Catharsis International Film Festival
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Edition 2017

Official Selection - Shortfilm

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Futulus - Igor Sadovski (Moldova)

A couple of family retires in a house in the woods for few days in the way to decide on the birth of their child. The husband wants a career, his wife wishes to preserve the life growing in her. 
"To be or not to be?" 
"Everything is in your hands" is the answer to the question. 
The story is seen through the eyes of the child, now already an old woman.

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Harm - Ciaran Hodgman (UK)

Sean has been arrested; for what exactly is unclear. As events from earlier in the night are revealed, Sean is clearly not himself and at odds with girlfriends Joanne. When questioned by Police, he remains silent, unwilling to communicate any sort of defense. Whether it is guilt or something else is unclear. As the police investigation probes further, he becomes more scared of the truth being revealed. What has Sean done? Perhaps mostly importantly, what has been done to him?

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New Dawn - Adrian Rodriguez (USA)

Short Film narrating the mystical time-traveling journey of an Aztec Jaguar Warrior. Spoken in Nahuat (original language of the Aztecs) subtitled in English.

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The Exile - Clémentine Iaia & Virginie Dewees (France)

In an isolated italian village, Milo, a teenager son of french immigrants, spends a modest life with his father and his stepsister Karen. Shortly after an accident during which he risks drowning, memory losses come to upset his routine.

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Save - Ivàn Sàinz-Pardo (Germany)

Dawns . A baby breaks the silence .



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Wall - Giannis Vlahopoulos (Greece)

Friday afternoon. Nine people before a wall. Waiting. Who has the right to see?

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Weelchair Dance - Yasuhiro Tamura (Japan)

A young ex-dancer in a wheelchair, he is in love with a female server in the cafè. She doesn't treat him as a person with a disability, but she doesn't see him as a special person too. One day, he runs into her on a date with another man. It makes him head to the ocean and push his feeling on his dance.

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Before Tomorrow - Margaret McGolderick (UK)

As a group of friends prepare to celebrate the imminent wedding of one of their own, old feelings rise to the surface, forcing each of them to re-examine their own lives and loves.

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The Phasebook - Ashutosh Singh (India)

Khadpat, a mentally retarded man, lives with his wife and two daughters. He works as homemaker while his wife earns bread & butter for family by running beauty parlor. One day Khadpat notices his wife searching her old friends on Facebook. He asks her daughter to make his facebook account soas he could also search his school friends. Daughter teaches him everything about facebook. In midnight when everybody sleeping he searches his school mate Priya whom he was in love.He finds Priya profile and asks her to meet at the same Park they used to meet twenty years back. Next day he gets shocked to know that Priya died two years back and her daughter Aditi comes to meet him.She says she still keep alive her mother profile on facebook to make he immortal. Film ends when Khadpat sees a tree on which he had written his and Priya name (KP) gets uprooted two years back.

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911-Pizza - Elefterios Zacharopoulos (France)
Nominee 'Best Screenplay 2017' - Elefterios Zacharopoulas
One day a woman call 911 and order a pizza ..... And if this time it's not a joke ?

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Boy meets Boy - Jonathan McPherson (Canada)

Honest, true and raw. Vincent is searching for love in his isolated perfect life. He turns to online dating sites to meet the One! Steven catches his attention. Mystery and anxiousness builds a mood of desperation that transforms to chaos, curiosity and anticipation. A battle between perfection and passion; nervous romance leads to passion triumphing... or does it? Suspense builds as the battle takes place. Victory is in your perception.

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Koffie - Bernard De Rycke (Belgium)
Nominee 'Best Screenplay 2017' - Bernard De Rycke/Fraukje Tan
​Winner 'Best Actrice 2017' - Katrien De Becker!
​Winner 'Best Shortfilm 2017'!

A mother and a daughter. The mother's house. Weak coffee. How strong is their relationship? Grey hairs above the edge of the seat. Will it get out of hand?

