SWF Beyond
SWF 2023 has come to an end, but the films presented during it have stayed with us for a long time – hence the desire for more screenings and analysis to make the ideas of bold experimental cinema resonate even louder in the discussion of short film. At the same time, we are committed to nurturing a space for the development of film culture by continuing the series of weekly screenings at the Andalusian Dog, this time in a slightly different format. That’s how we came up with the complex six-cycle SWF Beyond, which will take place every third Wednesday of the month.
In January and February, we will consider the state of the Polish short film industry and what its creators want to convey about our domestic reality. The screenings of the two Polish Competition programs will be an attempt to explore and diagnose the Polish mentality, the problems associated with it and those displaced by it.
The remaining months of Beyond will be particularly attractive to those who value innovation, courage and openness to experiment in art. They will be dedicated to the RAW Competition, which was an uncommon novelty of last year’s festival, created with the support of young European programmers. The four sets of films illustrate how contemporary filmmakers play with conventions, still surprising with originality, regardless of thematic considerations.
SWF Beyond Screenings
When we look at the internet, data, the cloud — we know we don’t ever see all of it. Films presented in this section dare us to ask questions about data and memory as entities that function independently of human intent, and which can create realities themselves. How is time felt by data and how does memory work when it’s made out of code? How does the cloud change us? Can we let go of control in the face of something larger shaping us and our lived realities?
➔ RAW Competition II: New Media
- Enlighten / Isabel Medeiros / Portugal / 2023 / 17’
- For Mouna / Spencer James Bogaert / Belgium / 2022 / 14
- Backup / Gerrit Kuge / Germany / 2023 / 29’
- We All Want a Place to Call Our Own / Daniela Delgado Viteri / Ecuador / 2022 / 13’
What does it mean to program exceptions? Are these films that don’t fit in other sections, or are they just so rare and unique that they need to be separated from the rest? Five completely different films that all connect on a supernatural level. Riots in Paris, projected light on a cemetery in Brazil, two cyberspaces, one haiku and an animated love trip. Welcome to Exceptions! A place where people are playing pretend.
➔ RAW Competition I: Exceptions
Cinema for the Dead / Bruno Moreno, Renato Sircilli / Brazil / 2023 / 14’ Manta Ray / Anton Bialas / France / 2022 / 30’ Furrie / Lucie Grannec / France / 2022 / 9’ Mars / Yann les Jours / France / 2023 / 1’ Elantra is Almost A Life / Maja Skjøth Hegelund / United States / 2023 / 7’ The Shortest Relationship in the World / Xiaoxuan Han / China / 2023 / 1’
A fascinating set of films that present the enigmatic landscapes of dense Polish forests and remote cemeteries. They confront the layers of trauma entwined with cultural and political structures, and face the universal doubts on morality, fear and mystery. With the various range of cinematic approaches they engage into both the physical and psychological depths of Poland’s history and the human condition.
➔ Polish Competition II: Deep in the Forest
- The Night Falls Quietly / Mieszko Dobek / Poland / 2023 / 9’
- ZIMA / Tomasz Popakul, Kasumi Ozeki / Poland / 2023 / 26’
- Brama Św. Piotra (Saint Peter’s Gate) / Natalia Sara Skorupa / Poland / 2023 / 11’
- No Way Forward, No Way Back / Maciej Stępniewski / Poland / 2022 / 3’
- Death and Herring / Klaudia Prabucka / Poland / 2022 / 4’
- Stwór (The Creature) / Damian Kosowski / Poland / 2022 / 22’
- W lesie są ludzie (There Are People in the Forest) / Szymon Ruczyński / Poland / 2023 / 10’
A selection of thought-provoking films that shows moments of detachment, search for personal liberation, frustration, nuances of queerness and evolving manhood. They navigate the delicate balance between conforming to social expectations and staying true to oneself, taking you on a psychological and, at times, literal journey through the intricacies of the human mind. Films that scream and whisper.
➔ Polish Competition I: In the Eye of the Storm
- As It Was / Damian Kocur, Anastasiia Solonevych / Poland, Ukraine / 2023 / 15’
- PASTELOZA / Marta Marianna Kubiak / Poland / 2022 / 5’
- The Body Dissolver / Dominik Ritszel / Poland / 2023 / 11’
- Płot (The Fence) / Tomasz Wolski / Poland / 2022 / 19’
- Barwoczuły (Panchromatic) / Joanna Zuzanna Suchożebrska / Poland / 2022 / 10’
- Skraj (Edge) / Edmund Aleksander Krempiński, Jakub Dylewski / Poland / 2023 / 18’
Imagining what the future might look like is a thought experiment humanity has never ceased to engage in. This selection of shorts gazes beyond the common perception of “Future” as a temporal state, and explores its poetry, its promise, and its eerie parallelism to the present. Demonstrating tremendous insight into the human condition, the films grant a new perspective on the themes of isolation, courage, love and the body, while gently easing us into the lives of their protagonists.
➔ RAW III: Future Livings
- Enflightenment / Wey Yinn Teo / Malaysia / 2023 / 11’
- Promise of a Wild Love / Davi Mello / Brazil / 2022 / 23’
- The Seventh Shift / Nataliya Ilchuk / Ukraine / 2023 / 15’
- Slimane / Carlos Pereira / Germany / 2023 / 19’
- Contrapunctus V / Kenji Ouellet / Germany / 2022 / 17’