WORLD COMPETITION 2010

ADEM (OXYGEN) (PM)
Belgium - Netherlands / 2010 / Colour / 95 min / Dir.: Hans Van Nuffel
Cast : Stef Aerts, Wouter Henrickx, Marie Vinck, Anemone Valcke, Rik Verheys
Tom and his brother Lucas are young men who suffer from cystic fybrosis, a genetic disease that slowly destroys their lungs. Tom is struggling to cope with his short life expectancy and hangs around with a gang of hoodlums. In the hospital, he meets Xavier, a young man suffering from the same illness but who behaves like a top athlete. Xavier is a confirmed optimist, even when he is dumped by his girlfriend Anneleen. Tom is influenced by Xavier's energy and joy of life. He roams the hospital grounds and falls for the charms of quirky Eline, who has been quarantined for months due to an infection. They are not allowed to touch each other and can only talk on the phone. Yet, they begin a romance. When Tom's brother Lucas dies during lung transplant surgery, Tom is inconsolable. He seeks refuge among his rough friends, avoids Xavier and breaks up with Eline. But one day, he again crosses Xavier's path. Xavier gives him back his taste for life…

AKUNIN (PM)
Japan / 2010 / Colour / 139 min / Dir.: Lee Sang-il
Cast : Satoshi Tsumabuki, Eri Fukatsu, Masaki Okada, Hikari Mitsushima, Kirin Kiki, Akira Emoto
Yoshino Ishibashi, an insurance company employee, has dinner with her co-worker, then tells them she is leaving to meet her college-student boyfriend Masuo before she heads to Higashi Park. The next morning, her strangled body is found in a mountain pass. The police search for the college student who has now disappeared and is considered a suspect. Yoshino’s parents, who run a hair salon in the city of Kurume, are devastated by the loss of their only daughter. More so when they discover that Yoshino had often been involved in illicit sexual affairs with men she met on online dating sites. Learning about this secret side to his daughter, the father, Yoshio, is stunned. Before long, the college student, Masuo, is arrested, but when the evidence is contradictory, he is released. The police soon learn that Yoshino had met another man on the night of her murder; Masuo had met her simply by coincidence. Meanwhile, the public reaction to Yoshino's murder is electric. People phone and fax insulting messages to her parents, telling them she deserved to die because of her trashy reputation. Journalists camp out in front of the Ishibashi house, harassing them for weeks after the murder. This doesn’t stop even after another suspect comes to light, a lonely construction worker named Yuichi Shimizu. The press now begin harrassing Yuichi’s elderly grandmother in Nagasaki as well...

BOX - HAKAMADA JIKEN - INOCHI TOWA (PI)
Japan / 2010 / Colour / 117 min / Dir.: Banmei Takahashi
Cast : Masat0 Hagiwara, Hirofumi Arai, Riona Hazuki, Takeoni Murano, Naoki Hosaka, Ryo Ishibashi
In the early hours of June 30, 1966, a house was set on fire in Shimizu City, Shizuoka. The house belonged to the executive director of a soybean paste company, and the family of four died in the blaze. Shizuoka Prefectural Police arrested Iwao Hakamada, an employee and former boxer as the prime suspect. Iwao denied having committed the crime, but three days before his detention period came to an end, he withdrew his denial and confessed. Norimichi Kumamoto took on this case as the senior trial judge. During the trial Iwao completely retracted his confession. Kumamoto, too, began to cast doubt on the police investigation, considering the length of interrogation and the repeated revision of statements. Was the accusation misguided or was Iwao the true culprit? Physical evidence was scarce and the confession may have been forced. Then new evidence was submitted by the police, despite a whole year having passed. At the end of a difficult trial, the judges voted two to one fin favour of the death sentence. Although he was convinced of Iwao's innocence, Kumamoto had no choice but to issue a verdict for capital punishment. Then, devastated by what had happened, Kumamoto resigned as a judge and began to work on establishing Iwao's innocence...