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3 Minutes - Shannon Browning (Australia)
Nominee 'Best Make-up 2017' - Aaron Mol
​Nominee 'Best Actrice 2017' - Lauren Hamilton Neil
Nominee 'Best Actor 2017' - Joseph Westwood
​Nominee 'Best Shortfilm 2017'

Three minutes isn’t a long amount of time. But when it’s filled with everything you can’t say, it can be an eternity. Ashley and Dane feel the pressure of all the words that are left unspoken, as they wait to see the results of a home pregnancy test that will determine their future.

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It Always Trembles - Sabrina Almandoz (Mexico)

On the morning of the 30th anniversary of Mexico's 1985 earthquake, a man follows his daily routine, while we listen to a disturbing phone call he has with his very much loved mother

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Il Campione (The Champion) - Jiang Boming (Italy)

Would you be able to laugh for five whole minutes? This is what Carmelo says people can do with his weird Smile Machine, the one he shows around fun fairs. He challenges people to laugh for five entire minutes without any interruption. That Sunday morning, everyone passing by his unique machine is attracted by it. Also because the prizes to be won are much better than any other in fairs, so far. Everybody tries to play but nobody can cope with the challenge: Sooner or later everyone gives up. The only one to win will be Raffaele, a dull and unexpected opera singer in trouble with his work and his family. His wife and son have no consideration of him: That's why he really wants to win, to get some of their esteem. And maybe he will get it, together with the admiration of an audience who, for the first time, is watching him only.

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Fils - Cyrus Neshvad (Luxembourg)
Winner 'Best Cinematograhpy 2017' - Nikos Welter!
Winner 'Best Screenplay 2017' - Guillaume Levil!
​Winner 'Best Actor 2017' - Hervé Sogne!
​Winner 'Best Director 2017' - Cyrus Neshvad!
​Nominee 'Best Shortfilm 2017'

Sébastien, who cannot come to terms with his son being in a coma, begins to question his reality.

Public Obscenity - Stefano Viali (Italy)

Trieste (Italy). A hot summer’s night and two burglars climb through a window into an apartment. Inside, a woman lies sleeping. They steal items and exit. The next morning the woman goes to report the theft. 
A surreal atmosphere pervades the city. In the streets only foreigners of various different ethnic groups are to be seen - even the policemen speak a language she does not understand. 
She experiences an utter lack of communication, a paranoid fear of the ''other”, the perception of a reality that she does not recognize. It all makes her feel more and more alone in the streets of her city, where she seems to be the only Italian left. Through a succession of scenes with powerful visual impact this shortfilm explores violence between human beings caused by racism.

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Kill the President - Pedro Pacheco Arlandi (Spain)

Ramon , a construction worker who lost his job and his family because of the brick crisis , embarks on a laborious plan to finish with his despair and many others.

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PezhvaK - Abbas Khademalrasoul (Iran)

The Young man is by river,he sadly throws a ring into the water. Later we figuire out that his wife has had an accident. The man comes back home . He is struggling with something he can't forget. It seems that he had an argument with his wife. The young lady's ghost entered the man's house in a wet dress and puts the mentioned ring on the desk and whispers.suddenly the man wakes up and...

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De-mente - Lorenzo Ayuso (Spain)

Klaus, a failed actor, shows up at midnight at the house of his old pal Genio, another actor whose career as a TV star is way more successful than his friend’s. Klaus has something crucial to tell him: he has had premonitory visions since childhood, and that same night, has seen Genio being savagely murdered. But the alleged victim seems sceptic...

Official Selection - Student Shortfilm

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​The Maiden and the Gatekeeper - Vincent Van den Ouden (The Netherlands)
Winner 'Best Make-up 2017' - Ingeborg Soolsma!
Nominee 'Best Actrice 2017' - Valérie Hoffmann
Winner 'Best Student Fiction Short Film 2017'!

Ever since her younger sister was killed in an accident Florien’s mother hasn’t been the same. But when Florien finds a fairy tale book, about the Gatekeeper to whom man sung to thank him for giving their departed safe passage across the abyss, she gets an idea. Is it possible for the Gatekeeper to bring those departed back? But will that restore their life like it was before?

