Homeward Bound: Moving short films about reconciling the past

Whispers of Colors

Director: Sujin Kim • USA • 3 minutes

A short, colourful animation which poetically translates Joonhho Kim’s experience as a mixed-race child in the aftermath of the Korean War into visual form.

 

Kneaded

Director: Stephen Coombs • NL • 14 minutes

A woman struggles to hold herself together as her family’s anchor after several tragic losses. Based on a script created for the Nickel’s Script Writing Challenge and produced through NIFCO’s First Time Filmmaker program, Kneaded showcases local talent at all levels of its creation.

 

The Fire Triangle of Love Theory

Director: Alexandre Spieser • France • 2 minutes

This short comedy gives a simple three point theory to help keep the flame alive in a relationship.

 

Father's Mountains

Director: XiaoJun Tan • China • 11 minutes

A poignant animated tale of a son’s journey beyond the life he knows to understand his father’s advice that, “beyond each mountain is another mountain.”

Epilogue

Director: Joseph Rossi • Canada • 14 minutes

A bitter empty nester has a heart to heart with her deceased sister. This film boasts charismatic characters and an emotionally resonant story, showing one woman’s methods for coping with loss.

 

Desync

Director: Minerva Marie Navasca • Ontario • 12 minutes

Desync follows a young Filipina filmmaker who attempts to overwrite a painful memory of her mother with a perfect narrative. The film explores themes that include multigenerational dynamics between immigrant parents and their Canadian-raised children, overwork in Asian culture and repression of one’s feelings.

 

Adoptation

Director: Liz Whitmere • Canada • 5 minutes

A grounded comedy playing decisions around family planning as an awkward party conversation, featuring Newfoundland actor Nicole Power (Kim’s Convenience)

 

And That's for This Christmas

Director: Peter Vulchev • Bulgaria • 15 minutes

While preparing the details for his own funeral, an elderly man realises that he will be celebrating Christmas alone. Unable to fall asleep, he decides to spend the holiday visiting the grave of his deceased wife.

 

Mawtini

Director: Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller • Ontario • 19 minutes

A young Palestinian woman and her older Indigenous friend start a guerrilla garden on the lawn of their apartment building and battle management to keep it alive long enough to make it to harvest.

 

Runtime: 1h34