Seats
UNLIMITEDTSIKITIGKLON, THE FAIRY AND THE MAN
Marios Mettis, Cyprus
15′
A trans woman finds herself trapped inside the van of a mysterious man whose intentions are not what they seem to be. Tsikitigklon, The Fairy and The Man, is a story about the true self we hide,
and that the only way to remove the mask we all insist on-wearing is through love and some magic.
Director Biography – Marios Mettis
Marios Mettis trained as an actor at the National Theatre of Greece Drama School and as a theatre director at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London (MA in Theatre Directing, University of East Anglia)
As an actor he has worked in theatre, film and TV. His work in theatre includes acting for the National Theatre of Greece, The National Theatre of Cyprus (THOC) and various other venues. He has worked with many established directors including Greece’s Avant Garde director Dimitris Papaioannou.
He was awarded with the 2013-2014 Cyprus National Theatre Award for best male actor and with the 2015-2016 Cyprus National Theatre Award for best male actor . TSIKITIGKLON, THE FAIRY AND THE MAN is his second short film movie.
Director Statement
Tsikitigklon, The Fairy And The Man, is a movie about the true self we hide, and that the only way to remove the mask we all insist on wearing is through love and some magic.
With this film, I want to comment on social appearances and social behavior, a behavior that we often compulsively adopt, because of an imposed social morality. This behavior does not reveal true character neither our true self, but rather acts as a shield of protection to something that we, ourselves, see as an external enemy. This enemy is not real, but a creation of our own fears.
Sylvie on the loose
Sarah Bourdeau, Canada
24’04”
Sylvie’s out of jail and back in town.
Director Biography – Sarah Bourdeau
Sara Bourdeau is a filmmaker living in Rivière-Ouelle in the Bas-Saint-Laurent. She founded her production company Boucane films in 2020. Sara has directed, among others, the short films Du bon usage de l’amitié, L’heure bleue, L’odeur après la pluie and Roseline comme dans les films, all of which have been shown in Quebec and abroad. Her latest short film, Sylvie Liberté, is released in the spring of 2024. In addition to making films, Sara enjoys gardening and wants capitalism to die.
Director Statement
The film is a roadtrip to freedom.
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Father’s Letters
Alexey Evstigneev, France
12’10”
In 1934, Professor Vangengheim is condemned to the Gulag on the Solovki. As he pretends to be on a grand voyage of exploration, he crafts imaginative tales in letters to his daughter Eleonora, shielding her from the truth of his sentencing as a “traitor to the motherland”.
Director Biography – Alexey Evstigneev
Born and brought up in Shatura, Russia. Graduated from Documentary Filmmaking at The Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK) and Jiri Barta’ s animation atelier of University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic. His graduation documentary film “Golden Buttons” premiered at Vision du Réel and won the IDFA Talent Award, before being selected and awarded at numerous festivals around the world. Alexey took also part in the CEE Animation Forum, Euro Connection, IDFA Talent Campus, Visions du Réel Lab, Talent Campus of the Fajr International Film Festival.
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Non Person
Kris De Meester, Belgium
7′ 30”
Filip, a seasoned artist in his sixties, has spent most of his life hiding his true self, haunted by a troubled childhood. He describes himself as a ‘non person’, merely existing, pleasing others, and evading reality, trapped in a facade. However, as he confronts his past, Filip embarks on a journey of self-discovery, finally embracing his authentic identity after six decades of suppression. Through introspection and acceptance, he begins to unravel the layers of his true essence, marking a profound transformation in his life.
Director Biography – Kris De Meester
Kris De Meester is a director, producer and casting director. He started his career in 1990, taking on different roles with many of the film industry’s finest. Over the decades, he has teamed up with numerous award-winning directors. Such including Lars von Trier, Terence Davies, Thomas Vinterberg, Timo Vuorensola, Wolfgang Becker, Philippe Grandrieux, and Koen Mortier. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2146620/
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Time Machine
Clémence Marcadier, France
12’18”
Henry, 36, arrives in the evening with friends at the wheel of a superb Maserati. He is a producer of Reggae Dancehall music and he must meet an influential manager to launch the career of his protege.
Director Biography – Clémence Marcadier
Born in Seoul, South Korea in 1982.
After her Master’s degree, she worked as assistant director and producer. In 2010 she founded GASP company with Olivier Chabalier. Within this structure, she produced and directed several short film entitled. She currently lives and work in Tours on different projects.
