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
This compilation of archived footage of bird observations and the tracking of migration routes is supplemented not only with murmurations of birds, but also with a modern-day commentary that reevaluates the concept of freedom of movement. The film compares bird banding with passport checks and identifies problematic issues associated with free movement.
Murmuration ×10
Sarah Wood
United Kingdom / 2015 / 22 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
The Memory Atlas refers to the unfinished work of Aby Warburg, a mentally ill German art historian. A surrealistic flow of ideas from his authentic writings from his stay in the Bellevue psychiatric hospital in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland commingles with the medical records of his psychotic states, tracing the border between madness and genius in one zoom out.
The Memory Atlas
Domenico Centrone
Belgium, Italy / 2019 / 10 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
After a dam flooded a village in northern Iran, one island remained. There’s a grave on it. On a hill above the new lake, an old woman looks out at it. An intimate look at the daily routine of an Iranian woman who has survived modestly for twelve years alone in a house at the base of the mountain. She waits for permission to visit the island.
Lotus
Mohammadreza Vatandoust
Iran / 2018 / 13 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
This film about the life of Cubans without a roof over their heads shows how they go about their everyday activities: preparing food, discussing politics, singing songs, reading old texts by Fidel Castro, and sleeping off a hangover. Fourteen minutes of detailed observation of people overlooked by others.
Notes on the Shore
Luis Alejandro Yero
Cuba / 2018 / 14 min.
section: Short Joy
European 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
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
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
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
In a Moscow apartment, Andrei Tarkovsky’s sister and brother-in-law remember the famous filmmaker. A film-collage consisting of family photos, visual impressions, narrative scraps, and vague and confusing memories reveals neglected fragments from the life of the Russian artist against a background of ambient music.
It all came to pass, All fell into my hands like a five-petalled leaf, But there has to be more
Sergei Sviatchenko, Noriko Okaku
United Kingdom, Denmark / 2018 / 12 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
A look at the Balkans migration route in December 2015. Throngs of refugees make their way to Dobova, Slovenia. They get on the waiting buses in an orderly fashion and enter the system. The Slovenian government has had the journey under control for a month. Confined to a single file line, the migrants go through checks, inspections, and wait for the next step.
Stop and Go
Ralph Kronauer, Giovanni Pannico
Germany, Italy / 2017 / 15 min.
section: Short Joy
Central European Premiere
Lucyna and Krzysztof are a long-time married couple who operate a salvage yard in a socially excluded area of Łódź, Poland. Patrycja Polkowska’s observational documentary captures how the couple transforms the salvage yard every day into an eccentric microcosm where all those who are offended or humiliated can find help.
24 Praska St
Patrycja Polkowska
Poland / 2016 / 16 min.
section: Short Joy
International Premiere
A compulsory stay in a Seoul facility known as Hanawon serves to prepare North Korean defectors for life under capitalism. Eight people tell of their experiences from their new lives, highlighting the challenges and prejudices that they must face in the completely different system. Their authentic testimonies are heard against the background of scenes of the bustling megalopolis.
Hanawon
Romain Champalaune
Netherlands / 2019 / 15 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
