23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
In the Frame
director: Ion Gnatiuc, Artiom Zavadovsky
original title: In the Frame
year: 2018
running time: 17 min.
Central European Premiere
synopsis
During the day, Oxana paints frames as a man; at night, she puts on her female skin. Oxana is a transsexual living in Moldova, where even expressions of tolerance towards sexual minorities can be dangerous. This short film is an intimate look at gender and at the social isolation of people denied to right to their own identity.
biography
Moldavian filmmakers Ion Gnatiuc (1990) and Artiom Zavadovsky (1987) presented their debut film at this year’s goEast showcase OPPOSE OTHERING! Section focused on films exploring queer issues, and also at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
more about film
| producer: | Raisa Răzmeriță |
| script: | Artiom Zavadovsky, Ion Gnatiuc, Raisa Răzmeriță |
| photography: | Ion Gnatiuc |
| editing: | Ion Gnatiuc |
| sound: | Roman Bordei |
other films in the section
The films confronts two different views of the execution of General Ion Antonescu, Romania’s leader during the Second World War. On one side is silent black-and-white footage of the execution as recorded in 1946 by cameraman Ovidiu Gologanl; on the other are scenes from a biographical film shot in 1994 by director Sergiu Nicolaescu.
The Marshal’s Two Executions
Radu Jude
Romania / 2018 / 10 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
“(Where) do the places we remember exist?” asks Camila Ausente in the opening of her ten-minute documentary search for an answer to this question. The film combines repeating images from Mexico with oral memories of her father's childhood in Argentina.
Pampa del Istmo
Camila Ausente
Mexico, Argentina / 2018 / 11 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
The film’s creator, in the role of an earthling walking the streets of Paris, asks the eternal question: Are we alone in the universe? While attempting to find the truth and therefore quiet the constant musings, the filmmaker holds interviews with astrophysicist Nicolas Prantzos, science historian Florence Raulin Cerceau, and sociologist Pierre Lagrange.
The Hypothesis
Bruno Saboia
France / 2018 / 20 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
A young filmmaker sets off for the unknown territory of an African enclave to gather true stories of its inhabitants. Motionless scenery carries human imagination to heights where unforgettable moments of human life unfold. The meditative character of the film’s imagery captures the unique atmosphere of Lesotho.
From Heigths
Pierre Bisson
Switzerland / 2018 / 15 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
They are happy together, but she gets a job offer in another country and he doesn’t want to go. He tries to sway her decision in his favour by offering to marry her… In its format, the film perhaps most closely resembles a music video, but besides music it also uses poetry and dance to tell its story. Shot on an iPhone 7 Plus.
time and love and I
J Ashlee
United States / 2017 / 5 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
A woman sells her five-year-old son to a French tourist for 100 dollars, but the dream of a better life turns into years of physical and sexual abuse. This animated film looks at young Fekri’s journey during the most vulnerable years of his life. Can he recover enough to leave his family?
For a Better Life
Yasmin Mistry
United States / 2018 / 10 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
Using simple animation with outline figures and objects against a dark background that evokes nightmares, an anonymous 16-year-old youth, a repeat offender at a correctional facility for juveniles, recounts his criminal past caused by traumatic experiences with domestic abuse within his family.
The Holiday Inn-Side
Charby Ibrahim
Australia / 2018 / 20 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
There’s a helpline just for gay farmers. Through authentic recordings and reconstructed situations, the film offers a glimpse into the issue of British gay men from rural areas. For farmers it’s difficult enough to admit their orientation to themselves, let alone to their not-so-gay-friendly surroundings.
Landline
Matt Houghton
United Kingdom / 2017 / 12 min.
section: Short Joy
East European Premiere
Director Zaina Erhaim has decided to explore her Syrian hometown of Idlib, which is controlled by anti-regime forces. Original footage captures familiar neighborhoods in ruins, where Erhaim leaves what is perhaps the last human footprint. This secretly-filmed documentary presents a visual experience of the loss of home and of meeting loved ones in a new reality.
I Was Here
Zaina Erhaim
Syria / 2017 / 11 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
At the funeral of her grandmother, Yanlin, a young Chinese girl, learns that the deceased was a medium – and was possessed by a spirit named Gong. The film is Yanlin’s personal confessional – she never believed in the existence of miracles, but is now becoming interested in the world of spiritualism and finding out who Gong was in order to understand her grandmother better.
Beyond the World
Yanlin Li
United Kingdom / 2018 / 16 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
What happens to women who mysteriously disappear? Are they ever seen again? Do state authorities investigate as they should, or are the only ones truly searching for the women the ones they left behind? A compilation film that reveals several periods in history during which scores of women disappeared without a trace under various circumstances.
Into Thin Air
Cristina Motta
Argentina / 2018 / 15 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
This minimalist six-minute film looks at the creation of animal life through time-lapse footage of an embryo’s development – a process universal to all animals, including people. The film follows, in microscopic detail, the development of an alpine newt in its translucent egg all the way from first cell division to moment of hatching.
Becoming
Jan van IJken
Netherlands / 2018 / 6 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
