With part of the programme announced, IndieLisboa now unveils the short-film programme for the International Competition and Silvestre sections. The festival’s 18th edition will be held from August 21 to September 6 in the usual venues.

In 2021, the International Competition short films programme will be composed of 31 titles never shown in Portugal, revealing a body of emerging directors

After a year marked by distance, phone calls punctuate Ella i Jo, the first selected film of the edition, setting the tone for this year’s competition. Mother and daughter, both artists, paint in their own spaces – one in Barcelona, one in Athens. The mother’s attempts to get in touch with her daughter are the film’s conducting line, pacing the moments of creation seenthrough Jaume Claret Muxart’s lense.

Over the last 18 years, animation has been strong in IndieLisboa’s short film International Competition. In this edition, special highlight to Nicholas Keppens’ Easter Eggs, which competed in the last Berlin Festival, and where a disagreement between friends triggers a conflict mixing tenderness and violence. Mofo Relay, by Taewan and Shunny Kim, takes us into a two-minute outer trip where aliens have fun together. And also Damien Tran’s Poum Poum!, a musical film celebrating the harmony of colours, textures and sounds.

As for documentaries, the russian Blue Rose, by Olya Korsun, is a visual essay which explores the concept of flower, reflecting upon its beauty, history and commodification. And My Nightingtale with Tears, by Céclie Lapergue, about the french soprano Denise Duval who was known mostly for her interpretations of François Poulenc’s operas.

In fiction, there is Laura Carreira’s The Shift, awarded in the last Venice Festival, which reflects upon work and precarity through a trip to the supermarket. Heliconia, Paula Rodriguez Polaco’s first film which premiered in FID Marseille, is a synesthetic sinphony marked by colours, textures, warmth and bodies where Maria, a fourteen year-old girl, goes on a quest for paradise on Earth.

Spotlight as well on The Pleasants Effect, the film of Pete Levine’s life. Started in 1973 and finished in 2020, this first film of a 70 year-old director tells the story of C.R. Pleasants, an amateur inventor who believed he could clear the fog that troubled airplane pilots in the 1930’s and 40’s. On world premiere, Transportation Procedures for Lovers, by young director Helena Estrela, is an experience which reflects upon the best way to reach the people you love.

The Silvestre section, on its short-film component, consists mostly of works by experienced filmmakers, where a selection of 18 distinct films bursts with the genius of contemporary production.

Natural highlight for Which is Witch de Marie Losier, a regular appearance in the festival since her victory in 2011 with The Ballad of Lady Jaye. Once again, the exuberance of Losier gives voice to the craziness of parallel universes, with Bertrand Mandico in the air.

In animation, the acclaimed animator Joanna Quinn, nominated several times for the Oscar, brings Affairs of the Art. Entertaining and polemic, the film premiered in 2021 is once again the confirmation of her status.

Three curious and surprising north-american films are also in competition: Peter Burr’s Black Square is a black spot in the center of the screen where human figures contort – a succession of images in a permanent visual and audible assault. In The Canyon, Zachary Epcar films house exteriors, objects and people in a hypnotizing manner, inviting us on a voyage guided by music which can be both unsettling and sublime. A comeback for both directors who had shown films at IndieLisboa in 2017 and 2019. Finally, In the Air Tonight by Andrew Norman Wilson transforms the experience of the homonymous Phil Collins song, reimagining it through a dreamlike narration.

The Short Film International Competition jury will be embodied by Bianca Lucas, filmmaker and programmer in the Sarajevo Film Festival, Réka Bucsi, winner of the Short Film Grand Prize at IndieLisboa 2018 with Solar Walk, and Mariana Givão, director of the award-winning Ruby.

The Silvestre Shorts jury will be composed of Daniel Ebner, co-founder and artistic director of Vienna Shorts, Rita Cruchinho Neves, founder of Atelier MODO, and Maíra Zenun, coordinator and curator of film programmes such as the Mostra Internacional de Cinema na Cova – Africa and its Diasporas.

The exclusive 100 Early Bird voucher booklets will be on sale from July 6, priced at 25€. Available from ticketline desks or at ticketline.pt.

