This august, La Guarimba celebrates ten years. We shared everything with our public and never got tired of it: whatever moved us, amused us, made us grow and, at times, even disturbed us.

We received more than ten thousand short films from all over the world which have come along in these years of growth. Ten years in which we have fought to bring the cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema.

From the 1144 shorts we have received in 2022, we have selected 163 works from 54 countries on all continents, 56% of which were directed by women, split between the official competition and special programs.

The films in competition are divided into the categories of Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Music Video, and for the bravest, Insomnia, a section of experimental cinema that will be screened at 2AM on the beach. For our younger audience, La Grotta dei Piccoli, a section of animated films in collaboration with UNICEF Italia.

The program is enriched by the out-of-competition sections focused on themes that are particularly relevant to the contemporary world and deepen productions of little-explored countries: INDIGENOUS FILMS, a program that celebrates the indigenous cultures of five continents (the Atayal, Sami, Maori, Mosotho, and Wayuu); SLÁVA UKRAYÍNI!, a program that will promote Ukrainian filmmakers; TAIWAN FOCUS, dedicated to Taiwanese cinema; CALABRIA-O-RAMA, short films produced in our region; A SCREEN FOR GLAS ANIMATION, a selection of the winning shorts from the Californian animation festival partner of La Guarimba, which had to take place online for the third consecutive year.

See you in Amantea from 7th to 12 August!

Head of Programming: Alex Spagnolo

Programmers: Marta Miquel, Mikel MurilloValeria Weerasinghe, Sara Fratini & Giulio Vita

#LaGuarimba2022

FICTION

VENUS OF WILLENDORF

Zuzanna Grajcewicz | 2020 | 23′ | Poland

Young and ambitious Kamila lives in a world, where having surplus of weight guarantees success on all fronts of social life.

INHERENT

Nicolai G.H. Johansen | 2021 | 17′ | Denmark

Gothic horror meets small town teenage romance as we follow a girl roaming the streets, gazing at a boy.

NORTH POLE

Marija Apcevska  | 2021 | 15′ | North Macedonia

Misty field, crowded locker room. Margo belongs to neither. Maybe if she loses her virginity, she will finally find her place.

I AM AFRAID TO FORGET YOUR FACE

Sameh Alaa | 2020 | 15′ | Egypt

After being separated for 82 days, Adam travels down a rough road to be reunited with the one he loves, whatever it takes.

WARSHA

Dania Bdeir | 2022 | 15′ | Lebanon

Mohammad is a crane operator working in Beirut. One morning he volunteers to take on one of the tallest and notoriously most dangerous cranes in Lebanon.

LOVEBIRDS

Víctor Moreno  | 2021 | 18′ | Spain

In the middle of a global pandemic, a man arrives at an empty hotel where he has an appointment.

SIDERAL

Carlos Segundo  | 2021 | 15′ | Brazil

In Natal, the Northeast of Brazil, the country is preparing to launch its first manned spaceship into space.

DAYDREAMERS

Ante Pask  | 2021 | 12′ | Belgium

Daydreamers is about a father and his daughter who share a passion for motorcycling. But health problems put their shared hobby at risk.

ANABASE

Benjamin Goubet  | 2021 | 28′ | Switzerland

In Geneva, guards patrol the city by night. Around Sony and Ana, the city seeks into melancholy as two stars meet.

YOUNG

Kristian Håskjold  | 2021 | 23′ | Denmark

After discovering a rumor has been spread about her, Pernille agrees to confront the girl suspected to be behind it at a party.

SOUND OF THE NIGHT

Chanrado Sok & Kongkea Vann  | 2021 | 20′ | Cambodia

Vibol and his brother Kea sell noodles on a motorized cart every night on the streets of Phnom Penh.

4AM

Mehdi Fikri  | 2021 | 11′ | France

France, November 2015. After the Paris terror attacks, the state of emergency is proclaimed to facilitate the work of police forces.

TECHNO, MAMA

Saulius Baradinskas  | 2021 | 18′ | Lithuania

Nikita loves to listen techno music and dreams to go to Berlin and visit the famous club “Berghain”. His mother Irena doesn’t know about his son’s dreams.

THE CRIMINALS

Serhat Karaaslan  | 2021 | 24′ | Turkey

Late at night in a small Turkish town, a young couple tries to find a hotel room to spend the night together.

BREAKPOINT

Nicolas Panay | 2021 | 18′ | France

Odile, a textile worker and her colleagues are forced to evaluate Tunisian young women for a week.

