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OKO GLOBAL Short Film Competition 2024
2720, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Basil da Cunha
Country: Portugal, Switzerland
A clandestine neighbourhood in Lisbon wakes up to the news of a violent police raid, which took place the night before. Camila, a 7-year-old girl, goes to search of her brother. She's worried. Her brother is missing. At the same time, Jysone is in a hurry: after 6 years in jail and 5 weeks free, he has finally found work and knows he can't be late. The fate of our two protagonists will cross in the worst way.
About Happy Hippos and Sad Peacocks, 2024,- Non-Fiction
Director: Elkin Calderon Guevara, Johannes Förster
Country: Germany, Colombia
How did peacocks, originally from India, end up on an island in Berlin in the 19th century, and hippopotamuses, a century later, on the banks of a river in Colombia? Their lives there appear to be “happy and free”. With rapturous imagery the directors’ decolonial fable turns them into wild icons, bearing witness to the whims of the powerful.
Abel, 2024, - Fiction
Director: Dekel Berenson, Paul Wesley
Country: USA, Great Britain, Mexico
Shaken by a recent breakup, 17-year-old Abel retreats to the mountains to hunt deer. Finding grace in the solitude of nature, but no solace to his pain, he returns home to unexpectedly find comfort in the arms of his aging father, as the two reconnect over their shared sense of loss.
Almost Forgotten / Quase Me Lembro, 2023, - Animated
Director: Miguel Lima, Dimitri Mihajlovic
Country: Portugal
A woman wanders through the impermanence of her childhood memories, trying to rebuild the story of the house where her grandfather lived.
Aqueronte, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Manuel Muñoz Rivas
Country: Spain
On board a ferry, a series of passengers cross a river from one riverbank to the other. Some of the travelers wrap themselves in silence and observe the unfamiliar fellow travelers or contemplate the scenery. Some others chat, perhaps to liven up the voyage and speed up time. The journey on the waters seems to expand, the destination shore is postponed, the magnitude of space is blurred. Motion itself is perhaps the only certainty.
Balcony Cacophony, 2023, - Animated
Director: Quentin Haberham
Country: Netherlands
When a rich lady with a passion for topiary must swap her mansion with lush gardens for a tiny council flat, she finds it difficult to cope with her new neighbor and his strange hobbies.
Been There, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Corina Schwingruber Ilić
Country: Switzerland
Weekend trips, city breaks, a detour into nature or once around the world. Barely a few days off, you're already gone. Never before has the desire to travel been so widespread and visited places so overloaded. What do we get out of it, other than the picture proof that we have been there? How tourists become invaders, hunting for the best pictures.
The Big Day / Schützenfest, 2024, - Non-Fiction
Director: Lennart Hüper, Lennart Miketta
Country: Austria, Germany
During a 24-minute sequence of skilful still frames, the duo Hüper and Miketta take us behind the scenes of the thrilling “Schützenfest”. A small German town breaks out the bunting to welcome the arrival of brass bands, hats and rifles, as the town’s men march as one towards the throne.
The Blanket / Шобрет, 2024, - Animated
Director: Regina Vitányi, Karl Kaisel
Country: Estonia
The Blanket captures Natalia’s reflections on the intimate connections between museum artefacts from her Udmurt heritage and personal memories, exploring the interplay of memory, materiality, and cultural identity.
Blood / Ratthum, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Vathana Suganya Suppiah
Country: Great Britain
Shanthi finds blood in her underwear at the worst possible time. Against the backdrop of a Tamil coming-of-age ceremony where fertility is celebrated, menstruation is shunned and infertility is silenced, Shanthi struggles to keep a secret.
Bye Bye Benz Benz, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Mamoun Rtal Bennani, Jules Rouffio
Country: France, Morocco
Since 2016, the Moroccan government has introduced a program to scrap old taxis. Kbir is one of the few drivers still attached to his old Mercedes 240.
Comrade Poopy, 2024, - Non-Fiction
Director: Anonymous "M"
Country: Myanmar, France, Japan
A quirky cat with the comrade Poopy goes on a tumultuous journey with his owners after a military coup in Myanmar.
Cross My Heart and Hope To Die, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Sam Manacsa
Country: Philippines
Mila struggles as she remains unpaid at work and a love interest becomes a source of comfort through his constant phone calls. But a promise of hope may also lead to tragedy and sad love songs.
