photo by Ana Melentijevic
FIRST,
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE
We made this Festival with no budget and no profit. Instead of streaming and submission charges, we asked the submitters and viewers to donate a little amount or as much as they can afford to MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS / DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS and support their medical activities and fight for those in need.
To find out more about their tireless work, please click here.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Welcome to the Festival Program of the Corona Short Film Festival. Below you can find the list of all films that have been part of our Festival Selection.
We have received more than 1250 submissions from more than 70 countries. Our team had a tough task and worked hard to select our final Festival Program. Next to the Grand Jury Prize all short films also competed for the Audience Award, which has been determined through online voting.
The films are no longer available for online viewing.
However you can rewatch the winners announcement at the bottom of this page.
01. PRINCESS IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS
Director Antigoni Iliadu | Country Greece | Genre comedy, drama | Duration 04:22
During the great Coronavirus quarantine of the 21st Century, Queen Elizabeth asks everyone to stay inside. A young and joyful princess in her castle tries to do her best, before going depressed, while she has stayed all alone.
The movie was made in total solitude. During that special moments when you start gazing into your dark, one's playful soul and you desperately try to find a meaning in your life's everyday routine.
02. THE CURE AND THE VENOM
Director Elisa Baccolo | Country Italy | Genre narrative | Duration 3:00
In a diary page, a 28-year-old woman reflects on her experience of quarantine in a little town in Northern Italy. Anger, resignation and a new-found peace open the way to a new perspective.
The short was filmed after the start of the lockdown in a little town in the north of Italy, inside or just outside my house. I used the pages of my personal diary to build a voice-over.
03. HELPING HANDS
Director Christian Mümken | Country Germany | Genre suspense, horror | Duration 4:55
After a long and exhausting day of work during the COVID-19 pandemic, a nurse returns home to a rather unsettling evening.
A director/actress couple spent a weekend isolated in their apartment to write and film ‚Helping Hands'. Editing, VFX, Music and sound all were done at home.
04. BLACK
Director Adithyaa Sadashiv | Country India | Genre documentary, experimental | Duration 4:50
The lockdown has affected each and every one of us. While a few are made to work from home the daily wage workers have been suffering the most because the activities in the entire country have come to a standstill. As a filmmaker it has made me observe a few nuances in my everyday life that go unnoticed.
Black is an experimental film which captures many activities around me during the lockdown which has made me contemplate about the changes that happen around us. The film has been shot in and around my house, some of them which are intended to the way it is while the others happened with mere coincidence.
05. PLANTS
Director Benjamin Bowles | Country United Kingdom | Genre romantic comedy | Duration 1:43
A film about overcoming obstacles to obtain love and friendship.
The idea was simple - what if plants fell in love on a window.
The film was shot in one day using equipment I already had. Once the visuals were shot, I then added the sound design and music.
06. PERSON * JURY SPECIAL MENTION
Director Sunčica Ana Veldić | Country Croatia | Genre documentary | Duration 4:57
In the course of my solitary amusement of filming a panoramic view, the viewfinder of my camera catches an interesting sight.
The film was shot during the isolation period in Tisno, Croatia, where I now live. I filmed it while on my evening walk by the bay near my house.
07. SO CLOSE SO FAR
Director Komeil Soheil | Country Iran | Genre narrative, documentary | Duration 1:37
From the boy in his twenties in the Amazon forests to me and my family in east Iran and those who live on a tiny island in Malaysia, we all suddenly experienced big changes in our lifestyles. People faced the epidemic in various ways, experienced unique things and learned lessons that will change their life forever.
As for me, during these hard days, I realized the beauty of the simplest things around me. Things that I hardly apprehended before, but during the crisis, I learned how far I was from things that were always closest to me.
08. 1 BOTTLE OF WINE * GRAND JURY PRIZE
Director Anne Isensee | Country Germany | Genre animation, experimental | Duration 05:00
Normally, you would drink a bottle of wine with your friends or family. Assuming you drink at all. But during the Corona confinement, nothing is normal. So a young animator drinks the bottle alone by herself and animates a movie.
