Bookworm(2023)

Darkland: The Return(da)

Seven years ago, Zaid went to war against the Copenhagen underworld to avenge his dead brother. His identity as a respected doctor of cardiology and life as a family man is but a fading dream, and in prison Zaid suffers the loss of his son Noah, whom he barely knows. When a police agent approaches Zaid and offers him a deal to be released in exchange for infiltrating the Copenhagen underworld, he sees his chance to reclaim the remnants of the family life he left behind. But everything has a price, and Zaid realizes that he has now seriously endangered his son's life. After all, once you become part of the underworld, is there any way out?

Return(tt)

"Behind every strong man is a strong woman!", Mumine shouts as her husband is arrested. She has 4 children, she's in her mid-30s, and she's the wife of a Crimean Tatar political prisoner. Muslim Crimean Tatars have been oppressed for a long time. They were deported under Stalin, allowed to return under Gorbachev, and since the occupation of Crimea in 2014 under Putin, they are being persecuted again. "Return" is a portrait of Mumine and Maye, two strong women struggling with the consequences of oppression. Their traditional understanding of their role as women does not stand in the way of their dedication. They possess strength, beauty and dignity. Only in their most intimate moments, they are overwhelmed by desperate helplessness.

The Forbidden Legend: Sex & Chopsticks 2(cn)

Rich and powerful Simon Qing has been schooled in the ways of sex by his virile father, but is still a virgin. That is, until he meets his first love Violetta who has fun with him all over his father’s estate. Their love does not last, so Simon embarks on a journey. Along the way he meets the comely nun Moon whom Simon deflowers and then marries. He then becomes enamored of Golden Lotus but she is married to dwarf Wu Da-Lang.

Return(en)

A tale of terror. Cathy Reed has been institutionalized most of her life because of Schizophrenia, as a child her parents thought she was possessed by demons and had her exercised by priests. Medical science saw different. Now decades later Cathy is freed, relocated to her own flat and given a chance to be independent. Once alone things are not what they all seem and when her nightmares turn real she questions her state of mind before she is left to face her demons.

Return(pl)

Polish animator Anna Błaszczyk’s humorous short—a collage of drawing, cut-out, and computer animation—was inspired by Stanisław Lem’s 1961 novel Return from the Stars, a time-paradox tale of an astronaut who returns to Earth after many years away.

RETURN(ja)

8mm work directed by Norihiko Morinaga.

Return(en)

After reading an article about hypnotic regression, a woman whose maternal grandfather died when she was only three years old contacts the hypnotic subject named in the article believing that he is the reincarnation of her grandfather, and hoping that she can learn the truth about how he died.

Kingdom III: The Flame of Destiny(ja)

To defend their kingdom against a sudden invasion, a mighty general returns to the battlefield alongside a war orphan, now grown up, who dreams of glory.

Return(hy)

Eyüp decides to cross mount Ararat looking for his aunt in Yerevan after following a madman's words. His aunt has also been expecting someone to come from behind this mount for many years. Eyüp cannot be sure about the woman he finds behind the blue door, whether it is his aunt or not because they can't understand each other.

Return(en)

A young man returns home for the weekend to discover the difficulty of juggling friends, parents, magic mushrooms and several thousand chickens.

Return(en)

Return is a methodical construction of the approach of an individual towards an unseen goal, which assumes metaphorical significance. Viola moves toward the camera/viewer, pausing every few steps to ring a bell, at which point he is momentarily thrust back to his starting place, and then advanced again. Finally reaching his destination, he is taken through all of the previous stages in a single instant and returned to the source of his journey.

Return(en)

Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.

13 Exorcisms(es)

After participating in a séance, young Laura begins to behave strangely. Alarmed, her parents ask Father Olmedo, one of the few exorcists authorized by the Vatican to intervene in cases of demonic possession, for help.

Alienoid: Return to the Future(ko)

Ean has a critical mission to return to the future to save everyone. However, she becomes trapped in the distant past while trying to prevent the escape of alien prisoners who are locked up in the bodies of humans. Meanwhile, Muruk, who helps Ean escape various predicaments, is unnerved when he begins sensing the presence of a strange being in his body. Traveling through the centuries, they are trying to prevent the explosion of the haava.

