WEDNESDAY 14/10 | 20:00
Nothing Happens After Your Absence
15’, 2026
Sudan
Documentary, Experimental
Synopsis
Ibrahim goes back to the village he once left, hoping to screen films. But as he wrestles with custom and bureaucracy, war ignites across Sudan, turning his search for a screen into a battle to stay alive.
Credits
Directed by: Ibrahim Omar | Screenplay: Ibrahim Omar | Cinematography: Ala Kheir | Editing: Ziad Faid, Youhanna Nagy | Production Design: Ezer Sloan | Sound Design: Ala Kheir, Ibrahim Omar, Youssef Assaf | Cast: Ibrahim Omar, Ali Hommed, Hommed Mohammed Ali, Qassem Al-Araby, Mohammed Yaqoub | Producer: Ibrahim Omar
Director's Bio
Ibrahim Omar is a Sudanese director and founder of SHORT – Short Film Brochures Magazine and Port Sudan Film Days. He studied cinema at Cairo’s Higher Institute of Cinema and the French University in Egypt. Over the past decade, he has worked as a television director and producer, directed several documentaries, and supervised the cinema page of Sudanese newspaper Al-Tayyar.
Filmography
2026 Nothing Happens After Your Absence
2024 Nothing Happens After That
Awards
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Quinzaine des Cinéastes – World Premiere, Cannes Film Festival, France, 2026.
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Grand Prix, Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Portugal, 2026.
Without Kelly / Utan Kelly
15’, 2025
Sweden
Fiction
Synopsis
Forced to leave her baby daughter with the child’s father, young mother Esther is caught in desperation and longing. Through the night, she chases touch and comfort, seeking ways to hold on to the one she loves most.
Credits
Directed by: Lovisa Sirén | Screenplay: Lovisa Sirén | Cinematography: Christine Leuhusen | Editing: Lovisa Sirén | Music: Lisa Rydberg | Sound Design: Claes Lundberg | Cast: Medea Strid Anton, Truls Carlberg, Teodora Sundström Latev | Producer: Siri Hjorton Wagner | Production Company: [sic] film
Director's Bio
Lovisa Sirén (b. 1986) is a Swedish screenwriter, director, and editor. Her award-winning shorts have screened at festivals such as Venice, Sundance, and Locarno. Sirén’s work often explores relationships, power dynamics, and complex female characters.
Filmography
2025 Without Kelly / Utan Kelly
2023 Thunder in my Heart (TV series)
2022 Maya Nilo (Laura) (feature film)
2016 Baby
2015 Audition
2014 Pussy Have the Power
Filmography
Orizzonti Award for Best Short, Venice International Film Festival, Italy, 2025.
What Do the Maknines Dream of
À Quoi Rêvent les Maknines
22’, 2026
France, Algeria
Fiction
Synopsis
Over the course of a summer night, two young Algerians are preparing to leave everything behind to cross the Mediterranean.
Credits
Directed by: Sarra Ryma | Screenplay: Sarra Ryma | Cinematography: Sophian Belgarbi | Editing: Sophie Reine | Production Design: Sisma Aksoum | Costume Design: Pierre de Monès, Kenza Taleb Vandeput | Music: Sarra Ryma, Aymen Tighiouart, Slimane Selimi, Chouf, Luis Malapa | Sound Design: Hafidh Moulfi, Julien Perez | Cast: Aymen Tighiouart, Slimane Selimi | Producers: Julie Mathieu-Moreau, Jules Dieng | Production Company: Colors Films
Director's Bio
Sarra Ryma is a queer Algerian filmmaker and activist based in Paris. Her work aims to make visible what remains unseen and to question what is already visible. Passionate about themes such as intersectionality, migration, love, vulnerability, loneliness, the restlessness of youth, and Arab melancholy, her visual landscapes are raw, tender, and subversive.
Filmography
2026 What do the Maknines Dream of / À Quoi Rêvent les Maknines
Selected Awards
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Rail d’Or, Cannes Film Festival – Critics’ Week, France, 2026.
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Audience Award, Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Portugal, 2026.
Praying Mantis
18’, 2025
Taiwan
Animation
Synopsis
A praying mantis mutant seduces and preys on men out of desperation to save her child. A failed mission led to revelations of her past and dark secrets as the story unfolds.
