Category: 2023 WSXA Barcelona

Original Film Title: Жовта зірка

Director’s Name: Skobun Skobun

Writer’s Name: Skobun Skobun

Producer: Bokaturo Nadiia, Skobun Alina, Petrashiuk Darina

Country of Origin: Ukraine

Country of Filming: Ukraine

Language: Ukrainian

Runtime: 17 minutes 31 seconds

Film Description:

1941. A small Ukrainian town occupied by German troops, where the Nazis organized the Ghetto. Nearby lives the family of janitor Peter, who works in the Ghetto and has unlimited access there. Peter’s son, Mykolka, constantly takes food out of the house, which the family lacks so much. The father beats the son, but it does not affect the boy’s actions: he humbly accepts the frequent punishments and is silent about his motivation. A Jewish family Liberblum, who are living in the Ghetto, learns about a Nazi-planned operation to send children from the Ghetto to a concentration camp. Parents are trying to save their son Jacob and daughter Raia from this. However, no one can help them. The only person, their last chance, is the janitor Peter, who can take the children to the dump at night. But the janitor flatly refuses to help the Jews, fearing for his own life and the safety of his family. Peter decides to follow his son, who again brings out the food and makes a shocking discovery: Mykolka throws food over the fence of the ghetto to Raia Liberblum, with whom he is in love from school. The father reconsiders his son’s behavior and decides to help the Jewish family, provided that he takes only one child out of the Ghetto. Little Nikolay becomes aware of this. The Liberblum couple face a difficult choice – who to save? Son or daughter? They draw lots. Arriving at night, Peter and Liberblums try to hide Raia in a dumpster, but it drags on. Mykolka follows her father through a hole in the fence on the other side of the Ghetto barriers. He is glad that Raia was chosen. The guy notices the Nazis approaching the house. He can’t shout at his father. The only thing he decides is to take the stone in his hands and attract the attention of the soldiers.

Original Film Title: REALITY CHECK

Director’s Name: Sandro Hernández Ortiz

Writer’s Name: Sandro Hernández Ortiz

Producer: Carolina Figueras Morató, Lidia López, Melanie Belmonte

Country of Origin: Spain

Country of Filming: Spain

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 24 minutes 15 seconds

Film Description:

Reality Check follows Salvador, a young patient suffering from delusional disorder, who during one of his therapy sessions starts experiencing dangerous levels of reality distortion that make him question everything in his life.

Original Film Title: The Silver Bullet

Director’s Name: Gaston Boulanger

Writer’s Name: Gaston Boulanger

Producer: Gaston Boulanger

Country of Origin: Australia

Country of Filming: Australia

Language: English, Spanish

Runtime: 8 minutes 42 seconds

Film Description:

A comédie noire set in the deep north of Australia. When the heat becomes unbearable our heroine finds a solution with a silver lining.

Original Film Title: Hating Beckett

Director’s Name: Matthew Gossin

Writer’s Name: John Yearley

Producer: Anthony Pearce, John Yearley

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 17 minutes 16 seconds

Film Description:

A couple’s post-theater dinner date turns confrontational as the pair discuss the merits of Samuel Beckett’s Rough for Theatre II. Things escalate to the point of disclosed trauma, bitter recriminations and hurled bread rolls — and it becomes clear they have a few issues to work out.

Original Film Title: Scarlett O.

Director’s Name: Alexandra Tebano, Dale Johnson

Writer’s Name: Alexandra Tebano

Producer: Alexandra Tebano

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes 32 seconds

Film Description:

A tortured woman is stuck in the purgatory in her own mind forced to relive the same excruciating moment over and over again.