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Lilly - Gina Wenzel (Germany)

Lilly suffers from Bulimia. She has successfully kept it a secret from her parents for many months now. She finds relief, chatting with her anorexic friend Anna. An uneven Friendship that soon starts to drive her towards her limits.

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Dragonfly - Carl Greene (Canada)
Nominee 'Best Cinematography 2017' - Carl Carter Green
​Nominee 'Best Student Fiction Short Film 2017'

Zac has suffered a traumatic event which has left him feeling lost and isolated from society. The attempts to help by those closest to him are met with little success. Ultimately it is Zac alone who must take drastic measures in order to emerge anew.

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Crime Confidential - Julian Lim (Malaysia)

Detective Vincent is appointed by the Department to undergo a secret mission to discover a mole residing within their corrupted agency. Sergeant and Officer Alvin express their deepest condolences for the loss of Vincent’s loyal companion on the field by the hands of the traitor. He angrily rushes out to seek justice, starting by the investigation of the crime scene near the harbour where Ken McBride’s body was found. He discovers a key hidden beneath the harbour boundaries that reminds him of his time together with Ken at the Gymnasium. Gaining his first clue, he proceeds to check Ken’s locker in their regularly visited gym.

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The mathematics of dreams - Isotta Santus (Italy)
Nominee 'Best Sound Design 2017' - Rachele Pitarello
Nominee 'Best Screenplay 2017' - Isotta Santus

Fermo, an unsociable retired teacher of mathematics, has dreamt the winning numbers to the lottery, but he doesn't remember them. He decides to relive the dream to remember the numbers. Talia, a student of Fermo, helps him to recreate the dream and helps him to face the ghosts of his past.

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Turn - Pooya Misaghi (Australia)
Nominee 'Best Cinematography 2017' - Elshan Moghtader
A group of self-proclaimed rebels decide to become modern day Robin hoods. The band of friends dedicates their lives to stealing from the dirty rich and giving to the dirt poor. 
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But what happens when things start going too well? Relationships are tested and friends soon discover that sticking to their code of ethics is much harder than they originally thought, especially when the merry band of friends find themselves thrown into the midst of turmoil.

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Life in the making - Aniruddha Pande (Canada)
Nominee 'Best Student Fiction Short Film 2017'
Andrew undergoes a unique assimilation training exercise designed to inspire purpose in his existence.

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Straw - Tyna Enzenma (USA)

Meg struggles to leave a husband who keeps treating her bad, when is it too late to leave?

Last Date - Lucyus Ribas (UK)

Two break-up agents on assignment end up on a date together. As they try to earn their fee, their "date" takes an unexpected turn...

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Promises - Edd Chettleburgh (UK)

One man’s Friday night journey home from work turns into something much more. As we witness deconstruction and decay of his life in front of our very eyes, as he finds out that two of his family members may have been directly involved in an attack.

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POOCH - Osman Yazici (Turkey)

Ahmet, he middle-aged, married and has a child. He works as a foreman in a factory. Ahmet, in good faith, unpretentious and he is meticulous about human rights. Ahmet and Faruk is engaged in smuggling refugees. Faruk, makes to through duty for refugee smuggling and he earns money. Faruk is a refugee from the back of the truck and hit the road. Faruk and boy come to his house.

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Mirror - Sara Eustaquio (Portugal)

She’s young. She’s in trouble. She’s staring at the mirror looking for answers. 

But what she's about to find can change her life.

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Inevitable - Savvas Christou (USA)

A writer with drinking issues, suffering after the break-up with his girlfriend is having troubles staying focused on his writing. Memories and illusion melt together in an agonizing experience.

Official Selection - Student Shortfilm - Animation

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'Dukha' - Aaron Lun (Canada)
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Duhkha explores one of the central tenets of Buddhism - suffering. It is a voyage through seasonal shifts, experiences, growth, and the accrued anxieties that come with them. Painful experiences can be overwhelming when we hold onto them, but we can overcome them. Eventually, we learn that life is neither good nor bad, it simply is.

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'Dimensions' - Andy James (UK)
Nominee 'Best Student Animated Short Film 2017'
A large scale adventure through alternate dimensions featuring a grumpy scientist, his hyperactive daughter and a gormless chicken.

