In these seven extraordinary films, characters do what they can to achieve new understandings of the relationships they have with themselves, their loved ones, and the world at large.
Short Cuts Programme 04
Playing as part of this programme:
Our Hearts Beat Like War
In this affecting and unique drama by Israel’s Elinor Nechemya, a boy’s delightful fantasy world collides with the harsh, grown-up realities he discovers at the refugee-aid centre where his mother works. JASON ANDERSON
As Spring Comes
A woman inhabits her lover’s secluded ice fishing cabin in the dead of winter to begin a unique transformation, in Marie-Ève Juste’s masterfully composed and cryptic piece full of spellbinding visuals. LISA HALLER
Strong Son
From the wonderfully weird mind of Winnipeg filmmaker Ian Bawa comes an endearing portrait of a South Asian man and his relationship with the father who shares his passion for weightlifting. LH
Every Day's Like This
Intimate and poignant, and with an exquisite cast, director Lev Lewis’s film delicately captures a family coping with the ongoing health decline of a loved one. LH
Drought
In this erotically charged drama by Lebanese filmmaker Remi Itani, a real estate agent begins to close the gap between her private experiences in a series of empty apartments and the very different life she leads in public. JA
O Black Hole!
In another very original and wild creation by Festival alumna Renee Zhan, the animator deploys an array of animation techniques for a surreal and startling tale that mixes the cosmic with the acutely personal — and with songs to boot. JA
Shooting Star
Propelled by magnetic performances and complex dynamics, director Ariane Louis-Seize’s most accomplished short film to date showcases a wrenching mother–daughter drama. LH