LILI ALONE

Zou Jing | 2021 | 22′ | China

Lonely and poor, Lily heads for the city in a bid to earn enough money to save her dying father.

LEMONGRASS GIRL

Pom Bunsermvicha | 2021 | 17′ | Thailand

According to Thai superstition, a virgin can ward off rain by planting lemongrass upside-down underneath an open sky.

LIKE THE ONES I USED TO KNOW

Annie St-Pierre | 2020 | 18′ | Canada

Denis, alone in his car, is anxious at the idea of setting foot in his ex-in-law’s house to pick up his children.

ZABUT

Giuseppe Schillaci | 2021 | 20′ | Italy

Nunzia, a thirty-year-old with fertility problems, returns to her childhood home in Sicily, in the ancient district of Zabut.

PITBULL

Fabián León López | 2022 | 18′ | Mexico

Manuel lives his way, he exercises and trains his pitbull dog. However, Margarita, a women twice his age, will finally make him question his identity.

ANIMATION

DRONE

Sean Buckelew | 2022 | 15′ | United States

A Predator drone with an ethical AI personality, goes rogue as it attempts to understand its purpose in the world.

MY FAT ARSE AND I

Yelyzaveta Pysmak  | 2022 | 10′ | Poland

One morning a girl tries on a pair of new pants, yet they don’t quite fit her. More precisely, they are impossible to zip.

SWEET NOTHING

Joana Fischer & Marie Kenov | 2022 | 4′ | Switzerland 

Rosa is sunbathing in her garden on a hot summer afternoon, when suddenly the idyllic peace is disturbed by the noise of a lawnmower.

OTHER HALF

Lina Kalcheva  | 2022 | 13′ | United Kingdom

As an Individual Being in a world comprised of Merged Couples, Ren longs to find his other half and become complete.

A PLACE IN BLUE

Seung eon Yi  | 2021 | 9′ | South Korea

A girl is searching for her mother in a grocery store and in a forest.

BESTIA

Hugo Covarrubias | 2021 | 15′ | Chile

The life of a secret police agent during the military dictatorship in Chile.

GOODBYE JÉRÔME

Gabrielle Selnet, Adam Sillard & Chloé Farr | 2021 | 8′ | France

Having just arrived in paradise, Jerome sets out to find his wife Maryline.

WHEN THE MOON WAS GIBBOUS

Erika Grace Strada  | 2021 | 4′ | Denmark

The life of a colorful ensemble of beasts is abruptly interrupted by the arrival of a small group of humans.

STEAKHOUSE

Špela Čadež  | 2021 | 10′ | Slovenia

The steak has been marinating for a few days now. The pan is heated. Franc’s stomach is rumbling.

I GOTTA LOOK GOOD FOR THE APOCALYPSE

Ayçe Kartal | 2021 | 6′ | France

What if the crisis was not the pandemic, but the derealization of our lives?

RED GIANT

Anne Verbeure | 2021 | 10′ | Belgium

On top of a hill, the giant listens to the everyday thoughts and conversations of the other people.

YOUR BAD ANIMALS

Ido Shapira & Amit Cohen  | 2022 | 12′ | Israel

Rachel, a rebellious young mouse who lives with her depressed mother in a burrow, starts dating the most dangerous animals in the city above the ground.

DOWNFALL

Rona Fayad  | 2021 | 4′ | Lebanon

Enya’s journey trying to make it as a dancer is hindered as her behaviors drag her downhill.

SAUNA

Anna Lena Spring & Lara Perren  | 2021 | 4′ | Switzerland

Ava enters the Sauna for the first time. She is overwhelmed by the nudity, her thoughts, and the physical sensations.

A GUITAR IN THE BUCKET

Boyoung Kim | 2021| 15′ | South Korea

In a world where you can rent everything from vending machines, a girl wants to be a guitarist, but people choose otherwise for her.

A BITE OF BONE

Honami Yano  | 2021 | 10′ | Japan

A little girl reflects on her last summer with her father at his funeral.

DING

Malte Stein | 2021 | 5′ | Germany

Haunted by a little thing, a man gets driven to the edge.

BYE LITTLE BLOCK!

Éva Darabos  | 2020 | 9′ | Hungary

A young woman learns that soon she will have to move from the blockhouse flat she lives in.

MR. PETE & THE IRON HORSE

Kilian Vilim | 2021 | 7′ | Switzerland

The diligent soldier Mr. Pete does everything to meet the high standarts of his baroness.

NOIR-SOLEIL

Marie Larrivé | 2021 | 20′ | France

After an earthquake in Naples bay, the body of a man is found. While Dino and his daughter, Victoria, travel to Italy for a DNA test, the past catches up with them.

