CANNES, April 26 (ZIZ): The 2024 French Riviera Film Festival (FRFF), now in its sixth year, has revealed the short films that have made it to the finals. The announcement was made yesterday by festival co-founders Nicole Goesseringer Muj and Gotham Chandna.
Here is the full list of the 2024 Finalist Short Films:
DRAMA
FINALISTS
Blossom
Yağmur sees that peace lily flower on her balcony has faded. Her friend tells a rumor that it’s not blossoming because it’s lonely. Thus, she strives to make this peace lily bloom and realizes that blooming with the feeling of togetherness is not specific to this flower…
Director: Hazal İnak
Country: Turkey
By Any Other Name
Within the chilling underworld of sex-trafficking, the heart-wrenching bond between two sisters unfolds. One sister, ensnared in the shadows of exploitation, fights for her very survival, while the other, a determined working-class mother, wages a relentless battle against insurmountable odds to bring her sister home.
Director: Daniel Deville
Country: United Kingdom
Cadillacs
Enrique, a romantic rocker, and his friends Esme and Diego embark on a quest to find La Teruel’s concert, and Enrique’s ex-girlfriend. On the eve of Valentine’s Day, they face challenges and rebellious moments as they journey along a route towards the beach.
Director: Juan Garrafa
Country: Mexico
Delilah
This gritty and visceral story follows Delilah, like a hero out of Albert Camus novel, as she tells us how she ‘can’t feel anything’ after the murder of her younger brother as she has spent the last three years plotting her revenge with the help of the newly released convict, Gecko.
Director: Nika Agiashvili
Country: United States
L’Hypermnésique (The Hypermnestic)
Gaby and Jo are an elderly couple without children. Throughout their lifetime, they each had life plans and yet never managed to live out their dreams. Gaby felt a deep sense of guilt and trauma due to her inability to conceive children. As Jo approaches the end of his life, his memory slowly fades away. Gaby sees a chance to give her husband a taste of the life he had never lived.
Director: Julien Mouquet
Country: United Kingdom
MOM
A brief, yet raw look into a woman’s mind and heart, as she continues to balance the grief of her two miscarriages.
Director: Kate Campbell
Country: Canada
On Time
Jenny wakes up next to a dead body and a mysterious masked man tries to frame her for murder. She pieces her memories together as she races against time to erase any trace of her presence. She must choose to either accomplish her original mission or to follow a new path.
Director: Ivan Drudi
Country: Spain
Pretty Hands
After recently moving to a seaside town, a single mother’s mental state derails as she becomes increasingly convinced that someone is trying to steal her baby.
Director: Senyo Mortty
Country: United Kingdom
The Trip Of Life
An Ethiopian lady comes to Europe by boat. She finds help from the local people but bureaucracy finds her, putting a large wall of racism in front of her.
Director: Ivan Drudi
Country: Spain
SPECIAL MENTION (*not screening live)
The Last Butterflies
After a collection of environmental disasters lead society to the brink of collapse a young mother must find ways to survive with her small child as they navigate the near-future apocalypse.
Directors: Patrick Rea
Country: United States
They Don’t Live Long
Jack has just been released from prison for a felony pending hearing in two months, and he could be sentenced to up to five years. While he tries to heed his mother’s advice and keep a low profile, the connection with his fellow miscreants proves just too deep to ignore.
Directors: Adrian Pnut
Country: United States
Visitation
The past catches up with Felix in the form of his old buddy Olaf. Mob-leader Ivan wants his cocaine back, and Felix has to fight for his new domestic life to escape his crime background.
Directors: Christian Skibinski
Country: Germany
SCI-FI/HORROR
FINALISTS
Entropy
In the course of conducting experiments on memory and time during the pandemic, a lovesick scientist with a morbid fear of rejection, makes an unexpected connection.
Director: Dan Chen
Country: United States
Hamelin 77
Lara, a school teacher, is interviewed at the Nawu corporation for the position of prompt engineer, which consists of using language to guide artificial intelligence systems. A catastrophic power failure during the interview will trigger an unexpected discovery that will reveal the delicate balance between humans and AI systems.
Director: Javier Ideami
Country: Spain
The Dark Midnight
Sarah is a young girl who loses her mother as a child due to a mystery. Now she is involved in her own nightmares…
Director: Amirhossein Makouei
Country: Finland
SPECIAL MENTION (*not screening live)
Spooky Society
In the historic city of Savannah, Georgia a group of teens form a powerful bond while creating a ghost-hunting vlog for social media. The friends go on adventures to the city’s most haunted sites, while uncovering the truth behind their supernatural legends.
