Emile Reynaud

Mi reino

An elderly hoarder seeks to overcome time and memory to find closure and redemption in the twilight of his life.

Witness

Experimental short film by Barbara Sykes

Stone

Kevin Jerome Everson's single-take film of a street hustler's sleight-of-hand game takes its place in a rowdy crowd of onlookers. The camera stays focused on the man's fleet fingers while the audio is glued to his gift of gab: "Keep your eyes on that little red dot if you want to win cold cash money on the spot." Every bit the performer, the hustler makes us wonder whether the film itself might be a kind of shell game (with the seemingly raw immediacy of the shot concealing its artistic intentionality). - Max Goldberg

The Dog Lover

Jack is the fastidious manager of a local supermarket. The harmless but disruptive actions of his customers frequently give him headaches, which he remedies by holding a can of frozen juice against his forehead. At home, however, Jack is consistently kind, loving, and patient with his wife and daughter. One day the child brings home a stray dog, and his life is turned upside down.

Fake Me A Happy New Year

Anita and her children, Santa and Kristaps, live in an apartment in Riga. Every year, they celebrate New Year’s Eve with grandma, uncle Peter and a feast fit for kings…

Liquidation

Scratches. Cross-outs. Stripes. Arnaud is tirelessly attacking ancient masters' painting reproductions with the tip of his pen. His free and living interlaces highlight shapes and figures.

Fish Tank

The Family decided to reunite for one last time before the daughter moves away overseas for work. But the father unexpectedly brings his new partner along to the party.

Caramel

A teenager comes to terms with his place in the world when he learns of his mother’s immoral past the day before his grandfather’s funeral.

The Charles Pathé-Babies

The 13th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. The Pathé-Baby, or ‘cinema at home’, the precursor to home cinema, was launched in 1922 and made it possible to watch comedy stars such as Max Linder, Laurel and Hardy, and Felix the Cat, as well as ‘big films’ such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Abel Gance's Napoléon, at home.

Building the Dream

Young singer Dmytro creates the rock band "Shadows," but realizes that the other members are only slowing down his path to the big stage. He wants to turn his life around 180°, leaving the dangerous and depressing city of Sumy behind to find a successful music career in the capital.

Chedly

Second Place

One of several Kevin Jerome Everson pieces regarding African-American rodeo riders, SECOND PLACE brings us inside the big show. The jerkily pixilated view of a bucking bull offers an aesthetic equivalent of the cowboy's wild ride while the film's silence lends an unexpected repose to the contest. Whether anticipating a bull's blasting out of the gate or watching an old hand stretch out his back, Everson's camera is ever-attentive to the action at the edge of the frame. - Max Goldberg

The Mayberry Practice Calf

Radiating the radical simplicity of a Lumière actuality, THE MAYBERRY PRACTICE CALF shows an African-American cowboy roping a hunk of tire again and again. "Calf roping is a discipline," Kevin Jerome Everson told an interviewer. "People practice it, they know the language of it and they know how to do it." Everson's camera evinces a comparable degree of discipline, with a single long take functioning as a montage through the serial repetition of the cowboy's action. We may wonder if we're watching a loop but gradually our eyes are drawn to small variations. Practice makes perfect. - Max Goldberg

When We Fight

In the second largest school district in the United States, 98% of teachers vote to authorize a strike. Watch as one of the largest educator strikes in modern U.S. history unfolds in real-time, highlighting the stories and leadership of some of the women who led it, from union leaders to classroom teachers. From strike vote to contract vote, When We Fight goes behind the picket lines, documenting how and why teachers strike. "This powerful and beautifully crafted film is a must watch for anyone interested in the state of labor in America today." - Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and Professor of Public Policy, UC Berkeley

The Wooden Calf

In a 2014 artist statement, Kevin Jerome Everson wrote, "The main thing I like doing is filming people of African descent, black folks, who are really good at what they do... engaged in something that is an internal language." Indeed, blink and you might miss this cowboy's lightning-quick way with a lasso. He shows his stuff in an impressionistic montage, flashing a winning grin. - Max Goldberg

München, Raphaela

A film about a young woman's future plans in Munich, Germany. MUNCHEN, RAPHAELA (also known as RAPHAELA RING MUNCHEN) is part of Mike Plante's Lunchfilm series of commissioned shorts (made for the cost of a lunch between Plante and filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson).

Raumerfahrungen

What advantage does space travel bring to mankind? A father and his son search for answers during a walk in the forest.

Those who Choose the Sea

Inspired by the powerful true story of the Igbo Landing of 1803, where a group of enslaved Africans chose the ocean over slavery. This poetic film follows African freediver Tatiana Mendes as she confronts her own inner turmoil beneath the surface. Through the discipline of freediving, she dives into more than just water. She descends into inherited trauma, ancestral memory, and the quiet violence of modern life.

Becoming Me

A group of three girls meet up after not seeing each other throughout summer break, but one comes back ‘different’. This short film explores breaking away from social expectations and expressing yourself unapologetically.