
SESSION 1: 20 JUNE, 7-9PM
Location: Hong Kong Arts Centre
2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
This screening session features 10 short films. All films are in English and/or have English subtitles. Introduction by Jane Ching.
Slurp (France) by Jules Jolly
Synopsis: A couple at the table. Isn’t diner the best time to say things? Running time: 00:02:40.
Selections/awards: Brussels Independent FF, Super Shorts London.
About the director: Jules is an Art Director in the advertising industry. For almost 15 years he worked on ads for Ubisoft, Adidas, Warner Games, Orange and Instagram among others. In recent years he has been learning filmmaking with commercials. Slurp is his first short film. It’s a more personal work, far from commercial matters.
Mamma (Norway) by Aslak Danbolt
Synopsis: It’s Christmas Eve, and Synnøve is searching for her drug-addicted daughter Michelle in an almost desolated city. (Synnøve and Michelle are mother and daughter in real life and play versions of themselves in a story that is very close to their own lives.) Running time: 00:15:00.
Selections/awards: Aesthetica Short FF, Brussels Independent FF, Norwegian Short FF, Ankara Accessible FF (Best Film Award, Best Director Award), Bergen IFF, and more.
About the director: Aslak Danbolt is a Norwegian filmmaker who has studied Documentary Directing at Lillehammer University College and later attended The London Film School. His grad film 'Last Base', was selected for more than 120 festivals (including Tribeca, Chicago & Slamdance) and won numerous awards. He directed the documentary series 'Petter Uteligger – 52 dager på gata i Oslo' (2015), which was nominated for 5 Norwegian Golden Screen Awards 2016, winning Documentary Series and Audience Award.
Fall Into My Palms (USA) by Bo Nawacharee
Synopsis: A brimming time, an empty space, and two people falling in between. Running time: 00:03:35.
About the director: Bo Nawacharee, born and raised in Bangkok Thailand, is a writer/director based in Los Angeles and Bangkok. Bo’s works tell personal stories with scent of intimacy and violence. She often denies enjoy having ‘feelings’ but her works recurrently embark on the quest of emotions, exploring relationships of people, both within and in between. With a BA in cultural studies and an MFA in film directing, Bo loves tackling socio-political topics with commotions in identity and ambiguity. She is not afraid to touch on difficult topics, and it has captured the attention of film festivals, press, and people internationally.
Scars (Canada) by Alex Anna
Synopsis: Alex Anna’s body is a canvas : her scars come to life to tell a new story of self-harming. Live action and animation intertwine in this short and poetic documentary, both intimate and universal. Running time: 00:10:00.
Selections/awards: Brussels Independent FF, Doc.Sydney, Toronto Arthouse FF (Best Documentary Short Film), Ghent Viewpoint Documentary FF, and more.
About the director: Alex Anna is a director and script supervisor in love with cinematographic language and words in all their beauty. As a queer and feminist filmmaker, she signed her first short film “The Fruit of Our Womb” in 2017 (as Laurie Mannessier), and uses art as a way to fight for a better world.
Entelechy (or on the sense of duty) (Italy) by Carlo Alleva, Anna Utopia Giordano
Synopsis: Entelechy (or on the sense of duty) is a spoken word song written and performed by artist, poet and performer Anna Utopia Giordano with music composed by multimedia independent artist Un Artista Minimalista. The text, conceived by the author as a hybrid between poetry and script, contains suggestions from philosophy, literature and science, interweaving current global issues with classical images of ancient Greece. The videoclip is inspired by the tradition of 'son et lumière' night shows. In particular, the theme concerns the value of life, how every living being is part of the same unique unbreakable network and the debate on migrants, a very important issue in Italy. Running time: 00:05:07.
About the director: Anna Utopia Giordano is an Italian artist, performer and poet known for social awareness art projects like Venus and PopBottles published on major newspapers worldwide. Numerous are the performances related to theatrical, literary and mixed media art experimentation during concerts, exhibitions and cultural events. Carlo Alleva is an Italian designer and art director. He currently works as a freelancer worldwide and has worked with several productions and important names as Netflix, Fox, Sky, Raicinema and many more.
