In this selection, leading filmmakers demonstrate that the short documentary is an art form in its own right. Offering a mosaic of styles and themes, these films are also all award winners or special mentions of IDFA's short documentary and youth competitions.
Asho is a young shepherd in the sun-drenched hills of Iran. When he grows up, he wants to be a movie star. His sister and the cousin he'll soon be marrying don’t think much of it. Meanwhile, the irresistible Asho is already the star of his own film.
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A depiction of the most unpopular government agency in Sweden: the employment office, in which employees are reduced to cardboard cutouts.
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Short and apt portrait of a man who has been pinning up butterflies for many years and at a ripe age discovers his own "flying" skills on the dance floor.
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The Palestinian filmmaker wakes his friend with a phone call: he signed a petition, but was that actually such a good idea?
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A partially animated visual poem reflecting on life and death in Japan and the United States, through a Japanese-American woman’s personal account of her abortion.
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A beautiful observation of 12-year-old Milad, who spends his days in the Shadegan Wetlands of Iran. Life seems unhurried, and in close contact with nature, but here too the threat of drought and pollution looms.
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This unassuming, intimate portrait shows the emotions involved in a big decision that has to be made in just six weeks.
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The horrifying stories of two former child slaves who were kidnapped by Sudanese militias are told in animation.
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