The World Around Us
Shorts Package
The Bathtub
2021, PG-13, Spain, Short, 19 minutes
Catalan with English Subtitles
Director: Sergi Marti
Producer: Josep Pi
Writer: Sergi Marti
Cast: Abel Folk, Paula Jornet
Ramon Riera is taking a well-deserved bath when his cell phone suddenly rings. On the other side of the line is Clara, a girl who insistently tries to sell him life insurance.
A Very Fragile Thing
2022, NR, Ethiopia/US, Short, 14 minutes
Florida Premiere
Amharic and English with English Subtitles
Directors: Selah Eshetu and Ryan De Franco
Producers: Andrew Beck
A Very Fragile Thing is a first-person journey into the collapse of democracy and the rise of a civil war that has claimed the lives of half a million Ethiopians since 2020. This 14-minute documentary follows Berhanu Nega, a social justice leader who offers a cautionary tale for any society facing headwinds of distrust and division.
Mamma
2021, NR, Norway, Short, 15 minutes
Florida Premiere
Swedish/Norwegian with English Subtitles
Director: Aslak Danbolt
Producers: Khalid Maimouni, Mari Ellefsæter
Writer: Aslak Danbolt
Cast: Synnøve Muren, Michelle Muren
It’s Christmas Eve, and Synnøve is searching for her drug-addicted daughter Michelle in an almost desolated city. (Synnøve and Michelle are mother and daughter in real life, and play versions of themselves in a story that is very close to their own lives.)
Medea
2022, NR, China, Short, 14 minutes
Chinese with English Subtitles
Director: Feifei Zhong
Writer: Zhenhe Lin
Cast: Zhenhe Lin
Hejiahui is a stage performer who plays the lead role in the play Medea. The director is leading them for a national tour for the next half year... and then she finds out that she is pregnant. As Hejiahui ponders the challenging situation, she cannot help but think of Medea, the ancient Greek woman who killed her own son.
Rodrigue in Love
2022, G, France, Short, 24 minutes
US Premiere
French with English Subtitles
Director: Johann Dionnet
Producers: Yoann Scherb, Mathieu Ageron, Maxime Delauney, Romain Rousseau and Johann Dionnet
Writer: Johann Dionnet
Cast: Johann Dionnet, Élisa Erka, Constance Carrelet, Guillaume Clerice, Amaury De Crayencour, Serge Da Silva, Ariane Mourier and Romain Fransisco
At the Festival d'Avignon, all kinds of theater coexist without ever really mingling. Stéphane acts in a popular comedy while Fanny plays in a classical piece by Victor Hugo. To seduce her, Stéphane makes her believe he is playing the role of Rodrigue in Corneille's renowned masterpiece: Le Cid.