ÉCU – The European Independent Film Festival is excited to announce its Official Selection of films that will be showcased at the 19th edition of the festival. ÉCU 2024 proudly screened 58 films from 24 countries on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of April 2022 in Paris, France.
European Dramatic Short
Director Nefeli Chrysa Avgeris
Country Switzerland
Four young women grappling with themselves and their self-esteem, far from everyday life and social media. A multitude of subtle revelations in the constant process of being a woman.
Director Jay Robey
Country United Kingdom
As a devoted and loving mother’s mind begins to unravel, the line between reality and a freakish nightmare becomes increasingly difficult to draw.
Director Anke Sevenich
Country Germany
“Klabautermann” is a legendary ship’s ghost who wreaks havoc on ships and only disembarks once the ship sinks. The old resident Eugen, wants a self-determined end to his life, and the young nurse Miranda, doesn’t take the rules and regulations at her workplace all too seriously. Both rebel against alienation and humiliation in care.
Director Alexandre Desane
Country France
When he was a child, Wilnor didn’t see himself as being black, because of his light skin he thought that he was seen as an Orange child. As an Actor today, Wilnor is still conflicted because being Black also means that he will only get roles which portray negative racial stereotypes of Black men. In deep introspection he sought for some answers and found his childhood computer, he explores a video game he started creating when he was 11 years old.
Director Rakan Mayasi
Country France
Boushra, a young Syrian girl, returns home after a hard day’s work harvesting potatoes in Lebanon. This evening is not like the others: it is the last moment of her childhood.
Director Delphine Montaigne
Country France
This time, Felix is risking a lot. The director summoned his mother and threatened to deny him the access to the establishment. But what could Felix have done? And what kind of establishment is it exactly?
Director Luca di Paolo
Country Italy
Deathmate is an app that allows people to find a death’s partner to share the suicide experience. Alessio and Francesca meet for the first time thanks to the app and decide to spend their fatal night together. But will it really be their last night?
Directors Raquel Guerrero
Country Spain
Tito, a neighborhood boy that everyone is always teasing, wants to prove his worth. He’s already been through several initiation tests, and he is now doing car donuts in a vacant lot around his neighborhood with his new “friends” after pulling an all-nighter. They are all having fun, playing music and taking drugs, but then a comment from Tito turns the party into a macabre joke. His friends force him to commit a robbery to complete the initiation ritual.
Directors Liam Hendrix Heath
Country United Kingdom
“Klabautermann” is a legendary ship’s ghost who wreaks havoc on ships and only disembarks once the ship sinks. The old resident Eugen, wants a self-determined end to his life, and the young nurse Miranda, doesn’t take the rules and regulations at her workplace all too seriously. Both rebel against alienation and humiliation in care.
Director Theo Gottlieb
Country France
When he was a child, Wilnor didn’t see himself as being black, because of his light skin he thought that he was seen as an Orange child. As an Actor today, Wilnor is still conflicted because being Black also means that he will only get roles which portray negative racial stereotypes of Black men. In deep introspection he sought for some answers and found his childhood computer, he explores a video game he started creating when he was 11 years old.
Director Giovanni Roviaro
Country Italy
Vincenzo is a wannabe thief who wants to make money. He has an idea: kidnapping rich people’s dogs. The first target is Palla di Pelo, a dog-influencer. Happy ending? Hell no. In the end humans are the worst animal.
European Animated Film
Director Etgar Keret
Country Poland
In a long term relationship, you sometimes feel you are no longer an individual, but a part of a super-organism. Your daily routine, your decision, the music you hear and the air you breathe: it’s hard to tell the difference between my choices and our choices.
Director Willem Van Den Boomen
Country Netherland
A bumpy road is a short animation about a boy who was born in a girl’s body and is on his way to become more and more himself.
Directors Sascha Vernik
Country Austria
After losing the tool he relies on most, a fraud information worker decides to go back in time to prevent it.
Directors Alina Milkina
Country Netherlands
While thinking too much about what future brings, on a summer day young Yacob meets a spirit in the fields. This spirit takes him into the flash forwards of his life, showing that the flow of that life is unconventionally beautiful.
European Comedy Film
Director Benoit Monney
Country Switzerland
On a film set, there are always unforeseen events. Some days, it’s all there is. And sometimes it’s even worse.
Director Anatoly Tarabrin
Country Russian Federation
Scriptwriter Sergey hasn’t gotten paid for his work for a long time. His wife gets furious and makes a scene, but Sergey unexpectedly gets a million rubles on the card. The wife is happy, Sergey feels like a hero. But while his wife is planning how to spend the money, Sergey bets on the result of the football match.
Director Émile V. Schlesser
Country Luxembourg
Once a wealthy family, the Kowalsky’s fortune is gradually falling apart. When the only son comes begging his widowed mother for help, an ugly row escalates between the two – that forces both of them to bitter choices and cruel deeds.
Non European Dramatic Short
Director Nash Edgerton
Country Australia
Completing the trilogy of shorts, Nash Edgerton finds a perfect match in Sofie, a woman who loves pranks just as much as Jack. Alas, the couple’s quest to outdo each other may lead to the most outrageous calamity of all.