Credits
Directed by: Joe Hsieh | Screenplay: Joe Hsieh, Jie Zhan | Animation: Joe Hsieh | Editing: Joe Hsieh | Music: Duu-Chih Tu, Chen-Yu Wu | Soundtrack: Olivier Cong | Sound Design: Duu-Chih Tu, Chen-Yu Wu | Set Design: Willow Wu | Cast: Shu-Fang Chen, Vera Chen, Bamboo Chen | Producers: Yonfan, Joe Hsieh | Production Companies: Far-Sun Film Co. Ltd, Pleasure Garden Film Ltd
Director's Bio
Joe Hsieh is an independent Taiwanese animation director whose works often explore the dark side of human nature and are filled with drama, horror and suspense. Joe has a background in Fine Arts, which he combined with his love of films to create a style all his own.
Filmography
2025 Praying Mantis
2020 Night Bus
2014 The Present
La Barrière
17’, 2025
France
Fiction
Synopsis
Géraldine, a young stage manager, is blocking a deserted road for a film shoot near Calais. Not many people pass through, apart from Amar, a Syrian refugee. Encumbered by her barrier and her walkie-talkie, Géraldine does her best to carry out her mission.
Credits
Directed by: Christophe Deram | Screenplay: Christophe Deram | Cinematography: Léo Roussel | Editing: Baptiste Evrard | Music: Yannick Donet | Cast: Marie Narbonne, Jalal Altawil | Producers: Charles Philippe, Lucile Ric | Production Company: Les Films du Clan | Co-producer: Jean Penet, TROPISME
Director's Bio
Christophe Deram is a French filmmaker based in Lille. Since 2006, he has worked as an assistant director in both film and television, while pursuing his own creative projects as a writer and director. In 2016, he directed Les Marcheurs de Brume, followed by Crazy Hair in 2018, which was selected for the 2019 Unifrance Short Film Award.
Filmography
2025 La Barrière
2018 Crazy Hair
2016 Les Marcheurs de Brume
2011 Face
Awards
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Narrative Grand Prize, Indy Shorts Film Festival, USA, 2026.
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Julio Alejandro Award for Best Screenplay, Huesca International Film Festival, Spain, 2026.
Send Nudes
3’, 2026
Germany
Animation
Synopsis
Two young lovers in a long-distance relationship at the end of the 16th century send each other love letters with a carrier pigeon. But since her parents don’t allow them to meet, they can’t fulfil their fantasies together.
Credits
Screenplay, Directing, Animation, Editing: David Sick | Sound Design: Vladyslava Kandyba | Cast: Matthew Weight, Chloe Elmore | Producer: Rahul Kanuparthi | Production Company: Filmakademie Baden Württemberg
Director's Bio
David Sick has always had an affinity for creative work and has let his thoughts run free since he was a child, mainly through drawing. After graduating from high school, he completed an apprenticeship as a state-certified graphic designer and did a bachelor’s degree in digital media design before beginning to study animation at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 2020.
Filmography
2026 Send Nudes
2023 Cookedfellas
2021 Hero
2021 A Hitman Story
2020 Internal Affairs
2019 Kd Delivery
Awards
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Finalist, Student Academy Awards – Animation, USA, 2026.
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3rd Place, Rüsselsheimer Filmtage, Germany, 2026.
Runner
29’, 2026
Greece
Fiction
Synopsis
A young runner’s life quickly slips out of control after an accident in which he loses a large quantity of drugs. As he struggles to replace the missing package under intense time pressure, his decisions become increasingly dangerous.
Credits
Directed by: Ermolaos Fotiou | Screenplay: Ermolaos Fotiou, Lazaros Kenanoglou | Cinematography: Lazaros Kenanoglou | Editing: Evdoxia Hasapi | Set Design: Panos Sellas | Costume Design: Vasiliki Koutli, Stella Pittari | Music: Alex Argyroudis | Sound Design: Ilias Floudas | Cast: Giorgos Konstantinidis, Thanos Kontogiorgis, Faye Kokkinopoulou, Thanos Houtas | Producers: Ermolaos Fotiou, Lazaros Kenanoglou, Marilia Mamoglou
Director's Bio
Ermolaos Fotiou is a director and final-year film student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Born in Cyprus in 1998, he currently lives in Thessaloniki. Runner (2026) is his graduation project and first film.
Filmography
2026 Runner