Short films 1 14plus

Levis hest

D: Torfinn Iversen

Norway 2011, 18 min, Norwegian

In the snow-covered woods of the North, friends are rare. Jonas really wants to be accepted by the other boys. So he lets the group’s vicious leader treat him pretty much whatever way he likes. In his need to belong, Jonas even stones a small pony. Jonas himself is distraught about what he has done and tries to make amends. A story about a boy’s bid for freedom.

Kiss

R: Alex Murawski

Australia 2011, 12 min, English

It’s just a kiss. No big deal. Tom has never kissed anyone before though. His best friend convinces him to practise, at least once, with his girlfriend. The first attempt doesn’t work, because they can’t stop laughing. The second time is better: very tenderly, their lips touch. They laugh again, but this time, the laughter is a little more self-conscious. At the party the next day, Tom has eyes for no-one else.

Hiljainen Viikko (All Hallow's Week)

R: Jussi Hiltunen

Finnland 2011, 15 Min, Finnish

Early one morning, Kati turns up to collect her sister from a club, only to see her shot down before her very eyes by a crazed gunman. Kati feels partly responsible for her sister’s death. Had she not arrived late, her sister would still be alive. A bouncer at the club also blames himself for not reacting properly. Perhaps the encounter offers the two a chance to overcome the trauma. A short film about helplessness.

Meathead

R: Sam Holst

New Zealand 2011, 11 min, English

‘Don’t fuck it up’ is Michael’s father’s parting shot as he drops his son off at his new job, which Michael finds it truly intimidating. Great sides of beef hang packed closely together in a huge hall while serious-faced men butcher them swiftly and impassively. Friendly looks for Michael are few and far between. It won’t be easy for him to keep up.

663114

R: Isamu Hirabayashi

Japan 2011, Fictional language

Every sixty-six years a cicada makes its way out of the earth and climbs up a tree to shed its skin. This is the way it’s been since time immemorial. But this time it’s different. A Japanese animation film in which an ostensibly resistant insect’s monologue draws a parallel between the catastrophes of Hiroshima and Fukushima. The insect poses a fundamental question about the future of our planet. A film that takes different point of view. Short but hard-hitting.

The Wilding

R: Grant Scicluna

Australia 2011, 16 min, English

Life at a juvenile detention centre is tough for cell mates Malcolm and Tye. Everyone knows that the two are a couple. Quiet Tye often seems to provoke attacks from his fellow inmates; this means that muscular Malcolm is his chief protector. But from now on his lover won’t be able to protect him any more because if he’s involved in one more fight he can forget his coveted day prisoner status – a situation about which everyone inside is well aware. The film’s director won the Australian Orlando Award for Best Queer Short in 2011 for his work NEON SKIN.

NANI

R: Justin Tipping

USA 2011, 21 min, English

What fun it is to bomb a wall with colour! Eighty-four-year-old Isabel is slowly succumbing to dementia, but her new pastime has given her a new lease of life. Oscar has been sentenced to community service at an old folks’ home for illegal spraying. Isabel catches sight of Oscar on his nocturnal spraying and asks him to take her out with him. Oscar kind of digs his new graffiti partner, although he’s never met anyone who sprays as slowly as she does. But before long she even has her own tag – Nani.