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No. 16. - Da An Road- Joanne Lin (USA)
Winner 'Best Sound Design 2017' - John M. Churchill!
​Nominee 'Best Director 2017' - Joanne Lin
Winner 'Best Student Animated Short Film 2017'!

“Open the window so the air can circulate. Keep the letters if you see my name on them, otherwise they are just ads and you can recycle them. There’s stuff in the fridge, but I will bring something back. And don’t forget to lock the door. I should be home soon sweetie." 
With a sketchbook in hand, a young girl copes with her longings and loneliness through imagination.

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Wild Animals - Yarden Taube (Israel)
Nominee 'Best Student Animated Short Film 2017'
"Every man needs a place where he can go, to go crazy in peace". 
Wild Animals is a visual interpretation of mankind's relationship to nature, set to the words of Edward Abbey- a nomad, author and activist.

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The Letter - Winston Catarroja (Poland)

A love story about a young Geisha and her admirer who stood by her in trying times. The letter is her declaration of gratitude to the man she loves.

Official Selection - Commercial

The Essence of Time - 'LoadMe' - Bogdan Zoicas  (United Arab Emirates)
Nominee 'Best Commercial 2017'
The commercial is actually a motivational short video showing the struggle of people who want to beat the time. In the end we find out how we can make time to work for us using a platform dedicated for the logistics industry. https://www.loadme.ae - Matching Trucks and Loads across the Middle East. 
LoadMe is an Uber-like concept for trucks that is using the power of internet combined with truck’s GPS tracking and smart phones apps to connect efficiently load owners with available trucks in their area.​

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Vienna Table Trip - Virgil Wildrich (Austria)

An animated whirlwind cinematic tour through Vienna, staged with cups, saucers, plates, knives, forks, local specialties and products interspersed with different dimensions of Vienna’s contemporary urban life. Using stop-motion animation, Virgil Widrich’s team made 55,000 photos over five days to produce 2.7 terabytes of data. „We would have had enough material in the end to produce a 38-minute film taking a playing speed of 24 images per second,“ he says. It took weeks of work to compress the message into the film’s present length. You do not need to leave a Viennese coffee table to travel through the whole city! 
Commissioned by Vienna’s Staff Office International Strategy and Coordination


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Think!Legal - Daphne Samaras (Hungary)
Winner 'Best Commercial  2017'!
THINK!LEGAL is a 1 minute long explanatory promotional film by young animation director, Daphne Samaras. A low budget, hand made puppet animation / stop motion advertisement. The creative team of animators and designers made the product of environmental protection and sustainability consulting services user-friendly to the target audience by creating a loveable character and warm, playful world for the film.

Official Selection - Music Video

Sweet Agony  - Ashavahishta (Yousefi Morteza)

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Dawn - Arnaud Vièmont

Inside a shabby american diner on the side of a lost national road, the mesmerizing dance of a stripper triggers a extremely violent brawl among the customers.
Klik hier om te bewerken.

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Peaceful Life - Guts Feat. Lorine Chia
Nominee 'Best Music Video 2017'
A homeless man lies in a crowded street. Ignored by the pedestrians, the old man is robbed of one of his only possessions : a football. 
To take it back, the poor man stands up and shows everyone he is not only what he looks like.

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Alive - Falcor
Nominee 'Best Cinematography 2017' - Paul Jerndal
Nominee 'Best Director 2017' - Paul Jerndal
Winner 'Best Music Video 2017'!

A dramatic music video where the Swedish dream pop duo wants to help people with suicidal thoughts to find strength and understanding to carry on. 
Falcor is a Swedish alternative pop duo. The two Swedes, Povel Olsson and Paul Jerndal’s creative paths crossed in 2011 trough their homelands international pop star Robyn. Olsson was drummer in her band for several years and Jerndal produced a nationwide TV Award Show where they all collaborated. 
Where as Paul kept his musical background alive in video and film collaborations with other Swedes (Icona Pop, Eliphant, Frida Sundemo, XOV, Erik Hassle,Becky G, Alina Devecerski, Andreas Moe) Povel toured the world with his band The Royal Concept and produced and wrote with various artists (Robyn, Veronica Maggio, Linnea Olsson).

