Growing up is hard to do, as the protagonists in this selection of films discover. Across these stories – which include a winner at SXSW and a short screened at Cannes Directors Fortnight – the mysteries of the world are slowly revealed in a variety of intelligent and intriguing ways. Capturing the essence of childhood – the fears, the anxiety but also the playfulness and the sense of joy – these shorts give us a chance to look at the world from a child’s perspective and to experience the energy of youthful exuberance.
Nanitic | Carol Nguyen | Canada | 2022 | 14mins
A nine year old and her cousin look after ants whilst their families’ grandmother lays dying in another room. A delicate and moving piece of work in which the playful innocence of youth is encroached but the adult realisation of sadness and death.
MYTH | Charlotte Woerlee | Belgium | 2023 | 19mins
Three young siblings find themselves stuck in the middle of the sea thanks to the rising tide. A part apocalyptic drama and part surrealistic fairy tale that tackles climate change with a dystopian – yet also hopeful – vision of those who will suffer it’s consequences.
LEMON TREE | Rachel Walden | United States | 2023 | 17mins
After stealing a rabbit to impress his ten-year old boy, a father finds that his relationship with his son will soon be radically altered. A paean to the chaotic energy of youth as well as to the broken pedestals of parenthood.
I Saw The Face of the Devil | Julia Kowalski | France | 2023 | 35mins
An 18 year old turns to a priest when she is convinced she if possessed. Traditional genre tropes are turned on their head in this unsettling yet compelling short that juxtaposes the power of belief with the uncertainty of teenage life.
Closing Dynasty | Lloyd Lee Choi | United States | 2022 | 16mins
This year’s winner of a Crystal Bear in Berlin and the Audience Award at SXSW is a remarkably observed story of a 7-year-old who wanders the streets of New York. But as she hustles money, it becomes apparent that her situation is more complex that it first seems.
