Men, Women and Children & Others

Various experiences of childhood are seen in several sequences that take place in the small town of Thiers, France. Vignettes include a boy's awakening interest in girls, couples double-dating at the movies, brothers giving their friend a haircut, a boy dealing with an abusive home life, a baby and a cat sitting by an open window, a child telling a dirty joke, and a boy who develops a crush on his friend's mother.

Bambino and Bawa meet in Lagos and hit it off immediately. During their long trips around the city they develop a deep affection for each other. But in a society which considers homosexuality taboo, they feel the pressure of social norms.

17-year-old Jakob wants nothing more than to feel alive. Uncontrollable anxiety attacks prevent him from doing so and force him to escape into virtual worlds. One night, he meets 26-year-old Kristjan in a cam chat. Their encounter marks the beginning of a transpersonal journey to the wounds of their souls.

Kati, a nine-year-old girl whose mother is suffering from an incurable illness. She must go through steps of happiness and sorrow, bonding and separation, having her hopes fulfilled and losing something she loves.

Chih-Ting and Chia-Lin, two students in Pingtung Girls’ Senior High School, are bosom friends. Their close friendship attracts jealousy from other classmates; thus rumors about them being lesbians spread. When this groundless rumor victimizes Chih-Ting and costs her best friend, it becomes too much to bear. In the 70s, the Taiwanese mainstream society regarded homosexuality as a negative variation of sexuality and imputed the cause of homosexuality to growing up in an unhealthy environment. However, the two protagonists’ friendship remains the heart of the story. Their unspoken emotional undercurrents are left for the audience to infer.

Created in response to a traumatic hate crime, artist, Venus Patel, explores her emotional journey through several archetypes, each of whom perform with an egg. Using the weapon of the assailant, the egg itself becomes a tool with many psychological and symbolic meanings within it. The power of reincarnation, birth, nature, hope while also pointing to the power it has to utterly humiliate and embarrass if used in a certain way. There is an embrace of the absurdity of these performances while still speaking to the deeper subject matter. By placing the outlandish characters into public spaces, they confront a preconceived notion of pushing true queer expression into only hidden spaces or only at night, into the daylight and into the normal everyday experience.

Andrew returns to his hometown for the funeral of his mother, a journey that reconnects him with past friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam - a girl also suffering from various maladies - opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

Josh Thomas is an artist grieving the loss of his wife, channelling inner turmoil into art. When presented with an opportunity, Josh must decide whether he’s selling art or his emotions.

Ang, a transgender sex worker with a pretty, feminine voice is assigned a special mission as an undercover spy. She disguises herself as a cisgender man to enter into a romantic relationship with Jit, a belligerent yet idealistic student activist with an evil voice.

The bodies of women lying on the ground weave relationships around them, they breastfeed, they connect with the ground ... Carla Simón's first short, shot on 16 mm in the Californian forests. An experimental exercise that connects with the cinematographic avant-gardes of the early twentieth century.