DALLA VITA IN POI (PI)
Italy / 2010 / Colour / 87 min / Dir.: Gianfrancesco Lazotti
Cast : Nicoletta Romanoff, Pino Insegno, Carlo Buccirosso, Gianni Cinelli, Carlo Giuseppe Gabardini
Rosalba loves Danilo, a young man who is serving a long prison sentence. To ease his detention, she decides to write him a sweet letter every day. However it is not easy to translate her feelings into words, so she turns for help to Katia, her best friend, who is now confined to a wheelchair. Katia takes on the role of love promoter, just like Cyrano de Bergerac, but it soon becomes complicated, as little by little those emotions, those poetic lines conceived for Rosalba, become her own, and Danilo's passionate replies begin to belong to Katia. When Rosalba and Danilo break up, Katia sets out to meet him in prison, to see what the man she has fallen for actually looks like. Unfortunately, as she is not a relative, she can't obtain a permission to see him. However, her will is stronger than the rules and in the end she manages to meet him... But “happily ever after” only works in fairy tales.“This Italian gem, DALLA VITA IN POI, mixes elements from Cyrano de Bergerac and prison movies such as ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. The movie is one of those unexpected pleasures that festivals often promise but rarely deliver.” -- Stephen Farber (Hollywood Reporter)

DE LA INFANCIA (PI)
Mexico / 2009 / Colour / 120 min / Dir.: Carlos Carrera
Cast : Damián Alcazar, Giovanna Zacarías, Ernesto Gómez C., Benny Emmanuel, Alicia Jaziz Sapién
Niebla, a teen gang member, is killed in a shootout with the police, and his ghost returns to help ten-year-old Francisco. The boy is a victim of constant abuse and beatings by Basilio, his father. Basilio is a manipulative thief, abusive to his wife Sofia and their three children, and a traitor to his gang of hoodlums. On the lam, he has moved his family into an old warehouse in the poor Iztapalpa neighbourhood of Mexico City. Niebla’s ghost protects Francisco from his father and accompanies him during his first experience with love. Feeling protected, Francisco will rebel against his father’s tyranny...“Arguably the most proficient Mexican filmmaker living in his home country... (Carlos Carrera’s) new film is a volatile mix of crime thriller and family melodrama... It boldly and astutely studies the blurred line between good and evil... Concentrating on the subjects of death, the afterlife, contemporary violence, and the origins of sins, this film is Mexican through and through.” -- Howard Feinstein (Screen Daily)

HÉRITAGE PERDU, L' (PM)
France (Guadeloupe) - Gabon / 2009 / Colour / 90 min / Dir.: Christian Lara
Cast : Luc Saint Eloy, Philippe Maury, Sidiki Bakaba, Sylvia Jabot, Christelle Thil, Astrid Siwsanker, Patrice Boulemar, Yalili Rodriguez
To collect a large inheritance from his uncle in America, Peter Mombin, a Guadeloupe farmer with a passion for bullock cart races, must marry before the end of the month. But not with any woman. In a video message left by his uncle, the latter explains that according to his adventures "every man lets the love of his life escape without realizing it." Peter must find that woman and marry her, within a month! No choice but to marry an “ex”. So he organizes his own funeral. His death is supposed to be "sudden and accidental". Bruce, his accomplice and best friend is in charge of the ceremony and invites all women who were important to him. Replying to the invitation, a selection of Peter’s former girlfriends land on the tropical island where the funeral is to take place: Astrid, a businesswoman, Sylvia, curator of a fort and her son Haile, aged four, Christelle, teacher, Jessica, a bailiff, Katya L, a singing star, Ada, student, his latest conquest (not consummated), and finally Nana, an African girl whom Peter did not even know existed. After the ceremony, Christian invites them all to a reception in the house of the deceased. But fate intervenes. At the end of the day, a wildcat strike keeps everyone grounded. The young women are forced to spend the weekend at the villa. Then a so-called "twin" of Peter, a certain Diego (gay), arrives unexpectedly at the villa hoping to seize the opportunity...

HISSHIKEN TORISASHI (PI)
Japan / 2010 / Colour / 114 min / Dir.: Hideyuki Hirayama
Cast : Etsushi Toyokama, Chizuru Ikewari, Koji Kikkawa
Set during the Edo Period, SWORD OF DESPERATION is based on a short story taken from Shuhei Fujisawa’s “Hidden Blade” series, a collection of tales which involve a character (not always the protagonist) mastering a secret sword technique to be unleashed on his enemies later on. The hero of this story is Kanemi Sanzaemon, a skilled swordsman and chief of the Unasaka clan. Three years ago, he dealt with a case of misgovernment by killing Renko, who was abusing the influence she had gained by becoming the mistress of a powerful daimyo Tabu Ukyou. Unexpectedly, he received a lenient punishment for his actions and was eventually allowed to return to his duties within the clan. After the death of his wife Mutsue, Sanzaemon takes care of her niece, Satoo, but doesn’t realize the young woman harbours a secret love for him. Meanwhile, a situation arises which will put Sanzaemon’s “bird-catching” sword fighting technique to the ultimate test.

