20 Short Films you shouldn’t miss at the 38th Busan International Short Film Festival (Part 2)

By Asian Film Festival on April 6, 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

I continue with my list of short films that you shouldn’t miss at the 38th Busan International Short Film Festival which will take place from April 21st – 26th (2021) in Busan, Korea.

About the festival:
Founded in 1980, the Busan International Short Film Festival launched with the aim of creating the film-making friendly environment and finding talented film professionals. It has introduced many different kinds of films, including 8mm and independent films made by students and general public. Many young talents in those days are now taking the lead in the Korean cinema. The BISFF has been introducing short films and cultures of the Guest Country. In addition to the competition section, various sections have given audience the chances to see the trend in a short film in the world and to guess its future.

Selected Films:

**Private View** by Theo Lindquist – USA | 2020 – 10 minutes
Section: International Competition 3

Captured in an unbroken take and one single zoom. A group of friends attending a private party unwittingly become part of a voyeuristic artwork. (BISFF 2021)

Screening Dates:
April 23rd, 2021 | Busan Cinema Center, Cinematheque | 19:00 pm
April 25th, 2021 | Busan Cinema Center, Cinema I | 10:00 am

Bartholomew Whisper went to the doctor today. At the hospital, he met administrators keen on experimental surgery and lonely MRI machines. At least the growing hole in his head was becoming quite beautiful. (BISFF 2021)

**Reruns** by Rosto – The Netherlands, France, Belgium | 2018 – 15 minutes
Section: Guest Country | Dutch Panorama

The film, which combines both live action and animation, portrays the collision of dreams and memories. It also illustrates the illogicality of dreams in the form of images and narration. The director, Rosto, died suddenly in 2019 after a career working across numerous fields of art, including film. (BISFF)

**Return to Toyama** by Atsushi Hirai – France | 2020 – 24 minutes
Section: International Competition 1

Takumi left Japan for France despite his father’s disapproval. After a long absence, he returns to Toyama, his hometown, a small and declining port on the northern coast of Japan. (BISFF)

Trailer:

**Sirene** by Zara Dwinger – The Netherlands | 2017 – 26 minutes
Section: Guest Country, Dutch Panorama

The film is framed as an essay by a 15-year-old boy who has a turbulent life because he is underwhelmed by everything in the world but is neverthelessinterested in it. The film posits that the only way to create a new world is to destroy the comfortable and familiar and accept a strange and unknown self. (BISFF 2021)

**The Owl** by Simon Pontén, Joakim Behrman – Sweden | 2020 – 8 minutes
Section: International Competition 2

The mood in a teacher’s lounge changes when the reason behind one teacher’s nickname is brought to light. A group has lost its balance and will do anything to regain stability. The Owl is a slow cataclysmic journey into the dark core of humans trying to have a good time together. (BISFF 2021)

**The Sasha** by Maria Molina Peiró – The Netherlands | 2019 – 21 minutes
Section: Guest Country, Dutch Experimental

Charles Duke, a crew member of the American spacecraft Apollo 16, was on a mission in 1972 to photograph the surface of the moon. The film, which is a combination of reality and virtuality, portrays how humans can live outside the confines of space, earth, and most importantly, time and place. (BISFF 2021)

**The Void of Maws** by Mauricio Maldonado – Colombia | 2020 – 15 minutes
Section: International Competition 8

On the foggy slopes of a mysteriously deserted roads, a lonely teenager named Deivis finds a body that appears to have been involved in an accident. A young man that belongs to the world of the dead will be the only bridge to find a group of people that will put an end to Deivis’ loneliness. His time spent longing for a new family, as if it were a dream, is gone. (BISFF 2021)

**To Sonny** by Federico Spiazzi, Maggie Briggs – USA | 2020 – 19 minutes
Section: International Competition 9

Set in the American South just before the 2016 presidential elections, 《To Sonny》 follows a vending machine loader on his daily, lonely route. (BISFF 2021)

Trailer:

**Unliveable** by Matheus Farias, Enock Carvalho – Brazil | 2020 – 20 minutes
Section: International Competition 5

In Brazil, where a trans person is murdered every three days, Marilene searches for her daughter Roberta, a trans woman who went missing. While running out of time, she discovers glimmer of hope for the future. (BISFF 2021)

Trailer: