Proteans (Australia) by Mirko Grillini

Jane is Former Special Forces Corporal who is recruited by a more advanced human to retrieve and protect a special box which could fall in the hands of the enemy and change the course of human lives.

Running time: 00:24:55

Face the Music (Australia) by S.N. Watts

Rockstar Ryan Bentley faces addiction, a failing marriage, and a manipulative manager as he prepares for a high-stakes live interview. With pressure mounting, he must decide: keep up the act—or finally face the music...

Running time: 00:19:47

Dragonfly (China) by Siyang Liu

Great-grandson Zhou Zihang has only two memories of his great-grandmother - her funeral and a contact. Unable to remember season and weather, he only remembers the persimmons that were handed to him and the unexplained crying

Running time: 00:19:27

NNC (Philippines) by Miguel Santos Regal

A major sponsor prematurely terminates its endorsement deal with NNC, a TV network. Despite the valiant effort of Stephanie Serrano, NNC’s Chief Brand Officer, the sponsor remains steadfast in its decision to cut ties with the network. 

Running time: 00:19:00

A Human Ride (Germany) by Kristian Gründling

The transformation of transportation is on everyone's lips, and the future of mobility has become one of the most talked-about topics. But why does it matter so much? If transportation presents such enormous challenges, why don’t we just stay at home? Is mobility a fundamental human need?

Running time: 01:03:56

Waiting for Your Return (China) by Hao You, Yichen Cheng

The short film Waiting for Your Return uses the art of Suzhou embroidery as a bridge to explore the intergenerational bonds of family and the enduring spirit of patriotism.  The story follows Liu Xixi, a high school student who has been raised by her grandmother, Su Guixiu, while her mother, Zhang Wang, has been absent due to her demanding career. The distance between Xixi and her mother has left their relationship strained. One day, Xixi stumbles upon her grandmother’s long-hidden diary, which reveals the painful story of Su Guixiu’s childhood loss of her own mother. Through this discovery, Xixi begins to understand her grandmother’s resilience and loneliness, as well as her own deep longing for maternal love. As the emotional threads of the past and present intertwine, the three generations of women find reconciliation. Zhang Wang makes the heartfelt decision to leave her job and return home, choosing to be present for both her daughter and her mother. 

Running time: 00:24:54

Home (Belgium) by Hanne Schillemans, Ralph Timmermans

Home is a short film about the fragility of life and the virtue of solitude. A faceless figure attempting not to resist the endless waves of pointlessness. Home explores the tension between presence and absence within the strange choreography of existing. The protagonist’s nudity, devoid of eroticism, emphasizes vulnerability and the human form as a part not nature, reinforcing the film’s existential themes.  The figure remains faceless, allowing her to become anyone — or everyone, shifting the focus away from personal identity and stressing instinct over intellect, being over persona. Home oscillates between the micro and the macro, between intimacy and vastness. Ants crawling with tireless precision, the sun rendered in cosmic proximity. In this interplay the human body becomes just another element: fragile, raw, exposed and dwarfed by the enormity of the natural world.  Home meditates on aloneness not as absence, but as condition. It invites the viewer to witness a body moving through a universe that does not look back. Accompanied by music that is as raw as it is emotional, the film does not conform to conventional cinematic structures but instead allows the audience to immerse themselves in the rhythm of isolation and the ebb and flow of meaning in an indifferent world.

Running time: 00:11:29

Release (Hungary) by Zoltan Gergely Szabo

A young man is in prison instead of his brother because he took the punishment on his behalf. A mysterious visitor arrives to persuade him to make a new confession. However, the tempter fails to achieve his goal.

Running time: 00:10:09

Hairy Dreams (Canada) by Lina Cruz

Hairy Dreams evokes the interior world of a lonesome yet carefree character. Through words and movement, this is a visual abstract tale, taking place in a white cave-like space made of paper. Within this sort of origami igloo, a surrealist puzzle of images portrays the everyday routine of a diligent being. Through various incongruent actions, the character assembles and disassembles repeatedly its interior translucent world. In this quest for an interior castle, time is always present, haunting yet of precious companionship. The daily routine eventually leads to the ultimate goal: the need to be fed in order to keep the dream flowing. Towards the end of the cycle, in a sort of "oneiric" and liberating flight, the character swiftly disappears into the paper walls of its imaginary castle.

Running time: 00:08:57

The Simultaneity of Breathing (Austria) by Mersolis Schöne

In “The Simultaneity of Breathing”, Mersolis Schöne envisions experimental film production as a place of encounter where drawings and press photos by Austrian artist Lisa Est and Thomas Ballhausen's poetry come together in a shared philosophical experiment. Through the voices of Apollina Smaragd (German) and James Delaney (English), lines such as “words / that always keep us alive” lead us to the threshold of a semantic breath. The film itself takes shape as a living, poetic being that explores those fleeting moments when reality and possibility meet in the blur between breaths.

Running time: 00:04:14