The 46th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival has taken place since February 2 to 10, 2024. The high number of submissions augurs a return to “normal”, with world production once again flourishing after three difficult cinematic years hit by Covid. Over 9,400 films have been entered from every continent, including almost 2,000 French productions.
The International Competition will feature 66 films of 52 nationalities.
The Lab Competition will feature 24 films from 23 countries.
Finally, 45 French films, including 12 international co-productions, will be screened in the National Competition
The choice was difficult and more limiting than usual. But the International Competition will once again host lovely stories and singular voices for 2024. Around the world in sixty-six films. Fifty-two countries visited, (re)discovered and magnified through the vision of sixty-eight directors.
More than ever, short films are a mirror of the shared and singular realities of the world, spurring us to want to see them or see them again in a new light. So, let’s laugh, cry, demonstrate, dance, think, shout and above all celebrate these international short films!
The Festival is celebrating its 46th National Competition, a showcase for French creativity in film, which is very far from seeing a decline, with 1957 films registered this year, coming from all corners of the country and even from much farther away. Some of the shorts were co-produced or shot by foreign filmmakers across countries and cultures to enrich our perspective with glimpses of Colombia, Morocco, Japan, Quebec… not to mention Belgium. The nearly two thousand entries were subjected to a rigorous selection process that yielded forty-five films, meaning that only 2.3% of the entries made it into the arena of competition.
Two French short films stand out: Avec l’humanité qui convient and Ma poule will be representing France in the International Competition. Both are first films made by Kacper Checinski and Caroline Ophelie, respectively, that deal with clear issues and offer completely contrasting atmospheres. One is a suffocating social thriller ably brought to life by a tense Joséphine de Meaux, who is deeply moved by the suffering of an unknown woman; the other shows the outdoor journey of a dreamy man (played by Sam Louwyck) who’d like it if his depressed girlfriend started enjoying life a bit.
North America films are in competition…..
Après coups / Canada/ Romane Garant Chartrand/ International Category
Inside an unnamed house, a support group unmasks domestic violence and fights to reclaim their power.
Mother/ Canada/ Salomon Ligthelm / International Category
“Mother” tells the story of Vitaly Ivanov – a miner on the Ukraine/Russian border who discovers a ringing phone – and tragically so much more – in his backyard. “Mother” is based on the true-life story of the miners of Rozsypne, Ukraine who combed the fields in Donetsk to retrieve the bodies of the victims of the MH17 disaster – an event that sowed the seeds of the Russian/Ukraine war today.
Un trou dans la poitrine / Canada / Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte
In a run-down neighborhood, Zoe and her little brother Theo are left to fend for themselves. A young adolescent, Zoe is a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror. Theo, still a child, flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children will have to burst the abscess of their relationship so as not to lose each other…
EarthWorm / Canada / Phillip Barker/ Labo Category
Sean’s mission on Earth is to help humans survive extinction. However, confronted with ‘Earth’s pointless gravity’, Sean’s body weakens. He seeks the help of a domesticated horse, who introduces him to poetry. He continues to collect samples: animals, worms, and the very children who have befriended him.
A Black Hole Near Kent County / USA / Hannah Schierbeek / International Category
During a cold Midwestern winter, Julie, a factory driver with a mysterious illness, attempts to unravel the truth behind the loneliness and the decay that plague her and her industrial town’s waterways.
In the Garden of Tulips/ USA/ Julia Elihu / International Category
At the height of the Iran-Iraq war, Caroline takes a car ride with her father to the Iranian countryside of Birjand.
Un Corazon mas contundente / USA/ Martín Benchimol / International Category
Conversations with Argentinian slaughterhouse workers turn into an exploration of fatherhood, blood ties and masculinity. Directed by Martín Benchimol, the son of a slaughterman.
You’re Invited to Tuscan’s 5th Birthday Party! / USA / Lee Eddy / International Category
Tabitha wants the perfect day for her son’s 5th birthday party, but the pony she rented gets spooked and tramples everyone in its path. While her husband and son search for her beloved dog that went missing in the mayhem, Tabitha is left alone to field increasingly frantic calls from injured guests. Things take a turn when the owner of the missing pony calls with unexpected news.
Incident/ USA/ Bill Morrison / Labo Category
INCIDENT reconstructs a police shooting in Chicago in 2018, reassembling the event and its immediate aftermath from a variety of viewpoints, including surveillance, security, dashboard, and body-worn cameras as a continuous, synchronized splitscreen montage.