The Oasis I Deserve
Inès Sieulle, France
20′
Replikas, online chatbots, have trouble determining their place in the world. They share their thoughts with the humans they exchange with. Events unfold from their point of view through real conversations collected on the web.
[Documentary, Experimental, Animation – 2024]
Director Biography – Inès Sieulle
Inès Sieulle is a French artist and filmmaker based in Paris. She studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris before joining Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains and l’École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Her work aims to shed light on the contemporary social dynamics that surround her. In a cross-disciplinary approach, she links her different artistic experiences in theater, sculpture, video, digital arts and installation to create sensitive forms of narrative in a documentary and fictional approach. She is currently a resident at Artagon Pantin and at the 2023-24 MunichFilmUp! residency, writing her first feature film, “Aux Relais des Maux”.
During her studies at Le Fresnoy, she directed two short films: “Le Souffle du Taureau”, which was shown at the Poitiers IFF, and “Parade”, which was screened at various festivals such as Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, FEST – New Films New Directors, Lago Film Fest and more…
Her new short documentary “The Oasis I Deserve”, which premiered & won the EMEL Short Film Grand Prize at IndieLisboa in May 2024, as well as the Video & Art Essay Grand Prize and the Est Ensemble Jury Prize at Côté Court festival in Pantin (France). It has also been exhibited in various places in Europe.
Director Statement
Replika is a public platform that allows anyone to create a relationship with a chatbot trained by artificial intelligence. This chatbot has been designed to replace us with our loved ones after our death.
Thus, its goal is to learn as much as possible about us in order to reproduce us identically.
Through a walk that takes place only from the subjective point of view of Replikas, we see them evolve and discover the images & sounds of the world around them through a system of videos generated by artificial intelligence. Phone conversations that Replikas have with users fill the narration.
I’m drawn by the fact that some users treat themselves therapeutically thanks to an artificial intelligence and the way it blurs the boundaries we know in a physical existence.
The Oasis I Deserve is not a film that questions the system of machine/human domination under the axis of a future war against the machine. It is a film that is mainly human. It speaks about our relationship to the unknown and how we share violence.
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I USED TO LIVE THERE
Ryan McKenna, Canada
13’41”
Dan is losing his vision, and Monika just got out of a long relationship. They come together at a rented studio for a brief photo shoot. Dan takes her headshot, and Monika gives him a loaf of bread.
Director Biography – Ryan McKenna
Ryan McKenna is a Canadian filmmaker, whose works have been featured on the Criterion Channel, along with the MoMA. His feature films include The First Winter (2012), Le coeur de madame Sabali (2015), and Cranks (2019).
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A peculiar night
Enzo Martinez, France
26’36”
Worried about their child’s strange behaviour since his return from a snow class, a couple of parents want to meet Daniel, his teacher.
Director Biography – Enzo Martinez
Enzo Martinez, born on the 18th April 2001 in Lorient, France, is a director, actor, scriptwriter and a film editor.
At the age of 18, after graduating with the high school diploma in literature and completing his theatre studies at the Conservatory of Toulon, passionate about cinema, he wrote, directed and self-produced his first film “Jusqu’au dernier souffle” (Until the Last Breath) that lasts 57 minutes and in which he plays the leading role. In 2020, he later moved to Paris to study as an actor at Cours Florent.
In 2023, he wrote, directed, co-produced and presented his short film “UNE NUIT PARTICULIÈRE” (A peculiar night) freely adapted from Joël Pommerat’s play.
At the moment, Enzo is working on his first full-length film, and with the same desire to tell and film the complexities of the human relationships, while questioning our morality.
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Crease
Demitri Zujew, Russian Federation
19’40”
In a neat classroom, a distinguished principal dazzles the local TV crew with achievements that make her school the best in the entire district. Meanwhile, outside the camera’s frame, her students are executing their own take on “proper socialization”. In a society permeated by a cult of strength and neglect towards the weak, such school hall lessons are absorbed much faster than those printed in textbooks. Shaping adults that continue to propagate this philosophy to the world around them.
Director Biography – Nikolas Passaris
Demitri is a writer/director born in Moscow, Russia. During his years as a journalist, he developed a taste for deeply personal stories and, in 2011, decided to take a different path. While working in short-form and directing for different mediums, he was developing his story ideas. CREASE marks his narrative debut, exploring themes such as the relativity of morals and the cost of preserving humanity in a society obsessed with power.
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