Shorts Program 1: Social Ills
Thursday 3rd February / 16:00-18:00 / City Kino Wedding & Online
Shorts Program 1: Social Ills (78 mins)
Social horror is a theme Final Girls Berlin keeps returning to...and it‘s no wonder, considering the world we live in! Sexual harassment, colonialist violence, depression, the potential horrors of motherhood, and more of life‘s real-deal problems are grappled with in these incisive shorts.
Content warning: assault
The Goldfish (17:01)
Directed by Ashley Paige Brim, USA, 2021 | European Premiere | Available online
An adopted woman is forced to confront her darkest fear about motherhood at her sister’s baby shower.
She Whistles (12:16)
Directed by Thirza Cuthand, Canada, 2021 | German Premiere | Available online
The northern lights shine down on a prairie city with a notorious history of anti-Indigenous racism. Seeing the lights, Stephanie, a Cree Lesbian, remembers her missing mother, and decides to go see her girlfriend. She gets into a cab and tries to evade increasingly invasive questions from a white cab driver. The ride takes a dangerous turn when he speeds out of the city.
Smile (6:37)
Directed by Joanna Tsanis, Canada, 2021 | German Premiere | Available online
When a young woman struggles to smile, her depression becomes something truly monstrous.
Dedication (17:33)
Directed by Selina Sondermann, Germany, 2021 | Available online
By moving to Berlin, Martha Roseiro had hoped for a fresh start. Soon she discovers that her nightmare is far from over. With the help of colleagues at her new job, Oktavia Zagomorova) and Mama Delorme, Martha resorts to the most unusual way to battle the demons of her past.
The Expected (14:30)
Directed by Carolina Sandvik, Sweden, 2021
A father-to-be ends up in a feverish nightmare after a miscarriage, when a strange entity seems to be growing in the mother’s blood.
Beta Male (9:50)
Directed by Marianne Chase, UK, 2021 | European Premiere | Available online
Based on a bizarre real-life encounter, Beta Male is a surreal reimagining of what it’s like to get hit on by a creep. In the end the man’s weird games and refusal to leave means Audrey has no choice but to act.