New Shorts: Disconnected Conversations
Sunday, 16 January 2022
Image: Heart's research, Natasha Gurfinkel, Mariano Blanco, 2021
Staged in the spaces and silences of broken connection and trust, these dramas put family tensions and misunderstandings under the microscope. These films look at the fraught correlation between societal expectations, gender identities and misinterpretation of sentiments.
Doaa Ereiqat’s outstanding performance in What We Don’t Know about Mariam dissects institutional control over women’s bodies. The filmmakers lift the veil of intimacy through a re-reading of home footage, sensuality and bonding experiences, with debuts from Can Merdan Dogan (Stiletto: A Pink Family Tragedy) and emerging director Natasha Gurfinkel (Heart's research).
Warning: Abuse (physical, mental, emotional, verbal, sexual) - Incest (including consensual relationships).
Curated by Emma Bouraba
What We Don’t Know About Mariam
Morad Mostafa
25'
2021
Egypt
Mariam goes to a public hospital with her husband and daughter; bleeding and suffering from a severe pain in her abdomen. After the medical examination things escalate between Mariam and her husband.
Barter
Ziba Karamali, Emad Arad
20'
2021
Iran,Islamic Republic of
Parsa, a 13-year old boy, tries to hide a secret from his father...
Heart's research
Natasha Gurfinkel, Mariano Blanco
20'
2021
Argentina
Young Natasha and Martín find their parents' writings in books they have been given as gifts. From these findings, they embark on a journey through time based on conjectures, assumptions and intuitions that produce an encounter with them in an unknown past.
Petra
Ella Jones
8'
2021
United Kingdom
P E T R A is a subtle and heartbreaking story looking at the phenomenon of Genetic Sexual Attraction.
Stiletto: "A Pink Family Tragedy"
Can Merdan Dogan
18'
2021
Germany, Turkey
Hasan is a taxi driver working the night shift. On the early-morning drive home, he sees a woman passing in high heels. Fascinated by her appearance, he does something that leads to disaster in a world where the boundaries of masculinity are clearly drawn.