Dreams Like Paper Boats / Des rêves en bateaux papiers, 2024, - Fiction
Director: Samuel Suffren
Country: Haiti
Edouard and his daughter live with a cassette received from his wife in the United States, a long time ago. After years of absence, what can we expect from a distant love?
Duck Roast / Sorsapaisti, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Jelica Jerinić
Country: Finland
Mamu, a young immigrant, is trying to woo Date, a Finnish lady, by making dinner for her. Once the meal is served, she discovers that the main course is a bit too “excotic” for her taste.
Fár, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter
Country: Iceland
At a downtown café, three business colleagues are discussing a future investment opportunity when a seagull hits the cafe’s window right in front of them. Anna, one of the colleagues, tries to ignore the event but is unable to shake off the incidents.
Forgetting Lenin / Hyvästit Leninille, 2024, - Non-Fiction
Director: Inka Achté, Einari Paakkanen
Country: Finland
For many Finns, Vladimir Lenin is to thank for Finland’s independence from Russia in 1917. But with Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, citizens of a small Finnish town of Kotka near the Russian border, have to re-evaluate their views about the fate of Finland’s last remaining Lenin statue.
Further and Further Away / Chhngai dach alai, 2022, - Fiction
Director: Polen Ly
Country: Cambodia
A young indigenous Bunong woman and her older brother spend one last day in their rural village in northeastern Cambodia, before an impending move to the capital city in search of a more prosperous life. While her brother is excited for the move, she senses a quiet desire to return to their long-gone village that was lost to the development of a nearby hydroelectric dam a few years earlier.
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The Goat, 2024, - Fiction
Director: Reza Mirzaei
Country: IRI
A young boy vows a goat to cure his mother’s illness, but the goat is pregnant. To cure his mother's incurable disease, a teenage boy from a village vows a goat to a holy shrine, unaware that a baby goat is on the way.
Greylands / Die graue March, 2023, - Animated
Director: Charlotte Waltert, Alvaro Schoeck
Country: Switzerland
An autumn day and the first winter night in the high mountains: it is hunting season. The paths of animals and humans cross and fade away. Swathes of mist blur the boundaries between dream, imagination and reality.
Group Picture / Foto di gruppo, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Tommaso Frangini
Country: Italy
Federico celebrates his birthday in the mountains with his group of close friends. Despite the memories and the years spent together, Federico's mind is clogged by some doubts and uncertainties about the future which will lead him to reflect on his relationships and on himself.
Holy Water / Swiataja Wada, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Andrei Kutsila
Country: Poland
36 days before Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. On another Baptism of Christ holiday an ice hole was made in a pond in a bedroom suburb of Kyiv. Church bells are heard on the shore, people are undressing, standing in line… In this short observational film, closeups of people of different ages, lines of naked bodies and short conversations tell us about the fragility of life, the contradictions of human faith and the joy of existence.
Invisible Border / Die unsichtbare Grenze, 2022, - Fiction
Director: Mark Gerstorfer
Country: Austria
A deportation in Vienna in the middle of the night. Police officer Nancy and her colleague Albert have the task of evicting a family. Together with a police unit, they ambush an Albanian family without a valid residence permit. The situation escalates.
Light of Light / Fos ek fotos, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Neritan Zinxhiria
Country: Greece
Before his death in 1932, a monk created his own camera in one of the most isolated places in the world. 90 years later, a filmmaker discovers and reconstructs the found footage.
Mariupol. A Hundred Nights / Маріуполь. Сто ночей, 2023, - Animated
Director: Sofiia Melnyk
Country: Ukraine, Germany
A little girl wakes up on February 24th because of the air alert and tries to find someone living in the burning city. A poem used in the film is «The wheels, the wheels, they hit the road» («Кolesa hlukho stukotiat») by Vasyl Stus who was a Ukrainian poet and an active member of the dissident movement during the Soviet occupation.
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Meet Daniel, 2024, - Non-Fiction
Director: Aris Katsigiannis
Country: Greece
If you were born there, who would you be? Daniel speaks about his Maasai culture, beliefs, marriage, circumcision and unity. Learn the value of equality through a young Maasai who does not see colour or religion but unity and oneness.
Memories of the Foreign, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Tolga Karaaslan
Country: Austria
The grandmother says, “I came to Austria in 1973.” This is accompanied by contemporary black and white footage of Wels, which sends us back in time—and brings memories of Turkish guest workers into the present.
