STUDENT ETUDES PANORAMA 2019 LINE-UP

Friday November 1st, 2019

Student Etudes Panorama is a non-competitive section at the International Festival of the Art of Cinematography EnergaCAMERIMAGE featuring student fiction shorts whose high visual and artistic qualities make them a must-see at our film festival.

AZAAR

A tribe of women await their men's return from war. Azaar, one of the last young girls in the village, is intertwined with her mother, grandmother and the rest of the tribe, as she comes to learn the true cost of womanhood.

Director: Myriam Raja
Cinematographer: Michael Filocamo
School: NFTS - National Film and Television School
Country and year: UK, 2019

BORDER CROSSING

The humming, sluggish summer of 1989. A car towing a caravan reaches the Czechoslovakian-Polish border and joins a long queue. Bees are buzzing in the grass. Enclosed in a small space, a family bickers as the atmosphere thickens. On the back seat, a little girl is absorbed by the world of nature. With her, we wade into the incomprehensible world of the adults, glimpsing a fear that grows as they approach the border.

Original title: Przejście graniczne
Director: Agnieszka Chmura
Cinematographer: Joanna Kakitek
School: AMA Film Academy
Country and year: Poland, 2019

CACTUS BLOSSOM

To win back his wife’s love, an old man transforms into the thing she loves the most: a cactus.

Director: Samir Oliveros
Cinematographer: Teck Siang Lim
School: AFI - American Film Institute Conservatory
Country and year: USA, 2019

CHOCOLATE MAN

Ice-cold war photographer Melson gets excited when he enters a war-ravaged village, together with a few mercenaries. But, as he performs his duty, he discovers a little girl who was left behind between all the dead bodies. Through a bar of chocolate, he gains the trust of the seemingly normal girl. Later, he will realize his initial assessment was wrong.

Director: Murat Eyüp Gönültas
Cinematographer: Julian C. Steiner
School: GMBH- Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Country and year: Germany, 2018

CRESCENDO

Victoria is auditioning for the second violin position in the prestigious string quartet led by her teacher, Antonio Montenegro. The night before the audition, Victoria attends a cocktail party with the intention of remaining on his good side. When he tries to seduce her, she discovers that her talent will not be the only decisive factor in her getting the spot. Insecure and threatened by the sensual nature of Renée, her main competition, Victoria is forced to take part in a power-play, only to realize that her own freedom is at stake.

Director: Percival Argüero
Cinematographer: Camilo Moncada
School: CCC - Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica
Country and year: Mexico, 2019

MISS INGA ISSUES

When Cimon seeks refuge from his life through his drag alter ego, Miss Inga Issues, nothing can touch him- not depression, nor escalating alcoholism, not even the taxman. He dramatically quits his job, and accepts a gig at a stag do. The mood intensifies among the men, and reality catches up with him in his transient dream life as Miss Inga Issues.

Director: Dawid Ullgren
Cinematographer: Nils Croné
School: SADA- Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts
Country and year: Sweden, 2019

MY FASHION NIGHTMARE

My Fashion Nightmare is an effortless story, inspired by an element of the fashion industry, which collides with young souls at the first stages of their careers in the material world, wrapped into a careless noir primitivism. When you become aware that you’re only a product, your consciousness turns into a monster. But where a nightmare ends, a sweet dream always begins.

Director: Nikita Kvasnikov
Cinematographer: Eugene Filatov
School: KNUKiT- Kyiv National I.K. Karpenko- Kary University of Theatre, Cinema and TV
Country and year: Ukraine, 2019

NOT THE SADDEST STORY IN THE WORLD

Bar, a young girl in her late 20s, is trying to get over a breakup from the only guy she ever wanted. It is an intimate journey through which we are gently exposed to her inner world, asking questions about love, passion, femininity, about being a woman both among women and among men, about the longing for beauty and the search for an identity. This is a film about the lack of love, about wanting someone so truly and having no ability to communicate, about the mysterious power of attraction, about feminine sexuality and fantasy, and the ability to move on after your heart had been broken.

Director: Bar Alon
Cinematographer: Shai Skiff
School: Tel-Aviv University - the Department of Film & Television
Country and year: Israel, 2019

PENTHESILEA

The transsexual Puerto Rican midwife Penthesila and the French baggage handler Latif discover the chance for love in one another, but first, they must free themselves. Latif, who has hopes of becoming a pilot, has to leave his old life behind him. Penthesilea is a lone wolf and has issues trusting Latif. When Latif’s ex-girlfriend confronts her in a humiliation attempt, Penthesilea feels betrayed. Her inner fears, which she has been carrying around with her ever since she first confided in her mother, are resurrected. However, this time, she is seeking revenge.

Director: Maximilian Villwock
Cinematographer: Cedric Retzmann
School: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Country and year: Germany, 2018

PONYBOI

Ponyboi is an inter-sex runaway. He works at a laundromat and hustles as a sex-worker. But after a mysterious encounter with the man of his dreams, he learns that perhaps he is worthy of leaving his seedy life in New Jersey behind. Ponyboi is a queer film about discovering self-redemption and love.

Director: River Gallo
Cinematographer: Madeline Leach
School: USC School of Cinematic Arts
Country and year: USA, 2019

SISTERS

Sisters tells the tale of three sisters growing up in a dysfunctional family, a family without a mother. Sarah, Vera and Julia are at each other’s mercy, and survive just as long as they are together. With their movements and imagination, they make their world bigger, more beautiful and more bearable. They play, tickle each other, and sometimes exclude one another, but one thing is certain: their connection is stronger than a diamond. But are the connection and the magic of their movements truly strong enough to overcome the reality of their existence?

Director: Daphne Lucker
Cinematographer: Casper Van Oort
School: AHK - Netherlands Film Academy
Country and year: Netherlands, 2018

TOMORROW AT DAWN

1943. In a small village, Amerigo, due to his crippled leg, is the only man who hasn't gone to war. He lives with his wife, Ida, and their daughter, Annetta, who is very sick and in urgent need of a medic. Ida would like to go to the closest village to search for a doctor, but Amerigo is scared.…

Original title: Domani All’Alba
Director: Giulia Di Battista
Cinematographer: Mirko Ciabatti
School: CSC - Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Scuola Nazionale di Cinema
Country and year: Italy, 2019

Each year hundreds of students from all over the world come to EnergaCAMERIMAGE. For many of them, a week at the festival feels like they are taking part in a short yet extensive film course. It’s like a knowledge given in a nutshell.

We know how important, especially for young filmmakers, who are just at the beginning of this tough and demanding path is the opinion and advice of experienced filmmakers.

That is why, this year, the Student Etudes Panorama will be followed by the Round Table session – equal and open discussion devoted to the cinema. The authors of presented films will be joined by the acclaimed filmmakers Oliver Stapleton, BSC and Stephen Lighthill, ASC.

We believe that the participant of the very first Round Table will gain a valuable experience, and will get to know not only other fellow filmmakers but thanks to that they will have a unique chance for knowledge exchange.

After each block of the Student Etudes Panorama, approx. 90 minutes discussion will be carried on, conducted by Oliver Stapleton, BSC and Stephen Lighthill, ASC and with participation of the authors of the screened etudes.

(In English only)