Directors Mehrshad Kheradmandi
Country Iran
Jalal is the crane driver. He rents the crane to the prison for one day for his wife’s C-section operation expenses. Because the crane breaks down, he is forced to become the crane operator and executes a prisoner.
Directors Zeyu Wang
Country China
A father’s heroic struggle and inner journey, over the course of which he realizes he cannot save his daughter from everything. When death finally appears at her side in the figure of a gallant groom, he comes to understand that resisting a greater power is futile.
Directors Elvira Lind
Country United States
When a kind-hearted prison officer (Oscar Isaac) is transferred to the letter room, he soon gets involved in an inmate’s personal affairs…
Directors Daniel Rodriguez Risco
Country Peru
In the square and tidy universe of an unconventional family, Mother is the guardian of order and Junior the distorting agent. A house where everything that doesn’t fit, goes to waste.
Directors Curtis Taylor, Nathan Mewett
Country Australia
Jadai promised his family, no more fighting. But the local cops have other plans. Based on a true story.
Directors Xu Youshi
Country China
The child’s world is simple, beautiful and full of fantasy. The inverted reflection of himself from the river makes him yearn for a fairy tale where he can see his mother again.
European Music Video
Director Taisia Deeva
Country Ukraine
Children cowering in terror, hiding from the unknown, only to be transported to a futuristic corridor where their anxieties are personified as a shrouded monster. By grouping together, they transcend their circumstances to become stronger than they could ever imagine.
Director DRUST
Country United Kingdom
Omen starts to explore the theme of ‘doomed relationships’ and witness the nuanced moments where things go wrong. Rueben is an ex-psychiatric patient who falls for his doctor. Sex, drugs, first love, when he realises that she’s having a relationship with a colleague.
Director Nina Guseva
Country Russian Federation
Love, Tears, Glitter and Frozen Drag Queen in a new Moya Michelle music video “Frozen Heart.” Gerda accidentally finds out that her beloved one Kai is a Drag Queen. After turning the tables, lovers go out for a walk where they face severe reality.
Director Daniil Katsnelson
Country Russian Federatio
Throat singing or “kai” is a unique musical tradition of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. This song reflects the soul of the Altai Territory, the southern edge of Siberia, its beauty and mysticism.
Director Alina Popescu
Country Romania
When a nymph loses her ability to fly, the change that was forced upon her requires a complete transformation: she must let go of her yearning for the past and become something new.
European Dramatic Feature
Directors Csaba Vekes, Tamás Olt
Country Hungary
A father’s heroic struggle and inner journey, over the course of which he realizes he cannot save his daughter from everything. When death finally appears at her side in the figure of a gallant groom, he comes to understand that resisting a greater power is futile.
Director Lorenz Merz
Country Switzerland
Young father Gabriel takes care alone of his son. When he falls in love with the enigmatic Corey, a state of emergency is declared – wild animals are on the run and life becomes utterly existential.
Student Film
Directors Qiuyao He
Country China
After receiving the news of her ex-husband’s accidental death, a seemingly unconcerned single middle-aged woman goes ahead with her original plan of going to a resort in Hainan. However, as time passes, her inner anxiety slowly emerges, and the resort also reveals a different image of itself.
Director Yinghai Hu
Country China
A little boy wanted to take an adventure in the desert, but the mother could not leave the family behind. Meanwhile, sand is pouring into the house continuously, covering the family members around him.
Directors Jerry Hoffmann
Country Germany
One day, the withdrawn Noé finds a motionless android in the forest, takes it with her and reactivates it. It’s the beginning of a strange relationship. Far too late, Noé realizes that the android is about to copy her personality.
Director Frederic Kau
Country Germnay
The ambitious Elea has always had one goal: to be a successful competitive swimmer. Lately though, she is pushed to her athletic limits, her performance is lacking. Elea has to face the question how far she is willing to go to make her dream become reality.
Directors Vanja Victor Kabir Tognola
Country Switzerland
Anna, Francesco and the eight years old Giorgio can’t afford a fancy holiday. Afraid of losing their reputation, they decide to fake the vacation. Inebriated by likes and followers, the parents forget their son’s needs.
Director Ori Birger
Country Israel
This is a tale about a young boy who falls in love with a dancer. For the first time in his life he tries to let go and follow his passion. But he is bound to learn something else about life, passion and beauty.
Directors Arthur Orselli
Country Belgium
Luka, a young man around 30 years old, is hopelessly obsessed to become famous and successful. Ignited by his narcissism and thanks to social media, he is ready to do whatever it takes to be well-known.
Director Caren Wuhrer
Country Germany
Alice, uncommunicative and electrohypersensitive, lives in seclusion in a dead zone deep in the Northern German forest. Her hermitage is suddenly disturbed by the sex worker Lucia, who settles on the border of Alice’s safe space with her lovemobile.
