Connection
A ship moves slowly over waves, through other waves a conversation is going on. The movements can suddenly stop, but the connection remains.
Germany 2021 / 5:45 / Director: Serafima Orlova / Producer: Serafima Orlova
My heart is an ocean
As the water recedes from the reclaimed shore of Mumbai every evening, three children living on its shore in a small fishing ghetto come out to play on this temporary playground. The sea dictates the game of the day. On a lucky day when herons are spotted hovering over the sea, it’s a day to catch fish in shallow waters. One evening after they have caught fish, Chirag declares that he wants to take all the fish home to build the biggest aquarium anyone has ever seen. This leads to a fight among the playmates. In the days that follow, Chirag’s friends try to keep their fish alive in order to prove that they deserve to have the fish for themselves. But Chirag with his dream to make the biggest aquarium finds a way to make it anyway.
India 2022 / 22:48 / Director: Tanvi Jadwani / Producer: Faraz Khan
Al Fundug
During a hot sunny day, in a deserted location, a group of individuals go through a life changing experience. A strange entity walks around a graveyard creating a high pitched constant sound, using an instrument called Alfundug. With each pound, we see a character experiencing a breakthrough from their current existential state. The film depicts some of the most controversial social structures, which almost all Sudanese citizens go through. The film uses symbolism to narrate how some citizens navigate their way through a society filled with prejudices.
Sudan 2021 / 8:40 / Director: Mohamed Elmur / Producer: Ray Hima
Haulout
On a remote coast of the Russian Arctic in a wind-battered hut, a lonely man waits to witness an ancient gathering. But warming seas and rising temperatures bring an unexpected change, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed.
UK 2022 / 25:00 / Director & producer: Evgenia Arbugaeva; Maxim Arbugaev
Aralkum
A desert landscape, as if from another planet. A few lonely, rusty shipwrecks. Low desert scrub grows around them to hold the sand together during the merciless storms. Aralkum, the Aral Desert, is a bare seabed, the last thing left of the Aral Sea. By weaving together different cinematic textures, the short film Aralkum re-imagines the dried-up Aral Sea, allowing an old fisherman to set sail one last time.
Uzbekistan 2022 / 13:40 / Director: Mila Zhluktenko; Daniel Asadi Faezi / Producer: Fozil Yunusov, Mila Zhluktenko; Daniel Asadi Faezi
Crocodile Pond
The postgraduate student Wang accidentally fell into a crocodile pond, and several citizens disappeared by the pond at the same time. The event continued to make news and attracted great attention on social media. As the online discussion raged on, the truth became more and more intricate. In the end, Wang gave up climbing ashore, turning himself into a crocodile.
China 2021 / 13:35 / Director: Yanrusi Wang