Fourth Annual
The World According to Shorts
September 8–9, 2003 at BAMcinématek, Brooklyn, NY
Films from Norway, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Finland, Russia, Brazil, Estonia, Burkina Faso, Switzerland. Curated by Jonathan Howell
Program One
United We Stand
Hans Petter Moland, Norway, 9 min, U.S. Premiere. Eight old timers come upon a young woman stuck in a swamp. This short film was inspired by the Norway's Labour Party, and is a part of the collective feature film Utopia: No One is Perfect in the Perfect Country.
Recently 3
Jochen Kuhn, Germany, 5 min, animated. In the third of a short film series on every day life events, the author involuntarily witnesses a contemporary love affair.
Too Young
Géraldine Doignon, Belgium, 18 min, U.S. Premiere. Johanne's father, Michel, is a professor who has been seeing one of his students, who is his daughter's age. Disturbed by the ambiguous situation, Johanne convinces her coworker Boris that her father is her lover.
I'm a Star!
Stefan Stratil, Austria, 6 min, animated, U.S. Premiere. A lonely man, a cigarette, a hotel hallway—this is the setting for an ironic take on Sinatra lore.
Dry Dock
Tuukka Hari, Finland, 11 min. With time-lapse photography the director traces one year in a dry dock in the Suomenlinna fortress.
Transposed Bodies
Katja Pratschke, Germany, 28 min, U.S. Premiere. "This is where my story begins. It's the story of my two fathers Jan and Jon. It took me a long time to put all the pieces together. And much longer even to tell it."
Program Two
The Contrabass
Anna Melikian, Russia, 22 min., NY Premiere. A man who was born to be happy is thwarted by an upright bass.
The Old Woman's Step
Jane Malaquias, Brazil, 15 min, NY Premiere. An old lady travels from the fishermen's village where she lives to the city to sell a chicken so she can buy her grandson a present.
Weitzenberg Street
Kaspar Jancis, Estonia, 11 min, animated, U.S. Premiere. This is a tale of love and murder featuring a man, a woman, a fly, and a dangerous neighbor.
The Pact
Guy-Désiré Yaméogo, France/Burkina Faso, 24 min, U.S. Premiere. Tinga is a well-established business man. He owes his position to a pact signed with witches. In order for his prosperity to last, sacrifices are regularly made, until one day, the witches ask for too much.
Le Combat
Fernand Melgar, Switzerland, 9 min, documentary, U.S. Premiere. In the changing room of a sport hall, Randy, a young teenager, is preparing for his first boxing match. He'll fight in the featherweight league.
Anolit
Stefan Faldbakken, Norway, 25 min, U.S. Premiere. Stefan decides not to attend his father's funeral, as he sees no reason to say goodbye to someone he has never met. He joins his two friends in their Friday night routine: cruising the small town, hanging around at the local gas station, disagreeing on where to party, and what to blow up.