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Dis-moi pourqoui tu m'obsèdes? - Breton (France)
Nominee 'Best Music Video 2017'
Man, woman; black, white; straight, gay... We are all the sames constantly fighting between our dark side and the light in us

Official Selection - Unproduced Screenplay

Crossroads of Mortals - Jana Meador
Winner 'Best Unproduced Screenplay 2017'!
Four Lives, one dark secret. When wildlife photographer Margot Smit travels on assignment to remote, oceanside Lingit, Alaska, the lives of  four people and a decades-long secret haunting them are set on a collision course. Offering one another compassion and empathy, they seek inner peace. Can a tragic event from the distant past destroy their lives in the present or will the human spirit prevail?

Hidden - Taiyen Stevenson (shortfilm)
Nominee 'Best Unproduced Screenplay 2017'
An escaped convict kidnaps a young female stranger who harbors a dark secret...

Death's Lady Love - Stephen M. Hunt (shortfilm)

when not reaping those bound for eternity, Death lives like the guy next-door with his cat. He falls for a mortal young woman who subsequently appears on a list of the damned he must send to hell. Death risks destruction and damnation to keep his woman for himself.

Resurrection Time Conspiracy - Jim Carroll
Nominee 'Best Unproduced Screenplay 2017'
It seems like an innocent research project when the Institute of Learning employs the greatest minds across the world to create a matter transfer machine. But the institute is really a covert organization funded by Islamic Extremists and the matter transfer machine is being created as a GPS bomb delivery system.
When the youngest geniuses’ discover matter transfer, they also discover time travel and the true intentions of the institute. Ram Goldstein, the brightest teen, is forced to complete to project or watch all his love ones die. 
The Terrorists go on a mission to commit the ultimate Jihad. They travel back in time to kill Jesus before he can be crucified and prove that he is not God. The teens are the world’s only hope as they must adventure back in time and to avert the catastrophe, before the new time continuum overwrites itself.
The teens arrive in 33 AD, with assassins hot on their tails. Trapped in the past the teens must interact with Biblical characters to defeat the assassins, restore the time continuum, save Jesus, and try to find a way back to whatever future awaits them.


The Wonderful - Demitra Papadinis

In a time when the Church rules with an iron fist, CHRISTINA, a meek farm girl who lives with her two older SISTERS, seeks to lead a godly life.
But the sisters are in debt and about to lose the farm. They strike a deal with FATHER GODFREY, a greedy and worldly man. Godfrey promises to take care of Christina, but he plans to give her to his henchman BRUNO, a pimp.
Christina flees to the forest where she stumbles upon a tryst between Count LOUIS and his next intended conquest, LUTGARDE. She also meets Louis’ impish manservant ORMOND and befriends TOMMY, a young urchin. Lost, she wanders home just as Bruno arrives to carry her off to the brothel. But God miraculously saves her… by striking her dead.
At her own funeral, Christina revives and demonstrates supernatural powers. Godfrey, convinced that she is possessed, attempts to perform an exorcism. When that fails, he orders Christina locked up to await the Inquisition.


The Zombie Effect - Roger Sampson

A graduate student discovers the truth behind a horrific phenomenon that kills and then reanimates people and races against time to find a cure before its too late.

Clear Blue Sky - Michael Brazda

A curios writer is sucked into a criminal conspiracy when a loaf of white bread falls from the sky and kills a man who looks just like him.

A Women, Untitled - Charles William Lane

In a desperate search for her identity, a woman descends into a surreal dreamscape of guilt, art, motherhood and murder.

Dakota Caves - 2 Miles - Robert J. Rogers

Elmwood, a sleepy town in rural Nebraska, is the epicenter of an alien invasion. A space ship drops trillions of six foot, egg-shaped objects into the atmosphere that float down and hover on the ground. And while the planet tries to understand what they are, inside is a growing, vicious, creature that ultimately cuts it's way out of the shell, and attacks humanity with blood-thirsty intentions.
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