LAND OF THE ASTRONAUTS, THE (PM)
THE LAND OF THE ASTRONAUTS / 2010 / Colour / 100 min / Dir.: Carl Colpaert
Cast : David Arquette, Bijou Phillips, Nicholas Bishop, Vivica Fox, Lin Shaye, Tom Bower, Petra Sandovar
Jack MacKenzie, a once hot shot Hollywood composer is down on his luck and has to take a job as a limo driver so he can make ends meet. He tries to put his life back together the way it was, with his beautiful wife, his beautiful kids, his beautiful house and his career. However Jack is struggling with twin demons, alcoholism and the loss of his oldest daughter in a horrible car crash. Jack does get a break as he is assigned to be the limo driver of the A-listed actor Thomas Bower. They build a friendship that eventually may put Jack's career back on track as a composer. He also befriends Erica Long, a beautiful singer/song writer struggling with a few demons as well. However, in the city of dreams, life takes on surreal twists that eventually throw Jack into a world known as the Land of the Astronauts.

LIED IN MIR, DAS (PM)
Germany / 2010 / Colour / 92 min / Dir.: Florian Cossen
Cast : Jessica Schwartz, Michael Gwisdek, Raphael Ferro, Beatriz Spelzini, Carlos Portaluppi, Alfredo Castellani
During a stopover in Buenos Aires on her way to Chile, 31-year-old Maria recognizes a nursery rhyme. Maria doesn’t speak a work of Spanish, but without understanding what she is singing, she remembers the Spanish lyrics. Disturbed and thrown off course, she decides to interrupt her journey and wander through the unfamiliar city. On the phone to Germany, she tells her father, Anton, about her experience and the peculiar fascination the unfamiliar city has had for her. Two days later, Anton suddenly turns up at Maria’s hotel with something to confess: Maria spent the first three years of her life in Buenos Aires during the military dictatorship at the end of the 1970s. The people she had always thought were her parents had adopted her and brought her to Germany. Father and daughter begin a journey in search of Maria’s biological parents. Anton does everything he can not to lose his daughter.

LIMBO (PI)
Norway - Sweden - Denmark - Trinidad and Tobago / 2010 / Colour / 105 min / Dir.: Maria Sødahl
Cast : Line Verndal, Henrik Rafaelsen, Lena Endre, Bryan Brown, Dana Lee, Sonya Moze
Direct from a 1970s Norwegian environment, Sonia with her two children arrive in Trinidad to join her husband Jo who is working as an engineer in the petroleum industry. She is introduced to a homeless class of men who have the whole world as their workplace; and their wives, who follow them wherever their contracts take them. On the surface, these women live lives of luxury with large houses and servants. The days are uneventful and blend together into an everlasting holiday. With the husbands at work and the children in private schools, the wives nurse their superficial relationships over cocktails poolside, listless, rootless, distraught with frustration, ticking time bombs. They are well aware that these “friendships” will expire when their husband's contracts come to an end.

MARIAGE À TROIS, LE (PI)
France / 2010 / Colour / 100 min / Dir.: Jacques Doillon
Cast : Pascal Greggory, Julie Depardieu, Louis Garrel, Agathe Bonitzer, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing
Tortured, slightly misanthropic author Auguste is struggling to get over the departure of his wife Harriet, about whom he still fantasizes while working on his new play. Toward that end he has invited for lunch at his country house the director Stéphane, along with Fanny , a nubile young law student who is working as his personal assistant for the summer, and the play’s two principal actors. These just happen to be Harriet and her new young lover, Théo, whom she can’t wait to show off to Auguste. A successful production may emerge... or maybe a ménage à trois or even à cinq...“After the seriousness of LE PREMIER VENU, Jacques Doillon offers us a brief detour through the land of love. Somewhere between sentimental fantasy and rustic banter, THE THREE-WAY WEDDING emerges to declare its passion for theatre. Doillon here applies his knowledge of acting and dramatic form on a brilliant digression about the passage of time and imperative of seduction for whoever hopes to remain a ‘creator’ of his own life.” -- www.evene.fr

