Experience the heartfelt stories in our annual program of romantic short films, where each narrative explores the essence of falling in love—or something that vaguely resembles it. Witness as women react to the questionable relationship advice only a man could give, a marinara-flavored porn parody, and a punk-rock swan song for the hunky construction worker just outside our heroine’s window, join us for a cinematic journey celebrating the myriad forms of deep, dazzling, and sometimes all-too-fleeting romantic connections.
The Films
Basri and Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy
Khozy Rizal | Indonesia | 15
A husband and wife married for 5 years, own an Odong-Odong at the carnival together, spending their days entertaining and taking care of other people’s children without any of their own. Between meddling relatives, self-doubt and an explosive confrontation, they uncover why they have not been blessed with a child.
Goodbye First Love
Shuli Huang | US | 12
He pays him a visit in Frankfurt during his work trip in Europe. He talks about their time in Beijing, back in 2015. He listens and, sometimes, answers, unblurring those seemingly important details, which do not matter any longer. Worn-out joy and fresh weariness. This could be the last time he sees him.
I Would've Been Happy
Jordan Wong | US | 9
An attempt to map a fraught relationship through the use of intricately coded pictographs and schematic abstractions applied onto glazed ceramic tiles and quilted cyanotype fabric. The aesthetics of architectural language are used to reconstruct memories of my family's domestic spaces in the hope to uncover logic to a broken home.
Make Me a Pizza
Talia Shea Levin | US | 12
A very hungry woman tells a pizza delivery guy she can't pay for the pizza she ordered. But can the sex she offers instead of currency possibly equate to the true value of a pizza? Is there anything that can be worthy of pizza, aside from what the market has decided? Together the two decide that their only option is to become the pizza object themselves, to make each other into pizza, in order to become free.
Salone Love
Tajana Tokyo | US, UK, Sierra Leone | 5
A moving scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone.
The Swimmer (Svømmeren)
Máté Boegi | Denmark | 17
When a sound-recordist brings his girlfriend on a trip to the Danish west coast to record atmospheres, he picks up a disturbing sound that begins to torment his conscience.