Director: Bryson Lima
Country: United States
EXPERIMENTAL
FINALISTS
Aura
Narrative short film exposing sex trafficking.
Director: Eme Eidson
Country: United States
Question Everything
A wayward man questions his existence when he meets an enigmatic stranger in a dream.
Directors: Shaun Rylee
Country: United States
SPECIAL MENTION (*not screening live)
The Hand Of The Healer
One night out on the Santa Monica Pier. She didn’t know how it all happened. She remembered absolutely nothing.
Director: Arthur X
Country: Netherlands
STUDENT
FINALISTS
Electra Wasp
An experimental animated psychobiography about the death and life of trailblazing pilot Amelia Earhart; a retrospective of her emotional world and an exploration of what drove her to pursue her passion for flying.
Director: Wasan Hayajneh
Country: United States
Keep It Quiet/ ŠUTIM
The film follows a photography student named Barbara in the preparation of an independent photo exhibition. Awaiting her first solo exhibition, invisible problems become more and more visible and her fear-induced reactions result in change.
Director: Sara Horvatić
Country: Croatia
Motherwound
The pregnancy of May’s first child stirs up old patterns between mother and daughter, who are unable to communicate their needs. A portrait of three generations stuck in their ways.
Director: Bao Van Hoe
Country: Belgium
DOCUMENTARY
FINALISTS
Book Of Death
The true story about how Jenny Thai received her spiritual calling from The Messiah and Buddha, which led her to co-found the non-profit “Love Life Learning Foundation” with Alan Ford. Today, their joint mission is to help the poor, war victims and refugees around the world.
Directors: Jenny Thai, Alan Ford
Country: United States
I’ll Tell You About Your Father
An “old star” of Italian TV from the 1980s, during a journey by the sea between the waves of the Mediterranean and the curves of memory, tries to tell his life story to his severely autistic son Emanuele, hoping that one day he too will understand his words, history, choices, hopes and dreams.
Director: Daniele Gangemi
Country: Italy
One Person/Hundred Bridges (episode 1)
Wu Liguan, a retired military photographer, exposes the cultural history behind 600 bridges in mainland China, showcasing the superb constructions skills of the ancients and the passage of time.
Director: Han Zheng
Country: China
Pacing The Pool
A tiny glimpse into the extraordinary life of Richard Pace. A different approach to life might have seen him crushed under the weight of the physical and mental stresses he has been through since he was a child, however, healing waters have helped him rise above it all.
Director: Radheya Jegatheva
Country: Australia
SPECIAL MENTION (*not screening live)
The Taking of Harris Neck
The stunning marshlands of Harris Neck, Georgia have a tragic history, a story of trauma and racism. In 1942, the US government took 2687 acres of land inhabited by descendants of freed slaves to build an airbase. The government promised to give the land back after the war. Now 80 years later the community is still fighting to get their land back.
Director: Kevin Mannens
Country: United States
MICRO SHORT
FINALISTS
Feu-Follet
A young woman discreetly ventures into an isolated place to find her boyfriend, but their meeting is quickly disrupted by the appearance of a wisp.
Director: Mickael Abbate
Country: France
MNW!
The Western Front…
Director: Tiffany Cole
Country: United States
Muybridge Derby
An AI-assisted animation that transforms Eadweard Muybridge’s historical animal locomotion photographs into a whimsical derby narrative. The piece features a race between various animals, employing next-generation AI to stylize vintage photography as high-fidelity digital art.
Director: Robert A. Gonsalves
Country: United States
PRJCT. VOYGR: ILHA do DESEJOS
A portrait of ‘Ilha dos Desejos’ (Island of the Wishes) in Angra dos Reis, and the island’s owner, George Otero. A visual experiment aiming to deconstruct and emphasize a series of collective memories.
Directors: Alejandro Segovia, Teo Marinakis
Country: Brazil
SPECIAL MENTION (*not screening live)
Scrap Head
The young Tito criss-crosses the city on his scooter. He sells old electric cables stolen from construction sites and his father Stipe pockets the profits. After the bullying and humiliation, it’s time for Tito to get his revenge.
Directors: Igor Gabriel, Brecht Goyvaerts
Country: Belgium
FASHION
FINALISTS
Dentro
The Dentro film series, comprised of five distinct chapters, serves as the inaugural video campaign for the accessories brand.