NANNERL, LA SŒUR DE MOZART (PI)
France / 2010 / Colour / 120 min / Dir.: René Féret
Cast : Marie Féret, Delphine Chuillot, Marc Barbé, David Moreau, Clovis Fouin, Lisa Féret, Adèle Leprêtre, Valentine Duval
Mozart had an older sister called Nannerl. Child prodigy, she was introduced with her brother to all the courts of Europe. At the end of a three year family trip across the continent, in Versailles, she met Louis XV's son who encouraged her to write music. But Nannerl was a girl and a girl does not have the right to compose...“A bulky correspondence exists from Mozart's family. It begins with Leopold's letters, from Mozart's father, to his friend from Salzburg, who financially helped him to carry out this madness: the family criss-crossing Europe over a period of three years. In gratitude, Léopold chronicled his journey for his friend. Introducing his prodigy's children to all European courts was an extraordinary adventure... Then Nannerl's character appears. Mozart had a sister! Almost five years older than him. She was prodigy too, a marvellous singer and a remarkable harpsichordist. She belonged to the show. Since she was 3 years old, her father taught her music. But she was a girl and then Wolfgang was born. It is undoubtedly because of her, playing the harpsichord under the amazed eyes of the child, that the little genius magically developed... I thought of other sacrificed female characters: Camille Claudel, Adele H, all of them ignored... I wanted to make a film.” -- René Féret

PEREMIRIYE (PI)
Russia / 2010 / Colour / 95 min / Dir.: Svetlana Proskurina
Cast : Ivan Dobronravov, Yuriy Itskov, Sergey Shnurov, Nadezha Tolubeyeva, Alexey Vertkov
It’s a god-forsaken town that can’t be found on most maps; that’s where Egor Matveev is headed. It’s his hometown. He wants to live, love, maybe find a wife. Egor is a trucker who shares company-owned accomodations in an apartment building occupied by a ragged crew of fellow drivers. For some time now the town has been simmering with a feud between miners and townies. Egor hooks up with his gangster cousins, his shady uncle and his friend Gennadi, who plans to write a memoir called the "The Boredom of Gennadi Sobatkin” but so far hasn’t gotten passed the title. Egor courts Katya, a beautiful music student who can sleep with him on Saturday because that's the only day of the week there's a truce in the hostilities between the local ore miners, to whom she belongs, and Egor's city people.“The main theme of the movie is the search for one’s inner self. Some find it when they are 70 and some when they are 20. The main character is a naïve sincere boy, who is in process of finding his inner self but it’s a dramatic process." -- Svetlana Proskurina“What saves TRUCE from being yet another dreary slice of Slavic miserablism is director Proskurina's sly sense of humour and streak of lyricism.” -- Leslie Felperin (Variety)

RENDEZ-VOUS AVEC UN ANGE (PM)
France / 2010 / Colour / 98 min / Dir.: Sophie de Daruvar, Yves Thomas
Cast : Isabelle Carré, Sergi Lopez, Maya Sansa, Mireille Delunsch, Claude Winter, Jérémie Lippman, Xavier Beauvois
Judith, a young nurse, modest and retiring, works in a hospital oncology department. Her partner, Roland, a salesman in an audio store, is a tormented idealist who loves opera. A passion that governs their lives. He is the master of their relationship. Over time, bit by bit, Judith’s voice has grown dim; she rarely gets a word in edgewise. She lost her job at the hospital and has been trying to tell Roland but he always has something “more important”. Most recently an interview with an opera diva whom he utterly adores and who, in his next life, will allow him to fulfill his profoundest aspirations. Hurt, Judith decides to keep her firing secret. She’ll just face the situation on her own. Roland discovers the secret, but, maliciously, just to see where it leads, doesn’t let on that he knows. Judith continues to keep mum, and Roland is astonished by her strength and stoicism. He begins to follow her, to spy on her. He discovers her with men and women totally unknown to him, without every getting to know how Judith knows them. He discovers that she frequents bars, fancy boutiques, beaty salons. He begins to imagine that she has a lover, a mistress, that she is a prostitute. Back at home, at least on the surface, their relationship hasn’t changed at all. But Roland sees Judith with different eyes. He is fascinated by this strong, free, luminous, woman whose demeanour is at once sweet and self-assured. He becomes infatuated. To the point of losing his own bearings...

