Exterior Day (Italy) by Giulia Magno

Inspired by a famous exchange of letters between Michelangelo Antonioni and Mark Rothko, “Esterno giorno” is an experimental love letter to Italian cinema. Embarking on a journey in the footsteps of the characters played by Monica Vitti, the filmmaker poetically intertwines contemporary footage shot across Italy and the Jordanian desert with excerpts from Antonioni’s films, creating an illusion of continuity between past and present. From a metaphoric desert (the industrial area of Ravenna, where film masterpiece “Red Desert” was shot in 1964) to a real one, the physical spaces explored by the camera become psychological landscapes, states of mind, atmospheres. As the camera lingers on the architecture of La Cupola—the futuristic house in Sardinia designed by avant-garde architect Dante Bini in the 1960s for Antonioni and Vitti, then real-life partners—the line between reality and fiction starts to blur.

Running time: 00:08:00

The Well (United States) by Philip Miles Orduna, Sarah Young

An Asian-American man drives from his home in Chicago to a small lake town in rural Iowa, to confront a bar owner with whom he suspects he shares a traumatic childhood experience. What ensues is a tension-filled night where two men must find the courage to be honest and vulnerable with each other.

Running time: 00:12:24

The Last Kite (United States) by Fanny Lecendre

Hanna, a young woman balancing her mother's multiple sclerosis and her brother's alcoholism, goes on a date in an attempt to break out of the duty she feels towards her family. When her mother is hospitalized and her brother's drunkenness causes chaos, she gets overwhelmed and has to make a decision between living her own life and taking care of the people she loves.

Running time: 00:11:40

Safari (Italy) by Leonardo Balestrieri

Inspired by real instances of violence against LGBT+ people, Safari follows Elia, a member of a "hunting" group,  who serves as an example of the dissonance felt when one is forced to suppress themselves. Emerging from this annihilation will be lacerating, but ineludible.

Running time: 00:15:00

Losses (United States) by Jack Murillo

Two brothers reconnect after the death of their mother.

Running time: 00:23:27

Wena (China) by Natalie Kung

Wena, a domestic helper who works in a middle-class family in Hong Kong, takes care of a child Natalie who lives in the shadow of her parents’ tense marriage. Natalie builds a strong bond with Wena in spite of the constant sowing of discord from her demanding mother. On the other hand, Wena is backstabbed by her avaricious husband in the Philippines who threatened Wena with their daughter...

Running time: 00:30:00