Director: Camila Freiha
Country: Brazil
Equlibrio
A fashion film that speaks of life as a journey of ups and downs and emotions through contemporary dance and classical music.
Director: Camilo Velásquez A.
Country: Colombia
Levitate
With this fashion film, we were looking for something more timeless, unlike the current concept of fashion associated with the change of tastes which quickly go out of style. We wanted to pause the speed of time while highlighting the ethereal textile qualities of the clothing through fast movements seen in slow motion.
Director: Luis Velasco
Country: Spain
The Shape Of Life
A flock moves in the sky among the mountains. While a woman begins to dance in a large hall, the same flock seen a moment ago enters and starts to move around her. From the combination of those movements, the flow of life and memories are generated.
Director: Nicola Martini
Country: Italy
ACTIVISM
FINALISTS
The Calvary
The director travels to Israel, where she was raised, during September 2023 to film the public protests against the Israeli government. During that time she is given access to a secretive section of the police unit, the cavalry, where she documents the desensitization of the imported Friesian horses.
Director: Alina Orlov
Country: Canada
The Invisible
Longevity and ageism are important topics, mainly in Latin America. The population is living longer and longer. At the same time, mature individuals are being excluded from the workforce at an increasingly earlier age. Ageism is a visible issue, however society tends to treat this topic with invisibility. Brazilian musician André Abujamra, a Latin Grammy nominee, created a song to address this issue.
Directors: Guga Lemes, Wagner Almeida, Marcelo Nobre, André Abujamra
Country: Brazil
MUSIC VIDEO
FINALISTS
BAD
The music video begins with a “cowboy” wandering and singing about escaping his past. This is interrupted by a kind of psychological drama – with a disaffected “dude” being tormented by some unseen voice. The cowboy and the dude are played as two parts of the same personality.
Director: Matt Nothelfer
Country: United States
Devotion
After the October 7th tragedy in Israel, the artist needed to process all the difficult and painful emotions, constructively and creatively, through her music. She decided to release a beautiful and spiritual song based on a prayer.
Director: Sima Galanti
Country: United States
Nothin 4 Something
Over his day job and humdrum life, a mechanic fantasizes about being a rock star. Following Danger, which was released earlier this year, music artist John Roberts takes us back into the realm of moody mid-tempo 80’s throwback energy with his new single.
Director: Cody Critcheloe
Country: United States
ANIMATION
FINALISTS
Believe In Wonder
The goal was to associate Rinascente with a world where you can be surprised by wonder, living magical and unique experiences. The Brand becomes an entertainer, and thanks to its products, even decorating the Christmas tree can become wonderful.
Director: Massimo Carrier Ragazzi
Country: Italy
Bird Drone
A heartfelt story of unrequited love explored through a lonely seagull struggling to accept that his newfound object of affection is a human-operated drone with a limited battery life.
Director: Radheya Jang Jegatheva
Country: Australia
The Grandma’s Mind
An elderly woman living alone goes to the forest to collect wood. She sees two baby monkeys near their dead mother, takes them to her house and raises them. One day when she sees a burial of a neighbor in her village, she thinks about what would happen to the baby monkeys after her death.
Director: Vibin Alex
Country: India
COMEDY
FINALISTS
Noir Brothers
In a frenetic, chaotic and disordered Catania, Renny and François, the second impeccable and the first decidedly off-putting, are the right men to solve the strangest and most desperate cases imaginable.
Director: Daniele Gangemi
Country: Italy
Smile Through Your Tears
A frustrated director (Tom Arnold) auditions a disheveled, disorganized woman of a certain age (Andi Poland) who appears unlikely to get the part. In the process of the audition she tells him her story about losing both her sons to suicide. As the director puts it, she’s the only audition who made him feel something that day, and to everyone’s surprise she turns out to be a perfect fit. Based on a true story.
Director: Daniel Brea
Country: United States
Screenings at the festival are open to all and will take place live over two days, from 10 am to 3 pm, at the Eden Hotel & Spa (133 rue d’Antibes). Exclusive receptions and award ceremonies, reserved for invitees only, will follow each day’s screenings at the Bel-Air Fine Art Gallery and Eden Hotel.
For those unable to attend in person, the festival finalists and films receiving special mention will also be available for online viewing on Entertainment Oxygen’s eoFlix platform on May 17th and 18th.
