Pena

l'A.M.—a misheard love story(en)

L'amour (love). La mort (death). Two French words that could confuse a foreigner, but never a native. Messenger V writes for a company that sends out both love letters and death sentences. After going into work one day, she finds out her assigned recipient is her lover.

Nostalgia for the Lake(es)

A vision from Limbo, where the canoeist of the eternal lake floats in his boat, between sleep and wakefulness. When he sleeps, he dreams of the everyday of a parallel time. when he wakes up, the same song haunts him again and again. his boat, “ara” (time, in guarani) travels through time like a shooting star.

Woolgathering(en)

A collection of interwoven images are threaded together by a string of unspecified women who roam their dreamscape which they are unable to escape. They are displaced, belonging to no particular point in time or place, and a disoriented sense of self pervades. Together, the film becomes a quietly throbbing organism of reality and unreality, and the gaps between an impending present and a perpetual past are frail.

PROLIX(en)

A young woman watches TV with her cat in the room. A dying man explores what's left of his psyche.

The Waltz of a Lonesome Pigeon(en)

An experimental fairy tale about life, death, and spreading your wings. After Cecilia witnesses a bird smashing into her window, she begins to notice her body transforming. Her skin starts to peel and little feathers start to grow out of her back. Will she fly away or end up like that poor little bird?

Flux(en)

Samantha is an 18-year-old girl who, in the middle of a move, experiences a flashback of memories and is reunited with her imaginary childhood friend, Flux. Between waves and cardboard boxes, she passes the farewell with herself, with what surrounds her and with the tide.

Opulence(en)

Amidst the realm of her parents' upscale nightclub, a young woman embarks on a surreal odyssey to confront her identity, only to find herself inescapably mirroring her father.

Astronomical Echoes(pt)

Made by film students, the short film is a tribute and authorial reinterpretation inspired by old Pink Floyd music videos as a psychedelic trip. Using overhead projectors to capture a liquid light show, the narrative is stitched together from a retro photograph, bringing a bit of 60s psychedelia with an air of nostalgia. With the combination of two of the band's songs ("Echoes" and "Astronomy Domine"), the music video brings the concept of the realism and ludic, of the present moment and insanity. Composed of characters who are part of a fictional band and travel through the delight of a mind that lives in the past while resting in reality.

House(ja)

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip to the countryside to visit her aunt at their ancestral house. She invites her six friends, Prof, Melody, Mac, Fantasy, Kung Fu, and Sweet, to join her. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

Guinea(ja)

Yukari Nishihara, 25, earns her living as an art model and aspires to become an actress. One day, while she was out, she saw “a man's face about to jump off the roof of a building”, and since then she has been suffering from a peculiar constitution: she sees a suicide while on her period, faints, and develops a fever. The goddess of love does not smile on Yukari, who is unable to become a sweet girl with a nice boyfriend. The only things that can save Yukari now are her best friend Hana, who has a keen intuition, and a suppository that can break a fever in one shot. On the day of an important audition, Yukari has decided that this is her last chance. However, Yukari realizes that she has forgotten her antipyretic suppositories, and her eyes meet those of another soon-to-be suicide victim. She is in a desperate situation. What does Yukari do?

FLES(en)

A young man sits at a local restaurant with his friend: but he isn't paying attention to her as she speaks. This film visualizes his chaotic state of mind and how he uses mindfulness practice to tune back into the conversation. Mindfulness is being able to sit with and observe your thoughts. Being mindful improves focus and mental health. FLES is SELF spelt backwards.

Flower of Flesh, Celestial Body(es)

Caterpillar(ja)

A half-hour experimental film that shows Fukui moving towards cyberpunk imagery in a manner similar to Tsukamoto, featuring industrial locations, a malfunctioning cyborg/android and a hulking metallic ‘caterpillar’ that stalks characters.

Tyngsboro(en)

During his visit to a graveyard, a young man is suddenly projected into a dream-like realm. Empty and removed from time, the familiar landscape forces him to confront certain pains when blood suddenly effuses from his hands.

Hot Beach Babe Aims to Please(en)

Jillian Mayer takes a walk on the beach. As she enters the camera’s frame, a swarm of cursors follow and stalk her as she moves.

Isolation(en)

A meditation on isolation through paint textures, video collage and sound

Dos Galhos Prateados(pt)

Lohengrin(en)

A short experimental film shot on Super 8, inspired by the music of Richard Wagner.

Online Bodies(en)

The film takes a look at seven different twilight zones between the physical and virtual. We cannot escape from the grid but can we bend it from the inside?

The Other Side(is)

A silent short. Water, footsteps, darkness and light. Shot and edited entirely on a phone in a single day.