Before the screening, we invite you to a Q&A with the guests and creators, which will take place at 4.00 p.m. at Music Cafe Szpulka.
Magda, Adela Kaczmarek, Poland, 2022, 9’07’’
Podhale, Poland, Winter of 1939. Magda (15) is an excellent skier. She joins the Polish Resistance and helps by bringing documents and fugitives across the mountains into Slovakia. One day she learns that the group of 23 pilots urgently need to cross the border, as Gestapo is on their heels. She comes up with a risky plan to lure the Nazis her way, allowing pilots to pass without being seen. Unfortunately, the Nazi soldiers are experienced skiers too, able to shoot and reload their guns while skiing at full speed. Magda must take a chance as she sets off into the woods, racing through the snow.
Curiosa, Tessa Moult-Milewska, United Kingdom, 2022, 9’31’’
Curiosa tells the story of overly curious Mary, who visits her boyfriend's flat for the first time, just to discover it’s been stripped bare of all personal belongings. After being denied an explanation, she climbs into his head.
Winter, Tomek Popakul, Kasumi Ozeki, Poland, 2023, 26’26’’
Anka loves cats. And Jesus. In a winter silence the lagoon freezes and the unspoken resurfaces like crack on ice. Mosaic portrait of a small fisherman's village where human to human, human to animal, animal to animal interdepend on a delicate balance of warm tender care and cold emotional cruelty. An eerie story of loneliness and community narrated with magical realism.
The Master of the Swamps, Sasha Svirsky, Germany, 2023, 4’11’’
The film is devoted to Russian emperor Peter the Great, who lived in the late 17th and 18th centuries and brutally westernized the country. He aspired to build a great empire and considered this goal worth paying any price. Centuries have passed since his reign, but the last events show us that his bloody dream still contaminates people's minds in Russia. The weird heritage of the distant past is haunting us as a crappy horror under its familiar mythologized disguise. And glorious pictures of glorious historical figures encourage modern cosplayers to bring this horror into our present.
Rosemary A.D. (After Dad), Ethan Barrett, USA, 2022, 9’38’’
As he cradles his newborn, a father wonders if his daughter would be better off without him and imagines her life once he is gone. Completely hand-drawn with crayons.
A kind of Testament, Stephen Vuillemin, France, 2023, 16’24’’
A young woman comes across animations on the Internet that have clearly been created from her private selfies. An unknown female with the same name confesses to identity theft. But death is quicker than the answer to the question: “Why?”.