ROUTE 132 (PM)
Canada / 2010 / Colour / 113 min / Dir.: Louis Bélanger
Cast : François Papineau, Alexis Martin, Sophie Bourgeois, Andrée Lachapelle, Gilles Renaud, Janine Sutto
Thirtysomething Gilles is going through difficult times: he has just lost his son and can’t find a handle on life. Drowning his grief in the local tavern, he meets Bob, an old wheeler-dealer friend who is also down on his luck. With an aim to getting out of their respective ruts, they take highway 132 to the Lower St. Lawrence where, they believe, the local credit unions are chock full of money deposited by senior savers and there is scarcely point-one policeman per square kilometre. It’ll be a piece of cake for two clever Montrealers to dupe the “hicks”. What they find along Quebec’s longest highway is something entirely different: on a journey filled with unexpected encounters and unplanned detours, Gilles and Bob find the road to hope and renewal.“In fact the road movie doesn’t begin when the protagonists hit the road; it begins right from the very first scene. The guy is already in flight... He is already in denial... I didn’t want to make too psychological a film, but in our research we found that it’s mostly men who refuse to face grief, and then they have a tendency to transgress. They engage in a form of self-destruction. As if they have been betrayed by life, and nothing matters any more. There’s a moment in the film where Gilles says it: I have no more debts, I don’t owe anyone anything.” -- Louis Bélanger

TANNÖD (PI)
Germany - Switzerland / 2009 / Colour / 94 min / Dir.: Bettina Oberli
Cast : Julia Jentsch, Monica Bleibtreu, Volker Bruch, Nils Althaus, Brigitte Hobmeier
Deep within a blue-black fir forest lies the secluded murder farm. It was here that the entire Danner family, including their children and the new servant, were brutally murdered with a pickaxe. No one in the village heard or saw a thing, and yet no one was surprised: old man Danner was a tyrant and a miser who fell out with everyone in the village; his deeply pious wife spoke to no one; and they say old Danner fathered the children of his daughter Barbara. Two years later, when the 26-year-old nurse Kathrin turns up in the village, the killer has still not been found. She soon discovers that behind the tightly woven web of lies and silence lays a deep sense of guilt in the village and she realizes that this case has much more to do with her than she would have liked to admit...“Lashings of grungy detail, snarling Bavarian peasants and doom-laden religioso trappings add up to a meaty rural whodunit... Overcooked in a good way, and lightened by Julia Jentsch's engaging performance as an outsider who returns to her native village, where a hideous crime took place a few years earlier, this film version of Andrea Maria Schenkel's acclaimed debut novel falls halfway between murder mystery and horror movie... an intelligent, creepy crowd-pleaser...” -- Derek Elley (Variety)

TÊTE DE TURC (PNA)
France / 2009 / Colour / 87 min / Dir.: Pascal Elbé
Cast : Roschdy Zem, Pascal Elbé, Ronit Elkabetz, Simon Abkarian, Florence Thomassin, Valérie Benguigui
Bora, a 14-year-old immigrant boy, lives in a tough French suburb with his mother and Nuri, his 7-year-old brother. Bora and his 14-year-old girlfriend Nina are planning to flee the dormitory town for Turkey where Nina hopes to find her father. One night, to impress the boys in the “hood”, Bora blows up the car of a doctor, Simon. Then, in the same senseless way, Bora scrambles into the burning car and pulls out Simon’s unconscious body, which he then abandons on the sidewalk before fleeing. Saved from the explosion, Simon is brought to the hospital in a coma. To restore calm in the city, the Mayor decides to find the culprit and honour the saviour, the good samaritan who saved the doctor’s life... unaware that they are one and the same person. Because has had problems with the law, Samir,17 gets to be the scapegoat; he is sent to prison. And, all the while, employees of the city hall search for Bora in order to give him the medal of honour. Bora tries to tell his best friend Hassan, 14, but hesitates when he learns that it is Samir, Hassan’s older brother, who was arrested in his place. Bora is burdened by guilt. He would like to do the right thing but fears the consequences. And there’s no guarantee that the cops will even believe him...

