FIRST LEAGUE
8.5. and 15.5. 2013
very year in May, the attention of all film lovers turns towards a town in the south of France – to Cannes where a major film exhibition is being held. Therefore, we, as iShorts, also decided to introduce a very special night of short films that could be classified as „first league“. We will screen shorts that were awarded not only at Cannes but also at other major film festivals around the world. In May, iShorts is going „first league“. Come and join us.
SUPERMAN, SPIDERMAN OR BATMAN (ROMANIA)
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2012: The Best European Short Film
Director: Tudor Giurgiu | Producer: Bogdan Craciun
Star: Adriana Bailescu, Zsolt Bogdán, Ovidiu Crisan
Year: 2011 | Length: 11 min | Live action
Aron, a 5-year-old boy, sets together with his worried father on a journey at the end of which he wishes, like the superheroes in the comic books, to save his mother suffering from a heart condition.
MAIN COURSE (CZECH REPUBLIC)
48HFP PRAGUE 2012: Best film
Director: Jan Pivoňka | Producers: Kristýna Drozdová (praha48film.com)
Star: Lukáš Jůza, Sandra Šecová, Kateřina Pindejová, Michal Kopp
Year: 2012 | Length: 6 min | Live action
We are in the year 1972 and we are watching a festive lunch of the Spáčil family. The daughter Aneta introduces her boyfriend Daniel Černý to her mother. Although Daniel is a very nice young man, her mother does not like him because he works as a personal stylist. Daniel feels Aneta’s mother disapproval and goes to the bathroom to calm himself. He takes a ring for Aneta out of his pocket, but being very nervous he drops the ring into the toilet. Fortunately, he is able to pull it from there, he dries it and goes back to the dining table. He kneels down and proposes to Aneta. How will the mother react? Will the situation be saved by the phlegmatic father?
SUSPENDED (AUSTRALIA)
22nd FLICKERFEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL: Best Cinematography
Director: Damian Walshe-Howling | Producer: Lisa Shaunessy
Star: Clare Bowen, Damon Gameau, Yasmin Honeychurch
Year: 2013 | Length: 18 min | Live action
Confronted by the stark reality that his father is in an intimate relationship with another woman, seven-year-old Caleb grapples with his sense of belonging and begins to inhabit a realm of frightening magical possibility. The cracks in his parents relationship, coupled with their drug use and inability to communicate drive Caleb further into his imagination. It is not until he meets Eddie, a blind man with a sense of mischief and a subtle inner knowing, that Caleb begins to open up and explore his own innate potential for magic, which leads ultimately, to a fulfillment of the impossible…
THE REALITY CLOCK (USA)
STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS 2012: The Winner category Alternative
Director: Amanda Tasse | Producer: University of Southern California
Star: J. Louis Reid, Marco Tazioli
Year: 2011 | Length: 8 min | Animation
The Reality Clock is an experimental animated portrait of an elderly watchmaker's struggle to accept the influence of early stage Dementia on his identity and sense of time. The film was shot in full stereoscopic 3D, using stop-motion animation, live-action and time-lapse photography to further immerse the viewer in the internal experience of the character. The Reality Clock poetically references specific tests and dialog drawn from autobiographical works written by individuals with Dementia, while delicately expressing broader themes of loss. Through contemplating who the raw essence of a person is when stripped bare of new memories and rational clarity, The Reality Clock searches for a sense of beauty and peace amidst the confusion
THOUGH I KNOW THE RIVER IS DRY (EGYPT/PALESTINE/UK)
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2013: Rotterdam Short Film Nominee
Director: Omar Robert Hamilton | Producers: Louis Lewarne, Mohanad Yaqubi
Star: Kais Nashif, Maya Abu Alhayyat, Salwa Nakkara
Year: 2013 | Length: 20 min | Live action
Caught between his brother's past and his child's future, one man's choice triggers catastrophe for his entire family.
M.O. (CZECH REPUBLIC)
MAGNESIA AWARDS 2013: The Best Czech Student Film
Director: Amanda Tasse | Producer: Barbora Příkaská (FAMU)
Star: Viera Pavlíková, Jan Tolar, Miroslav Vrba
Year: 2012 | Length: 6 min | Animation
The story of an elderly woman who orders a mechanical grandpa by mail in order to put an end to her loneliness.
THE IMMIGRANT (USA)
LA COMEDY SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL: “Best of Fest” Grand Prize
Director: Josh Levy | Producers: Robi Levy, Josh Levy, Amy Green and Jim Morrison
Star: Scott Thompson, Dave Foley, Deborah Theaker, Michael Cera
Year: 2012 | Length: 20 min | Live action
After being deported back to his native Canada, once-famous comedian Bob London attempts a Hollywood comeback by enlisting human smugglers to sneak him across the Mexico-US border. Deposited in East LA after a taxing journey, Bob is rejected by his former manager and famous friends and finds himself penniless and alone. He is then adopted by a pair of migrant workers named Gerardo and Luiz who resolve to show Bob how to make it in America.
PENNY DREADFUL (USA)
35th INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL CLERMONT-FERRAND: Audience Prize
Director: Shane Atkinson | Producer: Rob Cristiano
Star: Oona Laurence, David Stevens, Marnie Schulenburg
Year: 2012 | Length: 18 min | Live action
The story of a kidnapping gone horribly wrong.
Total lenght of the screening 105 min.
