International Shorts 1: Documentary

Contemplations on the world through the eyes of other people and creatures.

A PERSON OF THE FOREST - Miranda Pennell

The ghost of a long-dead orangutan revisits colonial-era Sumatra, recounting acts of human and animal resistance in a haunting confrontation between the violence of the past and the realities of the present.

AMMA, DO GIRAFFES CRY? - Kartikeya Saxena [RU]

As a young filmmaker seeks his zoologist mother’s help filming animals, a series of strange encounters and resurfacing memories challenge her rational worldview and force her to reconsider her relationship with the animal world.

WINDOW SHOT - Hosein Jalilvand

Through 1950s archival footage of Kenya, this film examines how Western cinema reframed the Mau Mau uprising, exposing the colonial narratives that cast anti-colonial resistance as villainy.

TWO PIDS - John Smith [RU]

Following his film’s world premiere in Toronto, an unexpected encounter in a hotel elevator sends an artist spiralling into questions about the nature of reality.

International premieres are eligible for Grand Prix International Short Award and Grand Prix Documentary Short Award. Films eligible for the Redbreast UNHIDDEN Short Award are indicated with [RU].