15 films have been selected for the International Short Film Competition at the 23rd CINEMAFORUM. The official selection includes productions previously presented in Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Berlin, and Locarno.
A tradition of the CINEMAFORUM festival is to present films that have been shown at the world’s most prestigious film festivals. The selection is personally prepared by CINEMAFORUM’s artistic director, Błażej Hrapkowicz, who not only reviews submissions from the open call but also carefully browses the short film sections of dozens of festivals to invite titles he discovered. Thanks to that, the CINEMAFORUM audience gets a chance to watch truly the Best Shorts in the World. Which of these have made it onto this year’s list of selected films?
Main Competition of the 23rd CINEMAFORUM – Official Selection
Three titles that competed for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival will take part in the 23rd CINEMAFORUM Main Competition: the Brazilian AMARELA (dir. André Hayato Saito), the Argentinian-Spanish-American NADA DE TODO ESTO (dir. Patricio Martinez, Francisco Canton), and the Polish-Ukrainian AS IT WAS (dir. Damian Kocur and Anastasiia Solonevych).
At the festival in Warsaw the audience will also have an opportunity to watch the winner of Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2024 – Spanish THE MASTERPIECE (dir. Alex Lora Cercos),the Silver Bear-winning Chinese short REMAINS OF THE HOT DAY (dir. Wenqian Zhang), and the Dutch production QUOTA (dir. Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins, Marieke Blaauw), which was honored at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Among the Best Shorts in the World there will also be the Canadian GENDER REVEAL (dir. Mo Matton) shown at this year’s Locarno Film Festival and the American MOON LAKE (dir. Jeannie Sui Wonders) which is coming almost directly from the Venice Film Festival. The strong U.S. representation in the Competition will be complemented by films shown at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival: THIRSTYGIRL (dir. Alexandra Qin), THE LOOMING CLOUD (dir. Matthew Tyler), and FLAIL (dir. Ben Gauthier).
In addition, films from Belgium, Portugal, Mexico, and even Uruguay will also be presented in the International Short Film Competition at 23rd CINEMAFORUM. Here is the full list of titles:
>>> AMARELA, dir. André Hayato Saito, Brazil 2024
>>> APPLAUSE, dir. Guilherme Daniel, Portugal 2023
>>> AS IT WAS, dir. Damian Kocur, Anastasiia Solonevych, Poland/Ukraine 2023
>>> BUSINESS TRIP, dir. Gerardo Coello Escalante, Mexico 2023
>>> FLAIL, dir. Ben Gauthier, USA 2023
>>> GENDER REVEAL, dir. Mo Matton, Canada 2024
>>> GUAZUVIRA, dir. Joaquin Araujo, Nicolas Sequeira, Uruguay 2023
>>> MOON LAKE, dir. Jeannie Sui Wonders, USA 2024
>>> NADA DE TODO ESTO, dir. Patricio Martinez, Francisco Canton, Argentina/Spain/USA 2023
>>> QUOTA, dir. Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins, Marieke Blaauw, Netherlands 2024
>>> REMAINS OF THE HOT DAY, dir. Wenqian Zhang, China 2024
>>> SAID OF A DEER THAT SHED ITS ANTLERS, dir. Salome Crickx, Belgium 2023
>>> THE LOOMING CLOUD, dir. Matthew Tyler, USA 2023
>>> THE MASTERPIECE, dir. Alex Lora Cercos, Spain 2023
>>> THIRSTYGIRL, dir. Alexandra Qin, USA 2023
The films from the 23rd CINEMAFORUM Main Competition will be shown on October 25-26 at Atlantic Cinema in Warsaw. The winning title will be chosen by the Jury and announced during the final gala on October 27, where the viewers’ choice for the Audience Award will also be revealed.
The detailed program for the 23rd CINEMAFORUM will be available soon.
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The festival is organized by the FILMFORUM Association.
The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund, as well as by the City of Warsaw. The festival is also co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
The main festival venue is Atlantic Cinema in Warsaw.
The main partner of the event is the Andrzej Wajda Centre for Film Culture.
Program partners are: Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission, Mazovian Institute of Culture, American Film Festival in Wrocław, British Council Poland, and Kutaisi International Short Film Festival. The project’s technology partner is BEIKS Machulski.