TROMPER LE SILENCE (PM)
Canada / 2010 / Colour / 102 min / Dir.: Julie Hivon
Cast : Suzanne Clément, Maxime Dumontier, Sophie Cadieux, Sébastien Huberdeau, Pascale Montpetit
Viviane is a successul photographer. However, the angry departure of her brother, Frederic, who was her muse, leaves her at a dead end. Their conflict is a burden that keeps her from moving on. Then Viviane meets Guillaume, a young mechanic who emanates the same raw energy as Frédéric, who has the same mystique, and she sees a chance to begin creating once again. But Guillaume is troubled. He thinks he’s responsible for the tragedy that has shaken his life and that of his family, and punishes himself through self-mutilation. Viviane is upset but fascinated, too. Little by little, Guillaume opens to her and a connection is made...“SILENCE LIES is a psychological drama, a film about secrets... I don’t like to get involved in complicated plots or action adventures. What turns me on is people and human feelings. I’m not into the cerebral; I prefer searching emotions.” -- Julie Hivon

TWELVE THIRTY (PM)
United States / 2010 / Colour / 121 min / Dir.: Jeff Lipsky
Cast : Reed Birney, Jonathan Groff, Mamie Gummer, Portia Reiners, Karen Young, Halley Feiffer, Rebecca Schull, Barbara Barrie, Kirby Mitchell
There are three women in the Langley household: Vivien, the mother, is caught between a fierce independence and an almost agoraphobic attachment to home; seductive and confident Mel is a 19 year-old mirror of her mother; Maura, 22, is alienated, afraid and unable to pinpoint her place in the world. They live together in a seemingly close household, yet each is very much alone. The man of the house, Martin, left long ago to pursue a new way of life, but keeps a shadow presence: he maintains a comfortable erotic tie to his ex-wife and a tentative relationship with Mel. Maura has all but shunned him. The family's status quo explodes when Jeff walks into their comfortable yet dysfunctional world. Bright, handsome, ambitious and sure of his future at 22, he's also socially awkward and a sexual novice who's been infatuated with Mel since high school. When they begin working together at the same restaurant, he jumps at the opportunity to finally start a romance with the free-spirited girl, but Mel has other ideas about their time together. Until then utterly convinced of his own decency, a confused Jeff suddenly finds himself gripped by desire he barely understands, and acting in ways that cross the line of right and wrong. Over the course of a week, he is swept up in the convoluted dynamics of Mel, Maura, and Vivien's relationships with men, the world and each other.

WENECJA (VENICE) (PI)
Poland / 2010 / Colour / 110 min / Dir.: Jan Jakub Kolski
Cast : Marcin Walewski, Magdalena Cielecka, Mariusz Bonaszewski, Agnieszka Grochowska, Grazyna Blecka-Kolska
Eleven-year-old Marek loves Venice. His family has gone to visit the city on water for generations. His great grandparents, his grandparents, his parents, even his 14-year-old brother Victor have made the pilgrimage. Marek knows the names of all the squares and streets of Venice by heart, but he has never actually seen his beloved city in person. Which is about to change. This summer his dream will come true; he will finally visit Venice... But this summer happens to be the summer of 1939. War with Germany looms and Marek’s father enters the army. Instead of St. Mark’s Square, Marek ends up with his mother in Zaleszczykach on the San, in the large villa of Aunt Veronica. But down in the flooded cellar of the mansion, Marek still has dreams. If he can’t go to Venice, Venice will come to him...“Only a viewer can tell you a truth about your film, so there is no sense in advising him what your story is about, what is important in it and what is not... So what is my ‘Venice’ about? It is about love awakened by... a lack of love. About growing up. About myself.” -- Jan Jakub Kolski

Avtobani (Highway, The) (PM)
Georgia / 2010 / Colour / 8 min / Dir.: Sandro Japaridze
Cast : Paata Papuashvili, Ruska Makashvili, Keti Kantidze, Keti Kenia
A young couple are discussing their future. The girl is pregnant, which makes the loving couple at once happy and surprised. From time to time, their dialogue is interrupted by a homeless child attracting attention by his behaviour.

Caos () (PM)
Brazil / 2010 / Colour / 15 min / Dir.: Fabio Baldo
Cast : Tico Dias, Allis Bezerra
A man receives the sun’s call.

Cathy (PM)
France / 2010 / Colour / 15 min / Dir.: Elsa Barrère
Cast : Blanche Gardin, Pascal Légitimus, Jean Leduc, Christophe de Mareuil, Jean-Pierre Lemoine, Sébastien Poupineau
Cathy, 30, is a dog-handler who works in a garage. She leads a simple life. But her daily routine is upset when a film shoot takes over her work space.

