24th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
In the Frame
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
| director: | Ion Gnatiuc, Artiom Zavadovsky |
| producer: | Raisa Răzmeriță |
| script: | Artiom Zavadovsky, Ion Gnatiuc, Raisa Răzmeriță |
| photography: | Ion Gnatiuc |
| editing: | Ion Gnatiuc |
| sound: | Roman Bordei |
other films in the section
A pagan custom takes place alongside the traditional Easter Sunday celebrations in the Polish village of Sternalice. Rough-looking men set aside their work tools, saddle wild horses, and set off on a pilgrimage, filled with humility before God. The documentary’s visual and aural cacophony captures the ancient tradition, creating a stunning visual myth.
Horse Riders
Anna Gawlita
Poland / 2018 / 19 min.
section: Short Joy
International Premiere
This documentary combines interviews with participants in ethnographic research led by the filmmaker personally with footage of his own personal reflections and insights. The recordings, gathered during the three years prior to the end of the authoritarian regime of Zimbabwean president Mugabe, is accompanied by 8mm footage of Rhodesia.
Research / Souvenir (Dialogues)
Roger Horn
South Africa, Zimbabwe / 2018 / 18 min.
section: Short Joy
Central European 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
An older woman living in Latvia regularly Skypes with her sister and daughter, who are stranded in the war zone in Eastern Ukraine, helplessly listening to their woes. Close-ups of her troubled face alternating with photographs from her family archives testify to the impact of armed conflict on specific human fates.DETAIL:“In some neighbourhoods people have been hiding in basements since August 3rd. Without water. Without electricity. We had electricity for 24 hours. And then the Ukrainian army blew it up again.”
Calling Ukraine
Jean Counet
Netherlands / 2015 / 12 min.
section: Short Joy
East European Premiere
A personal documentary about writing two diaries and finding a lost childhood friend who once moved with her parents back to her native China. Static shots of the streets of a Chinese metropolis and its surrounding natural beauty alternate with retrospective scenes from the Argentine homeland, suggestively drawing the viewer into the girl's loneliness in an unfamiliar environment.
Shendy Wu: a Diary
Ingrid Pokropek
Argentina / 2019 / 17 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
Nomads in the seas of Indonesia say that when a women gives birth to a child, she also gives birth to its twin in the form of an octopus. A look at a cultural environment shaped by traditional folk beliefs. The camera follows a man swimming with his face submerged in the sea in a ritual honouring the octopus. Dishonouring your aquatic brother can lead to misfortune.
Oh Brother Octopus
Florian Kunert
Germany / 2017 / 27 min.
section: Short Joy
East European Premiere
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
An Eskimo poem from frozen plains blends with technological prose of a polar expedition. The endless white space, folded by ice, remembers the millions of years of evolution and decades of our negative effect on the planet. Crude and bewitchingly beautiful Arctic as a place of magic blending of languages, traditions, sounds and worlds.
“The landscape is a symbol to be interpreted.” I. Radivojević
Watch Short Joy films for free on DAFilms now and decide who will win the Audience Award. Voting ends on 29 October.
Utuqaq
Iva Radivojević
United States / 2020 / 27 min.
section: Short Joy
International Premiere
Two professors settle personal accounts at the Department of Philosophy of Brno's Masaryk University. In 2008 professor Jaroslav Hroch received a total of 17 anonymous abusive emails. His colleague Břetislav Horyna was eventually indicted (and convicted) of sending these emails. Interviews with both participants in this bizarre case. "As for Hölderlin, shut the fuck up!"Ich und ich im wirklichen leben.Ich und ich in der Wirklichkeit. Ich und ich in der echten Welt.Ich und ich. Ich fühle mich so seltsam. DieWirklichkeit kommt. die Wirklichkeit kommt.
May You Rot Alive
Pavel Lukáš
Czech Republic / 2013 / 14 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
A festive parade of Cossacks, solid in their pride, flows down the street in slow motion just as the coal flows down the conveyer belt. In all its massive and monstrous beauty, the giant steel mining equipment represents strength and security just as the Cossack army under God’s protection.
A group of Cossacks, priests and boys halts before a church. Sabres touch the children’s shoulders and the boy is kissed. He wipes his lips with a handkerchief. A small festive moment, like when the coal is transported to the harbour.
Coal & Cossacks
Frédéric Cousseau
France / 2013 / 8 min.
section: Short Joy
World 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
An observational look at the interaction between two elderly women: 100-year-old Ema and her six years younger sister Zosie. The camera sensitively documents how these two once famous hostesses try to bake a cake at their advanced age. In so doing, it offers a perceptive portrait of their personalities and their relationships.
The Cake
Małgorzata Goździk
Poland / 2017 / 18 min.
section: Short Joy
Czech Premiere
