Ice Breath (Romania) by Leonard Alecu

Between 2015 and 2024, Leonard Alecu filmed the melting icebergs off Greenland's East coast. Sailing dangerously close to icebergs, Alecu handled his camera to record the ice masses yielding to the ruthless ocean. Filmed in black and white, Ice Breath is a cinematic poem whose only elusive actor is the filmmaker's gaze. In 43 minutes, a sequence of flat pictures turn into dynamic tableaux, an existential journey from genesis to extinction. The hypnotic feature of the film is enhanced by the soundtrack Become Ocean, a haunting composition by John Luther Adams suggestive of a relentless tidal surge, of melting polar ice and rising sea levels. Become Ocean received critical acclaim, earning the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the 2015 Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. More than an environmental documentary, Ice Breath and Become Ocean is an experimental fusion exploring the vast, inscrutable meanings of climate change. 

Running time: 00:42:50

CU: Farewell (Ukraine) by Anar Azimov

The protagonist recalls her past while her daughter is going to leave her forever. Years ago, the protagonist came from a province to a big city to get rid of poverty. Marriage to a gangster didn’t make her happy. She fell in love with her husband’s accomplice and soon got pregnant.  Murder seems the only solution to the lovers.

Running time: 00:41:30

Happy Birth Day (Korea, Republic of) by Sang Cheon Jang

On Hyun-mi's birthday, Soon-young is asked for a Flower and everyone receives an obituary of Ji-yeon by text.

Running time: 00:33:42

Iris (Canada) by Gabriela de Andrade

Freed from romantic expectations and capitalist interests, wouldn't friendship be our most authentic model of relationship? Isn't it there, especially between women, that the foundations of patriarchy crumble? In her film Iris, the director Gabriela de Andrade celebrates this perspective through an intimate and poetic documentary born from the voice messages exchanged between her and her friend.

Running time: 00:17:00

Nook with a View (United Kingdom) by Eduarda Vieira

While stuck at home, an architect decides to spend his time crafting intricate illustrations. In this short documentary, he reflects on his phase of unprecedented creativity against a backdrop of toilet roll shortages, social distancing, remote working, and other challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Running time: 00:15:44

Traveling Flower (Poland) by Alina Dzmitrovich

Two-year-old Sappie has a childhood with no map, growing up in places where most people fear to go—following her parents, Ben and Eilidh, who work as guides in the planet’s most remote and unusual corners.

Running time: 00:15:09

Sio Roho Yangu - Not My Soul (United States, United States) by Joe LoBianco

In 1807, a young slave is condemned to a sweltering hot box for her defiance, facing torment and uncertainty. Trapped in the oppressive heat, she struggles to survive, oscillating between fleeting hope and crushing despair. She draws strength from distant memories and spirituals. As her spirit is tested, the journey transforms from a desperate victim into a determined fighter, in a powerful testament to resilience and the unbreakable human will.

Running time: 00:14:29

Hairy Dreams (Canada) by Lina Cruz

Hairy Dreams evokes the interior world of a lonesome yet carefree character. Through words and movement, this is a visual abstract tale, taking place in a white cave-like space made of paper. Within this sort of origami igloo, a surrealist puzzle of images portrays the everyday routine of a diligent being.

Running time: 00:08:57

Hands (Portugal) by Filipe Piteira

Hands are the connection and the path between the body and soul. The mode of search and self-knowledge, which is intuitive and sensorial, with them, discovering and transcending themselves. It is the receptive and restless mind that transforms hands into instruments of grace.

Running time: 00:07:00