Fānus-e Xiyāl, an Étude by Shahriar Hanife

Spearphishing 3

Colt Hanson has embraced rural life and policing once again. However, the Russian assassins return, led by Vasily Sokolov, and an evil plot unfolds. Colt and his fellow officers become entangled in a murderous plan, as they race – against all odds – to save the Prime Minister.

I Was So Afraid of You Running Away

“I Was So Afraid of You Running Away” is an analog film consisting of nearly 5 thousand frames being drawn by hand directly onto 36 mm film negatives. The film explores the tension between desire and restraint, freedom and constraint, ultimately underscoring the fragile balance between self-expression and self-sabotage in the pursuit of love. Through a dark analogue visual narrative and a hauntingly evocative soundtrack, the film unravels the enigma of love, portraying it as a dynamic force that transcends conventional boundaries and defies simple categorization.

May

A socially awkward veterinary assistant with a lazy eye and obsession with perfection descends into depravity after developing a crush on a boy with perfect hands.

THE PROTAGONIST IN BRESSON'S FILM

A boy with a broken heart is obsessed with a dreams, so he decides to embark on a journey that eventually reveals the meaning of life to him.

Spearphishing 2

Police officer Colt Hanson believes he is finished with the Russians—until the vengeful cartel returns to kill Colt and everyone he loves.

Translations

It's been years since Stef last left her house. The loss of her brother combined with the quiet dread of the unknown conspiring to keep her inside. When her brother Liam's best friend, Evan, arrives to give Liam's journal to Stef, they begin a relationship. However, when Stef and Evan start to unpack their shared trauma, they question if their relationship can ever break free from its confines? Caught between Evan's images of a world outside that they could inhabit, and a story of lost love that Stef is translating from a previous generation, Stef must choose the kind of future she wants, and whether Evan will be a part of it.

Metamorphoses I

For the multimedia exhibition Tangenten I (Tangents I), Dammbeck and co-organizer, sculptor and painter Frieder Heinze had planned to collaborate on a film that would combine non-camera animation with 35mm footage of a train ride between the two Dresden districts of Radebeul and Pieschen. When the exhibition was banned in 1978, Heinze turned to other projects, but Dammbeck continued working on the film by himself. Metamorphoses I—the first experimental film ever to be shown publicly in East Germany—marks the filmic beginning of Dammbeck’s long-term art project the Herakles-Konzept (Hercules Concept).

The Village Next to Paradise

In a windy Somali village, a newly assembled family must navigate between their different aspirations and the complex world surrounding them. Love, trust and resilience will power them through their life paths.

Cruiser

Jan receives the group patch at the campfire, Herkules brews up some tea in the workshop and Sidney gets a mohawk haircut done by his father. The film shows fragments from an Oberhausen subculture in which symbols and practices of the outlaw motorbiker scene are transferred to cycling.

In Pursuit of Temples in the Sky

In Pursuit of Temples in the Sky introduces a fictional landscape in which the worlds of Sikhism and Queerness collide. Conceived as a fashion film where textures and textiles take the foreground, narratives are constructed by examining and dismantling the bodies of work of two poets, Avtaar Singh Paash and Richard Siken.

Human Traffic

For Jip, Lulu, Koop, Nina, and Moff, the dead-end jobs they endure during the week just kill the time until Friday night. That's when they cut very loose and get on the rollercoaster ride that takes them right through to Monday morning.

GHOSTS

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. When we die, where does our energy go? Inspired by Vauhini Vara's essay "Ghosts", in which she prompted Al to help her write about her sister's passing, "GHOSTS" takes us on the emotional journey of grief. We see a ghost figure trying to get through to her sister, who is still alive, and let her know she's still around somehow. There are two poems in this piece, one is a poem written by GPT 3, and the next is the director's (Oriana Mejer) response to it. This film uses spoken word poetry, TouchDesigner motion graphics, and is originally scored by French musician Taime.

90 Seconds of a Child Being Exposed to Graphic Content

a 90 second anthology following a little girl trapped in the hypnotic glow of her smart tablet. She scrolls through an abyss of unsettling videos- fragments of violence, perversion, and decay disguised beneath the cheerful visage of online childrens entertainment.

Elements of Nothing

For this film, Takashi Makino allowed himself to be inspired by the earth. In a never-ending stream of images, we recognize elements from the forest that he then reduces to an abstraction. The film came about as a classical composition in which the picture and the musical contribution of Jim O’Rourke link up seamlessly and lead the mood in turn. A sense of freedom is what predominates.

Perf Dance

A visual reinterpretation of dance and animated found footage.

Spectral Ascension

Music by Byron Westbrook, 16mm film by Paul Clipson.

Red Rocks

A small collection of red rocks from the beach cycle through the primary colours before ultimately losing both their colour and form, abstracted through digital degradation. An experimental short film exploring newfound issues in preservation in the digital age and how this ties to our own memory, fading as the years go by.

I Want a Love That Hungers for Me, But Not for My Body

Guided by the recitation of a poem, the story of a couple transforms into an intimate ritual where desire, love, and cannibalism become intertwined.

The Bruce Peninsula

Two half-brothers meet for the first time after the death of their estranged father and embark on a road trip across Northern Ontario to spread his ashes.

Roca Morena