Emtehan (Exam). 2019. Iran. Directed by Sonia K. Hadad. In Persian; English subtitles. 15 min.
This precisely calibrated nail-biter from Iranian filmmaker Sonia Hadad follows a teenage girl who reluctantly transports her father's cocaine on a school day. Enlivened by a gripping performance by Sadaf Asgari (who picked up the Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival), Exam delivers genre thrills and serious social commentary. New York Premiere
Monstruo Dios (Monster God). 2019. Argentina. Directed by Agustina San Martin. In Spanish; English subtitles. 10 min.
Glowing red, an all-seeing power plant looms above a foggy town and seems to anticipate an unknown cataclysm while a punk teen longs to escape. New York Premiere
Wong Ping’s Fables 2 (黃炳寓言二). 2019. Directed by Wong Ping. In Cantonese; English subtitles. 14 min.
Hong Kong animator Wong Ping renders social dynamics and economic anxieties through intersecting moral tales of an anthropomorphized cow and three sibling rabbits. Something like Memphis Design as envisioned through a video game, this candy-colored continuation of the award-winning Wong Ping's Fables 1 builds upon the self-taught animator’s bizarrely funny observations of contemporary society. New York Premiere
Gimhanaye netra (The Eyes of Summer). 2020. Sri Lanka/USA. Directed by Rajee Samarasinghe. 15 min.
A young girl communes with the spirit world around her in the aftermath of the Sri Lankan Civil War in this dialogue-free movie about ghosts and the pain of memory. New York Premiere
Sun Dog. 2020. Belgium/Russia. Directed by Dorian Jespers. In English and Russian; English subtitles. 21 min.
“The everlasting night is unbearable,” laments the client of a young locksmith in a frozen city in northern Russia. He stumbles through the inky darkness, captured by a floating, roving camera evoking the delirium of deep winter. Will the sun ever rise?