MIEFF presents a selection of the most recent and most exciting short experimental films of the year. We like diversity: 33 films from 20 countries take part in the program and each of them has its own unique language. The program is divided into 7 sections, after the screenings films will be discussed with the guests of the festival. An international jury will announce the winners at the closing ceremony.
Fainting Spells
USA | 2018 | 11 min Sky Hopinka Russian premiere
Told through recollections of youth, learning, lore, and departure, this is an imagined myth for the Xąwįska, or the Indian Pipe Plant - used by the Ho-Chunk to revive those who have fainted.
Kodak
USA | 2018 | 33 min Andrew Norman Wilson Russian premiere
A semi-biographical fiction inspired by his father's work at one of Kodak's first processing labs, Wilson's speculative gloss on the evolution of photochemical science entwines multiple perspectives and personas. Co-written by James N. Kienitz Wilkins, Kodak imagines a dialogue between a blind, mentally unstable former film technician and George Eastman himself, recordings of whom play out over a procession of photographs, home video footage, vintage Kodak ads, and animations.
The Hissing of Summer Sands
Portugal | 2019 | 18 min Catarina Mourao Russian premier
«The whistle man» was a typical character of the portuguese sea-side during the Fascist Portugal. His story has so many versions that he has become a myth: A poor crazy man who lost his baby girl, a professional homeless who lived from the charity of rich families, a pedofile or a summer father Christmas. His whistle announced his arrival and attracted boys and girls or made them run away. Last year I found 30 seconds of footage of this man which until then was just a memory. Is he more real now?
The Glass Note
USA | 2018 | 10 min Mary Helena Clark Russian premiere
In The Glass Note, a collage of sound, image, and text explore cinema's inherent ventriloquism. Artist says: «Throughout the video, I accentuate the image as an object, foregrounding its surface by using multiple formats and emphasizing the frame by having the image scan across the screen. The "thingness" of the image is then complicated by the way sound animates it, brings it to life. The final animation is based on an acoustic throne, a chair designed as a hearing aid in the late 1800s, made for King Joao VI of Portugal. I am interested in this listening device as an example of an object becoming a part of the sensing body.»
Piazza + Q&A
Russia | 2018 | 7 min Victor Alimpiev World premiere
On the endless parquetry, on the brink of the crowd bass-guitarist performs improvisation, each episode of which ends with a dance support of the exhausted musician by a careful assistant-bodyguard. Another assistant — a girl with a sword in her hand — limits the pauses of hugs.