Little Dixie(en)

Erstwhile Special Forces operative Doc Alexander is asked to broker a truce with the Mexican drug cartel in secrecy. When Oklahoma Governor Richard Jeffs celebrates the execution of a high-ranking cartel member on TV, his Chief of Staff and Doc inform him about the peace he just ended. But it’s too late, as Cuco, the cartel’s hatchet man, has set his vengeful sights on Doc’s daughter Dixie.

Return(en)

A single man has worked most of his life in a supermarket. One night, he unexpectedly meets with his father, and the two are faced with the question of the reasons for their separation.

Return(en)

Owen, a young man is dissatisfied with his life. He heads into the forest to escape and learns a lot during his time there.

1(hu)

A bookshop renowned for its rare works is mysteriously and filled with copies of a book entitled 1, which doesn't appear to have a publisher or author. The strange almanac describes what happens to humanity in a minute. A police investigation begins and the bookshop staff are placed in solitary confinement by the Bureau for Paranormal Research. As the investigation progresses, the situation becomes more complex and the book becomes increasingly well-known, raising numerous controversies. Plagued by doubts, the protagonist has to face facts: reality only exists in the imagination of individuals.

A(en)

A young alcoholic ambient musician locks himself in his apartment on a dangerous seven day bender as he attempts to finish his upcoming album.

1(ja)

Rain Boy(ja)

A lonely kid who lives in the countryside meets a strange boy who has a ragged umbrella over his head and there is always rain pouring over him. The rain boy is dazzled by the other kid's boots and offers three wishes in exchange for them.

Stray(en)

After three long years away, a crippled World War II soldier excitedly returns home to his wife, only to discover her life now revolves around a sinister stray cat.

The Birch(en)

A bullied schoolboy takes drastic measures against his tormenter, summoning an ancient being in the woods using a spellbound book passed down through the generations of his family.

Driven(en)

A women, in a car, in the woods, at night. She's driven by something. She's scared. She hits something with her car. She flees, not knowing from what. She's driven by fear.

Anorexia(en)

Marisa suffers from anorexia. But there's something that befuddles the doctors.

Jadi bikin?(en)

Two guys coming up together for an idea for a short films

The Audition(en)

Florence Walker is an aspiring actress who's barely getting any auditions. After finding a sketchy casting call for a horror movie, she takes the opportunity in her desperation, but nothing is how it seems. On top of that, she experiences the horrors of anxiety and mental illness in this situation of complete presssure.

Susannah's Lesson(en)

Based on Stephen King characters from the Dark Tower series, this short examines the student-teacher dynamic between the legendary Gunslinger and the woman in the wheelchair he pulled into his world a few months before our story begins.

Whistler's Mother(en)

The artist James McNeill Whistler spent years trying to capture the essence of his mother for his most famous work of art - not to create a masterpiece - but to save his mother from possession by the Baba Yaga, an evil Russian witch.

Frankenstein(en)

Frankenstein, a young medical student, trying to create the perfect human being, instead creates a misshapen monster. Made ill by what he has done, Frankenstein is comforted by his fiancée; but on his wedding night he is visited by the monster.

The Impossible Voyage(fr)

Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(en)

The Delivery(en)

An unwitting customer biting off more than he can chew. A mysterious driver with a penchant for blood. A delivery that is not what it seems. Nightmares will come to a head in this gruesome Halloween short film.

The Pledge(en)

Three criminals pledge to free the soul of their friend from his gibbeted corpse in this short film based on 'The Highwayman' by Lord Dunsany.

Don't Look Back(en)

The plot of the film takes place in a foreign company located in southern Serbia. The warehouse manager enjoys his free weekend, which is interrupted by a warehouse worker who invites him to come to the warehouse in order to have a serious conversation with a new client from London. The manager had no idea what had happened there and what is yet to happen in the warehouse.

Runaway(en)

Runaway is an animated short film about a misunderstanding between a man named Stanley and his treasured 1950s refrigerator, named Chillie.

Guest(en)

A young woman resorts to drastic, self-destructive measures to rid herself of a mysterious, otherworldly creature known as The Guest.

Family Tradition(it)

Short film by Daniele Zanelli released as part of the '4 Nightmares' anthology.

Suicide by Sunlight(en)

Valentina, a day-walking Black vampire protected from the sun by her melanin, finds it difficult to suppress her bloodlust when a new woman is introduced to her estranged twin daughters.

The Dolls with Attitude(ja)

Eri as a child hides her pain with a determined smile. This leads to an unprecedented change, turning her into a doll. After landing a singing contract she learns the depth of what she has become.