I had the idea for this film about two years ago. I normally animate on the computer rather than on paper and I don't usually drink that much. I thought being self-isolated in my apartment during the Corona crisis is both the right moment and the best excuse to do this animated experiment.
09. WOMEN LOCKED INSIDE
Director Bárbara Tavares | Country Portugal, Brazil | Genre documentary | Duration 05:00
A personal and intimate portrait of lockdown women due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A dive deep into their doubts, weaknesses and strengths. An immersion in life's force under the feminine perspective.
I received messages from women from all over the world. I asked them to shoot their daily activity during lockdown and to be free to express their feeling as if they were in a confessional. I sent them ideas of what should they talk or shoot based on what they had sent me, nothing specific, only brief ideas.
10. STAY AT HOME HEROES
Director Todor Nikolov | Country Bulgaria | Genre comedy | Duration 05:00
Stay-at-Home Heroes - the epic adventures of an average family of four struggling to overcome temptation of getting out of the house and heroically remaining in isolation instead.
This is a solo written, filmed, directed, edited, voice acted and produced project. The work has been completed within 48 hours while under strict remain-at-home orders in Sofia, Bulgaria at the end of March 2020. Fortunately, I had great actors and the filming has been smooth as butter.
11. THE SERENITY OF THE BLUE SPRING SKY
Director Leonard Geisler | Country Germany | Genre narrative, essay | Duration 05:00
A political cat video. A montage of 8mm cassettes filmed partly before and during the Corona pandemic.
12. WHAT DAY IS IT
Director Luka Marčetić | Country Slovenia | Genre drama, comedy | Duration 02:36
Establishing a new routine during the quarantine of one urban individual.
I filmed the whole movie by myself during the course of three days using the photo camera I had at home. There was a lot of trial and error focusing and DIY rigs to capture the shots correctly, as I was behind, and in front of the camera.
13. HANDFUL OF DREAMS
Director Dean Wei | Country China | Genre animation | Duration 02:06
A short poem on boredom and the grind of days where time is nothing but an abstract.
We're originally two Cinematography Students, but the pandemic has separated us from our cameras and forced us to do something a little different. The short is a mosaic of mindless stray thoughts and sentiments from our time inside our homes.
14. QUARANTINE MOOD * AUDIENCE AWARD
Director Alessandro Marinelli | Country Italy | Genre documentary, experimental | Duration 05:00
Quarantine mood documents real life scenes during the quarantine in Rome, looking for the beauty and poetry of reality.
I chose to tell the life I saw from my terrace. My eyes tried to capture all that I saw around me, which in the end was also the reflection of what I had inside.
15. BEN'S CUT
Director Vida Žagar | Country Croatia | Genre docu-narrative, comedy | Duration 04:00
What does it look like when a completely free author creates his own universe? „Ben's Cut" is a short comedy about an author like that. My 7-year-old brother Benjamin. He knows no terms like dramaturgy, screenwriting or set design. What he knows is to observe and absorb. His imagination has no limits, rules or concept. He creates and brings cheerfulness to everyone around him.
I've been in the family home for two months now. Benjamin and I try to get creative every day. After one afternoon lunch, we spontaneously recorded the interview. After that, everything went on its own. The movie was made in our backyard, with Benjamin, our mother Martina, our dog Six and myself involved. Matija Benić, my dear friend, also participated, but we planned the movie through online meetings.
16. NOTHING
Director Clint Frift | Country United Kingdom | Genre slow cinema | Duration 02:47
A day in the life of a young woman during the age of Corona Virus.
I was inspired by the monotony of daily life during lockdown so I started filming with my sister in our house and garden. Every now and then I'd get my dad to hold a reflector as well.I edited the film as we went along. We'd shoot fragments each day and then build on it, until we had a finished story.
17. SO YOU COME HERE OFTEN
Director Ilya Tribelsky, Nikolay Kouleshov | Country Israel | Genre comedy | Duration 02:28
After being locked down in quarantine for long time, a married couple enjoys a romantic evening together, until his mother ruins it all with good news.
