2025

World Shorts

A celebration of the best in World Cinema short filmmaking.

Runtime

87 Minutes

Classification

Unclassified 18+

Cheaper than a round-the-world airfare! Acclaimed shorts from Cannes, Berlin, Locarno and more will take you on a whirlwind trip from Indonesia to Cuba, via the remote Caucasus mountains, the streets of New York City, the hot sun and the Swiss Alps.

Film Credits

Type

Short

Program Strand

World Cinema

Genre

Short

Screens With

Nervous Energy

On the cusp of success/failure, two unhinged female filmmakers decide to break up with their boyfriends, and for once, make a bold decision with their lives.

Director

Eve Liu

Country

United States

Runtime

15 minutes

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Norheimsund

A girl’s long- distance romance with an older Norwegian man promises to pull her and her mother from their austere life in Cuba, but her dreams are shaken when she realises he isn’t as idyllic as he seems.

Director

Ana A. Alpizar

Country

Cuba

Runtime

12 minutes

Rating

Unclassified 18+

Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts

He was born with the peculiar ability to move and remove his body parts. Throughout his life, he shares his body parts to people he loves. Until the day he died, all left from him is a torso with a faceless head. His mother is trying to recollect his body parts.

Director

Rein Maychaelson

Country

Indonesia

Runtime

19 minutes

Rating

Unclassified 18+

Silvesterchlausen

Silvesterchlausen is a mysterious tradition that takes place every New Year’s Eve in Switzerland’s Appenzell, the most conservative part of the country. Groups of six men dress in ornate costumes and engage in wordless, polyphonic yodeling and rhythmic bell clanging. The ritual has been performed for at least 500 years, but nobody knows how or why it began.

Director

Andrew Norman Wilson

Country

United States

Runtime

12 minutes

Rating

Unclassified 15+

The Gods (الالهة)

Under a burning sun, Adel and Moïse try to come to terms with the loss of their father. But as their grief turns into an obsession, a rift grows between the two teenage brothers and threatens to separate them.

Director

Anas Sareen

Country

Switzerland

Runtime

87 minutes

Rating

Unclassified 15+

The Men's Land

In Georgia, Ushguli mountain customs dictate that in the absence of a son, a family’s land must be handed down to the next male relative who will perpetuate the family name. The Men’s Land follows the journey of an aspiring singer as she fights for her property in the face of dated local rules and traditions, her song becoming a bulwark against humiliation.

Director

Mariam Bakacho Khatchvani

Country

Georgia

Runtime

15 minutes

Rating

Unclassified 15+

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Vanilla

In late-1980s Mexico, Vanilla is a textured family drama told through the eyes of a young girl raised by seven formidable women. As debt threatens their home, she witnesses resilience, tenderness and struggle that reshape her sense of belonging and the meaning of family.

Cactus Pears

When Anand’s father dies, he returns to his family’s village to complete his filial duties. The village is another world, where homosexuality is not acknowledged. But it is also the home of Balya, with whom intimacy blossoms for Anand. A film of great simplicity and tenderness.