Cirque, Le (PM)
Canada / 2010 / Colour / 7 min / Dir.: Nicolas Brault
At the hospital, a little boy wants to live a moment of intimacy with his sick mother, but a group of visitors, strangers to the child, make that difficult.

Colette (PM)
United Kingdom / 2010 / Colour / 13 min / Dir.: Nicola Morris
Cast : Holliday Grainger, Luke Bailey
A short film about the fragility of love and life.

Fábrica de muñecas (Doll Factory) (PNA)
Spain / 2010 / Colour / 11 min / Dir.: Ainhoa Menéndez Goyoaga
Cast : Leticia Dolera, Iván Lamas, Paco Maestre
Ana works in a doll factory. Her whole life revolves around performing the mechanical motion of inserting eyes in dolls. But a small change at her job changes her life forever.

Firmes (Attention) (PI)
Mexico / 2010 / B&W / 10 min / Dir.: Yordi Capó
Cast : Meño Herrera, Jesús Hernández
A private struggles to stand at attention during a long official ceremony despite the baking sun, sweat, fatigue and an insistent mosquito. As he listens to the speech, the soldier becomes aware of the difference between the many who follow and the few who lead.

Licked (PM)
New Zealand / 2010 / Colour / 10 min / Dir.: Dan Salmon
Cast : Aliah Morpeth, Lilian Whale, Leighton Cardno
It’s a hot summer day at the beach and two 9-year-old girls strike a deal with a stranger for ice cream money. The deal turns sour when he refuses to pay and tries to trap one of them in a creepy game.

Mar blindado (PM)
Venezuela / 2010 / Colour / 11 min / Dir.: Gerard Uzcátegui
Cast : Luigi Sciamanna, Juvel Vielma, Irina Dendiouk
The man in the sentry box at a bank is at once a guard and a prisoner.

Mehmani zie Aab (Underwater Banquet) ()
Iran - France / 2010 / Colour / 15 min / Dir.: Babak Amini
Cast : Leila Otadi-Salar, Salehiye-Lagha Ghobadi
Out in the countryside and in a camp near the border, a couple works at defusing the mines which remained after the war. One day before New Year’s they find an antique buried underground in the minefield and their lives are forever changed.

Monster Butler (PM)
United States / 2010 / Colour / 11 min / Dir.: Douglas Rath
Cast : Malcolm McDowell, Jennier Skyler
The true story of serial-killing con-man Roy Fontaine, who cut a bloody swath through England and Scotland, hiring himself out as a butler, robbing his employers and in some cases murdering them. His killing spree included his hated illegitimate brother and five other people before he was finally arrested and sentenced to prison for life.

Only Sound Remains (PM)
United Kingdom - Iran / 2010 / Colour / 14 min / Dir.: Arash Ashtiani
Cast : Maryam Davari, Ashraf Rezaei, Payam Hossienian
In the wake of the violent post-election protests in Iran, a family tries to hide the news of the death of their youngest member from their grandmother.

Sektemberi (September) (PM)
Georgia / 2010 / Colour / 10 min / Dir.: Vako Kirkitadze
Cast : Zuka Chachua, Razhden Kervalishvili, Giorgi Tsaava, Andro Sarishvili, Vova Kheltuffisshvili
September 2008. Soldiers in a village notice a child abandoned after the occupation. They take a medallion from the child and drive off. But the child runs after them. They try to scare him off with gunfire but he is not easily frightened...

Sexting ()
United States / 2010 / B&W / 8 min / Dir.: Neil LaBute
Cast : Julia Stiles, Marin Ireland, Jamie Anderson, Liz Greer, Lynn Mikeska
People are not who they seem when a misdirected text message leads a yong woman to meet with the wife of her boyfriend and ask what is really going on in their relationship.

Southbound ()
Unites States / 2010 / Colour / 12 min / Dir.: Tim Disney
Cast : Tomas Garcia
A fantasy about gardeners in Los Angeles who use their leaf blowers in surprising and magical ways.

Vendedor del año, El (Salesman of the year) (PNA)
Spain / 2010 / Couleur / 14 min / Dir.: Coté Soler
Cast : Fernando Cayo, Javier Gutiérrez, Luisa Fernándes
Behind the most ruthless of multinationals there is only one thing. Man.