18. ISOLATIONSHIP * JURY SPECIAL MENTION
Director Sarah May Handler | Country Austria | Genre fiction, comedy | Duration 04:00
A young woman retires from the world. Solitude allows her to completely unwind. By withdrawing socially she experiences serenity - in contrast to her loved ones...
„isolationship" was shot in our garden in the outskirts of Vienna. The idea came up and my sister and I started shooting right away. The process of filming was fun and light. Despite our confinement, it gave us a sense of freedom.
19. QUARANTINE
Director Gábor Hollós | Country Germany | Genre experimental | Duration 03:24
A man is watching a blossoming tree in front of his window.
I made this film during my lockdown at home alone. A statement of the power of hope, beauty and creativity.
20. MELUHHA OVER TIME
Director Deyali Mukherjee, Sriram Raja | Country India | Genre documentary | Duration 05:00
After the lockdown was announced on 24th March 2020 in India, millions of migrant laborers started going back home. The places they abandoned remind us of the ruins of the long lost civilisation of Meluhha (the name given by Mesopotamians to the Indus valley civilisation).
The entire film is shot from our home in Mumbai. Our building overlooks a construction site.The film observes the images of the site before and after the lockdown was announced. The total crew was two people. The film was edited at our home setup.
21. SURVIVAL KIT
Director Luka Stjepanović | Country Croatia | Genre narrative | Duration 02:03
The movie shows how I spent time in quarantine because of the pandemic. It is a sort of guide done in a funny way on how to survive the quarantine while remaining normal. With the vibrant visuals, catchy music and sound design I wanted to make the positive vibe during the pandemic.
The film was all shot and edited by me, shot on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera (2012) and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro.
22. INHABITED
Director Bruno Rudolf | Country Brazil | Genre experimental | Duration 04:00
Quarantine... a man alone in house surrounded by nature. He tries to create with everyday’s object what he most long for.
This was my first creation working all alone. I miss my friends and co-creators, but it was a great experience. Quarantine time, alone home in the Brazilian countryside. I used mu cell phone and computer to record and edit.
23. LIKE A FLAMINGO
Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir | Country Norway | Genre documentary | Duration 04:25
Fragments from the everyday life of a family during the Corona lockdown.
The film was shot with my my four kids and husband (cinematography and editing) with the equipment available in our house, within one week during the Corona lockdown in Norway.
24. IN MY ROOM
Director Aìda Mejía Isenrich | Country France | Genre documentary, narrative | Duration 04:58
During the Covid-19 pandemic, confinement begins to take the shape of death. Memories mix with the present, encountering a window which, thanks to various voices that arise amid the silence, opens a perspective towards the future.
The film was shot with a hand-held reflex camera during the confinement in Paris and the voices were recorded with a computer microphone from vocal messages sent on WhatsApp.
25. HOME
Director Tanja Brzaković, Jelena Bosanac | Country Serbia, Italy, Germany | Genre narrative | Duration 04:38
"The thousand-yard stare drifts away into the unknown to search for the meaning." During a quarantine days, seems like universal feeling- search for the meaning. The meaning that perhaps could be found in the memories. The memories of home, from the new home, in the moment when the world is standing still... or maybe it moves rapidly? It travels home. Milan, Berlin, Belgrade or any other place called "home".
26. ESCAPE REALITY
Director Titouan Laporte | Country France | Genre scy-fi, comedy | Duration 01:09
When you're stuck at home, you can try to escape from your daily life, by any way.
I love filming, narrating stories, so, the lockdown was an opportunity to make more of them. With a camera, you can travel all around the world, without breaking the rules of the lockdown. With materials at hand, a bit of stop motion and some VFX, I invite you to join my journey.
27. ÒLJÒS
Director Ash Tailor | Country Canada | Genre narrative | Duration 01:55
Taken from the Icelandic meaning of unclear/vague, this short visual poem takes a look at a smaller, more intimate story about one person's response to the unprecedented uncertainty in our current climate.
Keeping the narrative open, it is down to the viewer to dissect and illicit meaning. Meaning that can be interpreted in an object, a person, something physical, mental or even something simple like the weather.
