EFA Shorts

Respectively, the selection of the shorts of the European Film Awards shares a number of themes that mostly examine human psyche, frame of mind, or gradual deterioration of the intellect (Genius Loci, Memorable), and social handicaps, loneliness, and abandonment (Lake of Happiness, Nina, All Cats Are Grey in the Dark). The Bite even addresses the virus pandemics, in its case transmitted by mosquitoes.
European production of short films is brimming with a variety of narrative films and documentaries, closely followed by animation with its bold signature authorship. Nearly all the selected films originate from an intimate situation of individual protagonists, which is set inside different cultural, social, or geographical borders. Thus, the films take us across mountains and oceans, from the cold Siberia to the sultry and tropical Brazil, from the sterile Switzerland, over the post-socialist Belorussia to sunny Portugal.
We should, however, mention two films that stray away from the rest by their unique theme and approach towards visual materials. Past Perfect is an experimental video essay that explores melancholy and sadness through the centuries up to the present day. Its picture, sound, and text are all proportionately important. The MA graduation film Sun Dog by the talented Belgian direction Dorian Jespers creates a thrilling, almost unpleasant atmosphere of the dark half-fantastic world of the relentless Siberia. The role of the camera is especially remarkable, since the protagonists at times interact with it as if it were a living thing, which theoretically takes the viewer on the escapades of the young locksmith Fedor.
Another one that stands out, is the optimistic short film Invisible Hero, which skilfully meanders between a documentary and a narrative film, between reality and fiction intertwined by a charismatic blind protagonist called Duarte. The films leads us through the streets of Lisbon, exposing the duality of the capital as we witness a number of building sites and masses of tourists crowding the shores as well as the nightlife soaked in African music that reveals the remains of post-Colonialism.
This year’s EFA candidates prove that we may always rely on the authors of short films to capture the zeitgeist with their vision regardless of the apocalyptic state of the society and asses it. It would be worthwhile to keep a weather eye out on the direction the creators of shorts will be heading in. Will it be a brutal, direct, and naturalistic approach towards the filmed material or will they seek inspiration and comfort in the imaginary and fantastic? All this and more in the next editions of the FeKK Festival! #FeKKtothefuture

Juca Bonaca in Dora Trček