Competition: First Experiments

C’est quoi le Mantra Moderne?

Directors: Merve Erdem, Kit Martin
France, 2019, 8’ 27’’, HDD, Color
English, French, Turkish with English,Turkish Subtitles 

The bilingual script drifts between abstraction and realism, serving both as a snapshot of the duo immediately after their debut album, and a filmic essay exploring their medium, language and reality

Cabo Tuna or The Management of the Sky

Director: Unidad de Montaje Dialéctico
Mexico, 2020, 13, HDD, Renkli / Color
Spanish with English, Turkish Subtitles

"Cabo Tuna or The Management of the Sky" is a materialistic re-reading of the history of artificial satellites and digital surveillance which, using footage found exclusively on YouTube, intertwines the origins of the Nazi and Soviet arms industries with the digital surveillance systems used in the Mexican context of the war on drugs. This narrative arc allows for an exploration of the Mexican government's failed attempts to create its own aeronautical rockets, the growing dependence on technology from foreign powers and companies, the privatization of space, and finally, the contemporary strengthening of the state's military control.

Cissoid

Director: Öznur Ölüç
Turkey, 2020, 4’, HDD, Color
No Dialog

Cissoid scrutinize the imagery of "closed eye vision" that creates ruptures in visual perception. Feeding from avant-garde cinema movement, Cissoid sees sound as the most effective tool. By using the metronome sense, it has intended to give only a rhythmic direction, without contextual impositions, so that the audience can have their own experiences. All the 848 images used in film are created by the digital transfer (contrast, light, color, etc.) of 35mm burnt films to 3D media. By establishing a relationship between simulation and reality in production, it invites the individual to discover their own perception windows. Thus, the Cissoid aspires to offer chaotic experiences in 3D environment by inviting the viewer to dark playgrounds.

Dehumanized

Director: Louis Brückner
Germany, 2020, 1’, HDD, Color
No Dialog

Dehumanized is an experimental short film, in which the peace of the dead in a military cemetery is disturbed with loud war noises. The camera itself becomes a weapon.

Green Remembrance

Director: William Hong-xiao Wei
UK, 2020, 5’, HDD, Color
French with Turkish, English Subtitles  

Somewhere in the world there is a remote island. The sea. Lush hills. The impenetrable forest. Something that has happened, something that may not happen, and something in mind that you may not know begin to overlap and superimpose… 

Je Suis Paula 

Director: Nelson Rodríguez Tequia
Colombia, 2020, 23’, HDD, Color
French, Spanish with English, Turkish Subtitles 

Babette adopted by a French family, decides to return to her homeland, Colombia, in search of her roots and her family history. With the help of his Grandfather Abraham, a 90-year-old man with Alzheimer's disease, he discovers a past full of violence and the reason why he had to be given up for adoption and the fate of his parents, militants in the exterminated political party Unión Patriótica.

The Clocks

Directors: Ecem Arslanay & Yiğit Tanel Kaçar
Turkey, 2020, 5’ 35’’, HDD, Color
English with Turkish subtitles 

The Clocks is an essay film adapted from Ecem Arslanay's essay titled ‘Büyük Saat, Küçük Saat, İleri Saat, Geri Saat, Yukarı Saat, Aşağı Saat’ (2019) (Big Clock, Small Clock, Forward Clock, Backward Clock, Up Clock, Down Clock) published in Manifold. It is a visual mixture of directors’ footage, various works of art from different periods and advertising visuals of various consumer products. It deals with the climate crisis through the concept of time and acts as a poetic warning.  

Things I Don't Remember

Director: Fırat Özeler
Turkey, 2020, 9’, HDD, Color
Turkish with English Subtitles 

A forgotten New Year's Eve, a ghost who suddenly comes to visit and a journey to the gardens of memory. An effort to remember the past.

The Architect

Director: Adam Stoner
USA, 2020, 4’ 30’’, HDD, Black&White
No Dialog 

Structures and materials dissolve, transform, and take up residency within a figure. Composed alongside a series of architectural paintings and drawings, The Architect was made by photographing a series of sand drawings on a light table.