28. DON'T WORRY
Director Mana Pakseresht | Country Iran | Genre drama | Duration 02:59
Because of the Corona confinement a teenage girl spends her birthday alone at home. Her mother, who is a nurse, has a surprise for her from the hospital.
The film is based on a real event and all scenes were recorded at home. The TV sequence was also documented.
29. SELF-ABSORB | ENSIMESMADXS
Director Bruno Godoy | Country Brazil | Genre essay, documentary | Duration 05:00
Self-absorb (Ensimesmadxs) is a short film made in social distance that portrays the arrival of the covid 19 in Brazil, through the quarantine portrays the interiorization of people in their homes and thoughts. It raises questions about the general premise that a more solidary society will emerge from this pandemic.
30. SOMEWHERE O'ER THE MOUNTAINS
Director Kazuma Glen Motomura (bodypoet) | Country Japan | Genre experimental | Duration 05:00
Even in confinement, my mother's paintings allowed my imagination to travel. My father had a song about traveling far to find a place of peace and love. I made a little world with his song and her paintings.
Can Yubi, my finger character find this ideal distant place? Hopefully my father is smiling, though confined in heaven. Ironically, during filming my mother had to be confined in her room.
31. CURFEW STORY
Director Dunja Subašić, Uroš Dimitrijević | Country Serbia | Genre narrative | Duration 04:58
A story of a young couple, living in different countries, who, unlike many others, got closer because of the curfew. They learn more about each other and themselves as they are quarantined together in Serbia.
Since we couldn't leave the house, we made this movie using the only equipment we had in our flat. We started filming random situations, without a specific goal, realising we could make a movie out of that material.
32. ISOLATION ART
Director Katharina Dietl | Country Germany | Genre mocumentary | Duration 04:57
Inspired by the Dutch Instagram Account „Tussenkunstenquarantaine" Katharina Dietl started her art project on March 20th, when she began her self-isolation. She recreates a piece of art - mostly paintings - every day with only things she can find in her little apartment in Berlin. In the beginning she did this all by herself - until she got her „team" in.
After I started recreating pieces of art every day by myself I quickly added videos. First I filmed the characters of the paintings coming to life but soon my team-characters developed. Still by myself I created, shot and edited this short film while still prepping and shooting a recreated masterpiece every day. By May 5th I have been doing this for 47 days straight.
You can find them all here: instagram.com/katflick
33.THE SKY WILL MIGRATE WITH THIS CUP OF WATER
Director Neritan Zinxhiria | Country Greece / Iran | Genre drama | Duration 04:59
The signal is not good but for Abbas and Forough, the signal is all they have.
Due to her paper status, my mother couldn't travel to her homeland to mourn over her father's grave. She finally did three years after his passing away. Since then, I have never stopped wondering about belonging and being accepted. With the kind help of Masoud and Neda, we created a digital handwritten love postcard for everyone in need. For everyone stuck at the borders; his own or of others.
34. ISOLATED
Director Yana Riahi | Country Israel | Genre drama, narrative | Duration 02:00
End of March, corona quarantine period, Israel, Tel Aviv.
Maya awakes at morning and realises that her boyfriend had left to Jerusalem and may not come back, even after quarantine will be over. After a while Maya gets a phone call from their mutual friend, living at Nahariya (North small city). Understanding that this relationship is over, he offers Maya a new opportunity and the end of quarantine period.
I wrote the script and asked for 3 different photographs in 3 different cities – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Nahariya to make shots that I planned to use as visuals and to send to me. I asked 3 different actors to record their part and to send it to me also. And then I edited it at home.
35. SEULE
Director Silvia Sabino | Country France | Genre suspense, thriller | Duration 02:26
Are we ever really alone? A woman in isolation finds that her mind is playing tricks on her. Is it the pressure of solitude or something else entirely?
"Seule" was filmed in Paris in the midst of Covid-19 confinement using only an iPhone and a video editing app to mimic the constraints of quarantine throughout the entire process.
WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT
Rewatch the winners announcment of our live broadcast (edited version) by clicking on the video thumbnail.