.jpg)
Idol (Australia) by Alex Wu
Synopsis: A young Chinese celebrity is called into an emergency meeting after a fan of his commits suicide. Running time: 00:18:30.
Selections/awards: Brooklyn FF (Spirit Award in Short Narrative, Outstanding Achievement in Performance (Best Male Actor)), Sydney FF (Dendy Award for Best Australian Live-Action Short Film), Adelaide FF, Flickerfest International Short FF, and more.
About the director: Alex Wu is an award-winning Australian filmmaker. The son of Chinese immigrants, Alex was born and raised in Canberra, Australia, where at the age of seventeen, he made his first short film on Super 8mm, ‘Compass’ (2011), a western that went on to win the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 Canberra Short Film Festival and top prize at the 2011 Leonid Film Awards. Alex moved to Melbourne to study Film and Television in 2013. In 2015, his short films 'Beneath The Cotton Clouds' (2014) and 'Freight Train' (2014) screened at festivals including the LA Indie Film Festival, Toronto Student Film Festival, Edmonton International Film Festival and Barcelona Film Festival. In 2016, his graduate film 'Motown' (2015) had its world premiere at the 60th BFI London Film Festival, followed by a successful international festival run.
Cities of Ladies 1 (WE) (UK) by Kim Noce
Synopsis: Cities of Ladies' is an immersive poetic animation documentary trilogycreated through multi-disciplinary art practices to foster hope, change and promote self-development; through the exploration and recognition of personal views and ideologies. It is the first part of the trilogy, inspired by 'The Book of the City of Ladies' by Christine de Pizan (1364 – c. 1430). Running time: 00:05:00.
Selections/awards: Obskuur Ghent FF, and more.
About the director: Kim Noce is an Italian artist filmmaker and animator resident in UK. Her work has been screened in major international film festivals, displayed in art galleries, broadcasted in major TV channels, on streaming platforms and won several prizes around the world.
.jpg)
The Last Ferry From Grass Island (Hong Kong) by Linhan Zhang
Synopsis: A Hong Kong hitman retires as a fisherman on the peaceful Grass Island. One day, his Chinese apprentice shows up, tasked to kill him before the last ferry departs. Running time: 00:13:46.
Selections/awards: Tribeca IFF, Cannes Film Festival – Cinéfondation, Palm Springs Shortfest, Calgary FF, Raindance FF, Stockholm IFF, Toronto Reel Asian FF, Santa Barbara IFF, Shanghai IFF, and more.
About the director: Linhan Zhang, born on 17 January 1997, was a film and television undergraduate at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He was one of the fifteen 2017-2018 Sundance Ignite Fellows, and one of the twenty recipients of the 2019 Adobe Creativity Scholarship.
See the Sea with me (Hong Kong) by June Siu Ling Wong
Synopsis: In Hong Kong there is a mountain near a prison. Many press photographers had to climb and abseil to reach the mountain because it was the only place to capture the images of the pro-democracy activists who were charged under the national security law over their organisation and participation in a primary election in 2020. Activists tried very hard to show messages towards the cameras before they got on the vehicle as they know Hongkongers need to see the hope. Running time: 00:04:28.
About the director: June is a Hong Kong visual artist. She explores city life and daily living through moving image and drawing. She graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting Major) from Hong Kong Art School & RMIT University and received a Higher Diploma in Fine Art from Hong Kong Art School in 2014. She obtained her Bachelor of Nursing in Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2010.
Anima Possession (Hong Kong) by Wai Mo Chan
Synopsis: A pair of lovers with one being a cyborg go to a shady robotic body shop hoping to have their relationship mended by the mechanic. At his advice, the human owner Jackie agrees to an irreversible upgrade for Tammy, her cyborg Soulmate™️. However, the result isn't as expected. There Tammy meets Anima, a fellow cyborg who taught Tammy that happiness is illusive, and love is nothing but a cruel tango between the intangible sense of love and the harsh reality of physical lust. Running time: 00:25:00.