The programme of the remaining sections, including the International Competition Features, will be announced soon. Updates on indielisboa.com

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PROGRAMME

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION – SHORT FILM

Ain’t No Time for Women, Sarra El Abed, doc., Canada, 2020, 19’
Bambirak, Zamarin Wahdat, fic., Germany / USA, 2020, 14’
Blue Rose, Olya Korsun, doc., Russi, 2020, 53’
C, Marion Täschler, anim., Switzerland, 2020, 5’
Come Here, Marieke Elzerman, fic., Belgium, 2020, 26’
The Disappearance of Tom R., Paul Sirague, doc., Belgium, 2020, 19’
Easter Eggs, Nicolas Keppens, anim., Belgium / France / Netherlands, 2020, 14’
Ella i jo, Jaume Claret Muxart, doc., Spain, 2020, 20’
I Don’t Sleep Anymore, Marina Palacio, doc., Spain, 2020, 22’
Friend of a Friend, Zachary Zezima, anim., France, 2020, 14’
Heliconia, Paula Rodríguez Polanco, fic., France / Colombia, 2020, 26’
Keep Shiftin’, Verena Wagner, doc., Germany, 2020, 21’
The Last Day, Lauri-Matti Parppei, fic., Finland, 2020, 16’
Letter From Your Far-Off Country, Suneil Sanzgiri, doc./exp., USA / India, 2020, 17’
Lonely Blue Night, Johnson Cheng, fic., USA, 2020, 15’
Mofo Relay, Taewan Kim / Shunny Kim, anim., United Kingdom, 2021, 2’
My Nightingtale with Tears, Cécile Lapergue, doc., France, 2020, 23’
One Thousand and One Attempts to Be an Ocean, Wang Yuyan, doc./exp., France, 2021, 12’
Places, Vytautas Katkus, fic., Lituania, 2020, 12’
The Pleasants Effect, Pete Levine, doc./exp., USA, 2020, 36’
Poum Poum!, Damien Tran, anim., France, 2021, 6’
Push This Button if You Begin to Panic, Gabriel Böhmer, anim., United Kingdom / Switzerland, 2020, 13’
Return to Toyama, Atsushi Hirai, fic., France, 2020, 25’
Seeking Aline, Rokhaya Marieme Balde, doc., Switzerland / Senegal, 2020, 27’
The Shift, Laura Carreira, fic., United Kingdom / Portugal, 2020, 9’
Sing Along, Muniz Filho / Sávio Fernandes , doc., Brazil, 2020, 19’
Stories Keep Me Awake at Night, Jérémy van der Haegen, fic., Belgium / France, 2020, 30’
Since Time Immemorial, Clary Demangeon / Jeanne Delafosse, doc., France, 2020, 14’
Thank You, Julian Gallese, anim., United Kingdom, 2020, 8’
Tracing Utopia, Catarina de Sousa / Nick Tyson, doc., USA / Portugal, 2021, 27’
Transportation Procedures For Lovers, Helena Estrela, doc./exp., Portugal, 2021, 9’
Washing Machine, Alexandra Májová, anim., Czech Republic, 2020, 5’

SILVESTRE SHORTS

Affairs of the Art, Joanna Quinn, anim., United Kingdom, 2021, 16’
All of your Stars are but Dust on my Shoes, Haig Aivazian, doc., Lebanon, 2021, 18’
Are You Still There, Rayka Zehtabchi / Sam Davis, fic., USA, 2021, 15’
Belgrade Forest Incident …and What Happened to Mr.K?, Jan Ijäs, doc./exp., Finland / Turkey, 2020, 30’
Blue Animal, Rafael Spínola, doc., Brazil, 2020, 6’
Black Square, Peter Burr, anim./exp., USA, 2020, 6’
The Canyon, Zachary Epcar, exp., USA, 2021, 16’
Fuel, Yu Araki, doc., Japan, 2019, 17’
Happy Valley, Simon Liu, doc./exp., Hong Kong, 2020, 12’
In the Air Tonight, Andrew Norman Wilson, exp., USA, 2020, 11’
Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit into his Suit, Gabriel Herrera, fic., Mexico, 2021, 10’
One Image, Two Acts, Sanaz Sohrabi, doc./exp., Canada / Germany / USA / Iran, 2020, 45’
An Ordinary Country, Tomasz Wolski, doc., Poland, 2020, 51’
Palma, Alexe Poukine, fic., France / Blegium, 2020, 40’
Revelations, Juan Soto Taborda, doc./exp., Colombia / United Kingdom, 2020, 29’
Vadim on a Walk, Sasha Svirsky, anim., Russia, 2021, 8’
What Time Is, Niina Suominen, anim./exp., Finland, 2020, 7’
Which Is Witch?, Marie Losier, fic., France, 2020, 6