Shorts

Iraq 2009. Ten-year-old Hamoudi has only one leg, but is totally obsessed with football. He and his friends - like the rest of the world - are looking forward to the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester (Messi versus Ronaldo). But then Hamoudi’s television breaks down! Kurdish-Belgian director Sahim Omar Kalifa’s award-winning short is ruthlessly heart-braking, with a beautifully moving central performance by Ali Raad Al-Zaidawy. Baghdad Messi was amongst the 10 short (…)

A cook serves exotic dishes to his hungry, impatient guests. Suddenly the arrival of a mysterious Asian woman re-ignites their insatiable appetite. Mila Zuo’s atmospheric short is incredibly rich in symbolism and references, conscious or not - from Lynch to Fruit Chan’s dumplings. This short is brought to us by the fab horror film platform @WatchALTER. There’s a whole treasure trove on their Youtube page.

This entrancing, hypnotising and moving animation is now available to watch online! Once upon a time there was a boy who had joy in drawing the sea. One day, into the bottom of the sea he dove, in hope of escaping war and misery. The story did not begin with the worldwide TV snatched image of the Syrian child Elan, thrown on the Turkish shores by the waves, and it definitely did not end with it. Once upon a time there was a boy who had joy in drawing the sea. One day, into the bottom (…)

Edward Watts’s powerful, claustrophobic short Oksijan is available to watch for a week as part of BBC Arabic’s Cinema Badila’s Cannes 2019 episode, at 29 min in. The short is followed by an interview with Edward Watts. This independent short film, based on an incredible true story, follows a seven-year old Afghan refugee’s battle to survive as he is smuggled to the UK in the back of a refrigerated lorry and the air inside begins to run out.

Interview with Bangladeshi filmmaker Aung Rakhine about his short film "The Last Post Office", a stunning, dream-like short with a entrancing soundtrack selected as part of the 2019 International Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. A video directed by the students of the ARFIS École, in collaboration with Brasserie du Court and Mydylarama. On the edge of Bangladesh, between mountains and water, stands a post-office, the only sign of civilization. It has a (…)

Interview with the Chinese filmmaker Jian Luo about her short film What do you Know About the Water and the Moon? selected as part of the 2019 International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand. A video directed by the students of the ARFIS École in collaboration with the Brasserie du Court and Mydylarama. During an attempted abortion, a girl gives birth to a live jellyfish. A magic realist film that’s both hypnotic and troubling from a very promising and original young director. More on (…)

Interview with the British filmmaker and Clermont favourite Nick Jordan about his short film Stratum. Stratum is a film that navigates through post-industrial landscapes on the European Route of Industrial Heritage, from Britain’s abandoned South Yorkshire coal seams to the culturally re-purposed collieries of the Ruhr Valley, Germany, via the former coal-mining region of Wallonia, Belgium. Contrasting the past and present, contemporary scenes are combined with archival film material, (…)

Interview with the American filmmaker Paul Szynol about his film, the moving and ambitious short "The Pull". After serving time in a New Hampshire jail, a freed inmate faces the pull of addiction. Café court / Expresso Video - Paul Szynol from ClermontFd Short Film Festival on Vimeo. More about Paul’s work on his website. Follow him on Twitter @paulszynol. The video was directed by the students of the ARFIS École in colaboration with the Brasserie du Court and Mydylarama.

In a Moroccan village, children play football on an improvised field. Meanwhile, Abdallah and Mohammed come across a donkey with a headphone on his hears and bags full of a white powder on his back. The two young brothers decide to bring those bags to their village. TRAILER - NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB from Les Valseurs on Vimeo. Interview with Yves Piat, director of the award-winning hilarious short Nefta Football Club. Café court / Expresso Video - Yves Piat from ClermontFd Short Film (…)

Based on a true story. An Italian backpacker stops at a remote gas station in Australia and is confronted with a strange situation. Interview with Alex Feggans, director of the amusing, genre-bending Australian short Jackrabbit. Jackrabbit was screened at the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival 2019. To find out more about Alex’s work or to request a screener, check out his website.