Qamajai

Animation: Yerkezhan (Kei) Sabitbekova

Germany/Kasachstan 2025, 2:43 min

A woman lies on the floor — beaten, scared, almost lifeless. Her abuser, standing over her, fastens his belt and walks away. For a moment, she is alone. Then, all at once, her female friends appear. They lift her up, console her, cry with her. United in their pain and their anger, they begin to dance. Will she be able to process this collective trauma?

@imgonnabeokei

Not All Pigeons Go to Heaven

Animation & Text: Anna Woltańska

Poland, 2025. 1:51 min

An eccentric, philosophical tale in which the boundary between absurdity and existential reflections blurs in an unexpected way. The narrator, contemplating her sister’s unusually small hands, considers alternative versions of her existence – for example, as a pigeon.

Present Tense

Direction: Till Gombert

Germany, 2026. 6:00 min

Silent images of bodies of water, plants and skin reveal their liveliness and inner rhythms in closer observation. These pictures were created shortly after the death of a childhood friend. The text combines the collection of found objects with the presence of loss.

As the silent analogue short film PRESENT TENSE echoes themes of loss and erosion, it is intended to be shown exclusively on its original 16mm material – for as long as the material itself endures.

@tillogombiii

Bookmark

Direction & Text: Jorge Felipe Cubillos Osorio

Canada, 2025. 10:00 min

Two writers, Al and Heller, meet by chance at a park, both battling unfinished poems; His has no beginning, while hers has no end. Through shy glances and silent conversation, their bond grows. The writer’s block remains until they realise that their true inspiration sits just across the bench. Love blossoms and verses finally flow. They complete their poems, but only just begin their lives together. Years later, an elderly Al recounts their tender journey, and his lost love.

@bookmark_short_film

Ferryman

Direction & Text: Daniel Duque

Australia, 2025. 4:40 min

After descending through a flash of disastrous flames, a lost soul wakes in a purgatorial forest. Drawn by the pulse of a mysterious light, he follows it, hoping it will lead him out of this limbo. The forest is ominous and full of secrets, yet he stays fixed on the light, muttering about sorrow and ruin. As he finally reaches it, the screams in his mind erupt—the light shatters and dies, leaving him in darkness to begin again.

@danielduquemusic

Swanlake

Direction: Stella Traub

DE, 2025. 5:30 min

When we are ill, all we want is one thing – not to be ill anymore. The filmmaker sees a swan in a duck pond and dreams with Long Covid of the realm of the healthy. An essay about enchanted sick people and dreaming birds.

@stelladeborahtraub

Sphere Supreme-Flying Ability

Direction: Hasan PASTACI

Text: Paul Demets

Belgien, 2024. 5:00 min

Follow Arama, guided by a mystical pomegranate tree, meeting a mysterious man. Along the way, Arama faces parts of himself, slowly putting together the puzzle of his identity. But before he is able to put everything together, will he manage to keep himself in one piece?

@spheresupreme

Komt ien oan

Direction: Guido van Driel

Text: Nelly Sachs

Netherlands, 2026. 4:30 min

A poem by poet Nelly Sachs is sung in Frysian by the artist ZEA. It deals with refugees and hospitality and is illustrated by means of old postcards , clay figures and toy knights.

Made by filmmaker and cartoonist Guido van Driel, this song is taken from the new album In lichem fol beloften. Released on Makkum Records and Subroutine Records.

The words are from German-Swedish poet Nelly Sachs, who was born to a Jewish family and managed to escape the nazi regime in 1940. Her work on exile and the Holocaust got her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966.

Arnold de Boer translated her poem Kommt einer von ferne (published in 1946) into Frisian and made music to it. Later translated it into English, you will find that translation in the subtitles.