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Nothing Special, 2024, - Animated
Director: Efrat Berger
Country: France, Israel
Between four walls, two women are waiting. One, for death that keeps passing her by. The other, for her life to finally begin. Based on a recorded conversation, the film simulates their attempt to escape what they cannot help but live, while they realize that nothing can be sometimes special.
Old Summer / Starsza Pani szuka, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Maria Wider
Country: Poland
Krystyna is 72 years old, but she has never known true love. In order to change something, she signs up with a matrimonial agency. Newcomming dates bring nothing than disappointments. Meeting elderly men let her realize, relationship may not be a lack in her life.
Our Uniform, 2023, - Animated
Director: Yegane Moghaddam
Country: IRI
A social satire about school uniforms in Iran and how girl students experience them.
Phool Dei, 2024, - Animated
Director: Kartik Mahajan
Country: India
Located in the fictional realm of Dev Bhoomi and nestled among majestic mountains, the narrative of the story is about the festival of flowers that celebrates the culture and togetherness of Uttarakhand, seen from the perspective of a small girl Medha as she goes on a Magical and an Adventurous journey to collect flowers for her village before it turns into a ghost village.
Saturn / Saturno, 2022, - Fiction
Director: André Guiomar, Luís Costa
Country: Portugal
“Saturn” tells the story of Caveirinha, a humble fisherman who lives in a difficult social housing. Immediately after the death of his son at the sea, he faces the difficulty of burying him with dignity.
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The Shell Covered Ox / Boi de Conchas, 2024, - Fiction
Director: Daniel Barosa
Country: Brazil, USA
While mourning her missing sister, Rayane balances helping her fisherman father and practicing for the school's music festival – provided she doesn't become an ox first, a misfortune assailing several teenagers in the area.
Sisters of Wind / Hermanas del Viento, 2024, - Non-Fiction
Director: Julia Carrizo Solanas
Country: Argentina
Twenty five years ago the sikuris band "Our Lady of Fátima" was founded, the first band in Argentina made up only of women. In the pilgrimage to the Abra of Punta Corral, a tradition formerly carried out by men, the band remembers the conquest of that space, from the bond, their fears, motivations and the network they form through music.
Spring 23 / Chūn èrshísān, 2024, - Fiction
Director: Zhiyi Wang
Country: China
A young man who has just finished handling the funeral of his parents attempts to purchase some fireworks for the 2023 Spring Festival, where fireworks are prohibited.
Tell Me About the Burryman, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: Julia Parks
Country: Great Britain
An affectionate portrait in 16mm of the Burryman – a long-lasting tactile tradition in South Queensferry, Scotland, in which a man dresses in a head-to-toe outfit of sticky burrs and parades the streets for one day each August. Filmed over a week, the film follows Andrew – the current Burryman – in his journey to collect the burrs, make the outfit and parade the South Queensferry streets during a single sun-soaked day in August 2022.
Tits, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Eivind Landsvik
Country: Norway
Following an unpleasant run in at the beach, teenagers Oscar and Iben are left behind by their friends. When one of them makes a friendly gesture, they experience what might be the beginning of an unexpected relationship.
Tradition / Teamül, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Ali Rıza Bayazıt
Country: Turkey
Junkdealer Salim sets off on a journey to find the lost cat of Tailor Adem, whom he has just met, and in order to keep Tailor Adem's memory alive, he must raise his voice against authority.
What the Soil Remembers, 2023, - Non-Fiction
Director: José Cardoso
Country: Ecuador, South Africa
In 1960s South Africa, a close-knit community from Die Vlakte was forcibly and violently uprooted to make way for the Stellenbosch University as part of the Apartheid regime’s segregation measures. This film recounts the traumatic effect displacement had on residents by bringing to the foreground a university that is still grappling with its racist legacy.
Where No Ships Go / Acolo unde bărcile nu ajung, 2023, - Fiction
Director: Vlad Buzăianu
Country: Romania
A storm in their family and a storm on the sea, happening at once, trigger radical changes in the lives of two young brothers. One discovers the fantastic world of childhood, while the other is struggling to hold on to it.
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Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?, 2024, - Fiction
Director: Faouzi Bensaïdi
Country: France
In the desert, a lone rider approaches at full gallop. His old, tired horse doesn’t convince. We repeat the sequence. Still not convincing. What are we going to do with this horse?
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