Directors Konrad Kultys
Country Poland
Tough skinhead Adam ignores his disability, depite it he tries to dominate his loved ones. A decision by his caring brother to change jobs pushes Adam to reconsider his situation and and face up to his own limitations.
Director Stephanie Olthoff
Country Germany
Annabell’s son has recently disappeared without a trace. One day, she finds a strange hole in the flower bed. At the same time seemingly supernatural things happen in the house. She wants to get to the bottom of it and makes a frightening discovery.
Arab Special Selection
Directors Maysaa Almumin
Country Kuwait
A woman suffering from depression struggles to keep up appearances in front of her chirpy and driven office colleagues. An encounter with a dying cockroach in the office toilet develops into an absurd friendship, becoming the comforting companionship she needs until she realizes its destructive effects on her life.
Director Srwsht Abarash
Country Iraq
A young man checks into room 217 in an old hotel on a rainy night. Soon he realizes he is living the same time over and over again. He frantically tries to find a way out of this strange time loop with the help of the hotel manager.
Directors Mohammed Alghadhban
Country Iraq
Salma, a 15-year-old Iraqi countryside girl, is sexually assaulted. She decides to defend herself but finds herself facing a very difficult choice that will change her life forever.
Experimental Film
Directors Vittorio Bonaffini
Country Italy
A couple’s despair exists in between fantasy and reality, unable to tell if there is a mutual desire to continue cherishing one-another or endure mercilessly devouring every last shred of hope. Hatred, rancor and lifelessness take over as the moment to wish each other godspeed approaches.
Director Maryam Tafakory
Country United Kingdom
Collating scenes of mediated intimacy in Iranian cinema this is a quietly moving instruction on ‘how to touch without touching’. A split-screen video essay questioning the innocence of bags in Iranian cinema.
NORWEGIAN NATURE, SUBURBIA AND THE CREATURES LIVING THERE
Directors Rolf Christian Heldal
Country United Kingdom
Somewhere in Norway nature awakens. A Creature, seemingly human-like, emerges from the deep forest. With every footstep it draws nearer, towards suburbia and the unsuspecting people living there.
SIX THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND 80 DAYS
Director Ran Slavin
Country Israel
A dystopian reality is examined from the perspective of a future time that crashes into the present moment as a reflection of a space infected with a deadly virus. For a 18 year old Hong Konger who’s voice is only heard, the ordinary world is a distant utopian dream that comes from a series of imagined flashbacks.
VISCERA: Autopsy of a (non)human body
Directors Arturo Bandinelli
Country United Kingdom
Like a decaying body; you look and see just the remains, a shell, a worn, corroded entity. But in this autopsy of a once grand Hotel, we catch a glimpse of the past, faded memories, blurry details. In the past each had its own function, but as living took its toll, it soon became a storage place for lost memories.
Non European Documentary
FROM TRASH TO TREASURE: TURNING NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES IN LESOTHO
Director Lara Lee
Country United States
In Lesotho a wealth of artists have mastered a talent for resurrection, developing the skill to creatively turn negatives into positives: designers, filmmakers, musicians. A variety of these inventive creators are using art as a means of communicating a communal desire for positive change.
Director Laetitia Guerin
Country Mexico
In an intimate prayer dedicated to Temazcal Toci, an ancient Aztec divinity, this documentary invites us to reflect upon our bond with Mother Earth and our connection to the spiritual world. A journey to the heart of the vibrant culture that is the pulse of Mexico
Non European Dramatic Feature
Director Yang Zhang
Country China
Two girls who fall in love with each other but their dreams are slowly distorted during their career struggle.
HAMOUN’S NIGHT
Director Hamideh Moeinfar
Country Iran
A lower class woman who has lost her sick baby due to financial crisis and swore vengeance on the man responsible.
European Documentary
Director Frédéric Goupil
Country France
In April 1947 Jacques Prévert and Marcel Carné began filming «la Fleur de l’âge» at Belle-Ile en Mer in Brittany, inspired by a revolt of children prisoners in a labor camp in the mid-30s. These are the adventures of this cursed project which ends up being abandoned after about thirty days of filming, swept by storms and dramas.
Directors Sam Geyskens, Vincent Everaerts,
Lander Haverals
Country Belgium
When Valerie calls her son Charly to inform him of her recent relapse and last suicide attempt, their relationship is put on tenterhooks. Charly still can’t seem to cut ties with Valerie, and Valerie realises that she must fight an uphill battle with addiction to save what’s left of her family ties.
Directors Steven Fraser
Country United Kingdom
Somewhere in Norway nature awakens. A Creature, seemingly human-like, emerges from the deep forest. With every footstep it draws nearer, towards suburbia and the unsuspecting people living there.
SO YOU WANNA VOGUE HUH?!
Director Ila Pittaluga, Zelda Fitzgerald
Country Belgium
An educative Ballroom documentary. Together with Legendary Pioneering Mother Lasseindra Ninja, Mother Naimah Milan, Princess Gaby Vineyard and Perry Gits, we will travel back into time, back to the Ballroom Renaissance and re-appropriate the story of the scene: letting the real people doing the real talk.
English