DOCUMENTARY

STORGETNYA

Hovig Hagopian  | 2021 | 20′ | France

The tunnels of an Armenian salt mine, 230 meters below the Earth’s surface, are home to an unusual kind of health clinic: a speleological therapeutic center.

PARTY POSTER

Rishi Chandna  | 2021 | 21′ | India

Mumbai. During the pandemic, a group of laundry workers designs a poster celebrating a festival in worship of the deity Ganesha.

SALVO

Federico Cammarata  | 2020 | 30′ | Italy

Salvo is turning 40. He lives on a hill with his parents and looks after his goldfinches.

THE TRAIN DRIVER

Christian Wittmoser & Zuniel Kim | 2021 | 6′ | Germany

An anonymous train driver recounts his experience with suicide on the rails.

MATKA/POLKA

Joanna Suchomska | 2022 | 15′ | Poland

A meditation on what it means to be a woman in today’s Polish society.

MORE THAN I CAN REMEMBER

Amy Bench | 2022 | 14′ | United States

One night at her home in southeastern Congo, 14-year-old Mugeni awakes to the sounds of bombs.

LA ROUTE DES JEUNES

Justine Stella Knuchel, Saro Vallejo & Juan Manuel Vegas | 2021 | 14′ | Switzerland

Under a viaduct in Geneva you can find the Praille roundabout, a well-known crossroads for the people of the city. Everyone passes by but no one stops there, yet this non-place hides a collection of overlapping lives.

IN LIGHT

Alice Fassi | 2022 | 8′ | Italy

An account of the teachings of The Universal White Brotherhood, including their ritual at the Seven Rila Lakes (Bulgaria) and the practice of Paneurhythmy.

VO

Nicolas Gourault | 2021 | 19′ | France

A sensory investigation about the role of human workers in the training of self-driving cars.

A JOB LIKE ANY OTHER

Annick Roussy | 2020 | 20′ | Canada/Quebec

Pierre has been a Drag Queen Barmaid for the past 30 years, a hard and restrictive work he never really chose. But for him, it’s a job like any other.

MUSIC VIDEOS

GHOSTS

(LA)HORDE – Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer & Arthur Harel  | 2022 | 8′ | France

When the Fine Arts Museum closes, figures take over the deserted place, embrace and tear each other.

Music by: RONE

STAY SOFT

Maegan Houang | 2022 | 4′ | United States 

Mitski finds herself wandering in a garden before being abducted by a pair of bizarre masked beings.

Music by: Mitski

COLD HEART

Raman Djafari | 2021 | 4′ | Germany 

Four friends on a surreal disco night-out follow Elton John and Dua Lipa into a fantastical universe.

Music by: Elton John & Dua Lipa

MONSTERS

Taisia Deeva | 2021 | 3′ | Ukraine

Shot by separate units in Kiev and the US, the video features children cowering in terror, hiding from the unknown.

Music by: Dynoro feat. 24kGoldn

EL ARTE DE RECUPERARTE

Dante Zaballa | 2022 | 3′ | Argentina

“I’m missing you on a summer night”

Music by: Miranda!

BYE BYE

David Maruchniak | 2022 | 5′ | Argentina

A shady man surrounded by dark pleasures thinks he can get away with anything.

Music by: Babasonicos

SUMMER 91

Rupert Holler | 2021 | 4′ | Austria

A man discovers dance in everyday objects and starts to vibe his long built-up desire for raving away.

Music by: Noizu

SONHO

Douglas Ratzlaff Bernardt | 2021 | 14′ | Brazil

The oppressive penitentiary system takes away children’s right to dream, but there’s no cage for talent.

Music by: Nego bala

OMEN

DRUST | 2021 | 5′ | United Kingdom

Sex, drugs, first love and finally heartache.

Music by: David Lindmer

DYNAMITE

Jim Vieille | 2021 | 4′ | France

Lêg always stays locked up at home, engrossed by screens that all broadcast the same image : a burning car.

Music by: LÊG

EXPERIMENTAL - INSOMNIA

LOS COLORES DEL NIÑO DIOS

Santiago Pérez Rodríguez  | 2021 | 2′ | Colombia

An animated punk journey through the Excel files of baby Jesus, the one in charge of bringing the Christmas gifts in Colombia.

MOTORCYCLIST'S HAPPINESS WON'T FIT INTO HIS SUIT

Gabriel Herrera | 2021 | 10′ | Mexico

There he sits proudly on his beautiful motorbike which he would never loan to anyone.

ONE THOUSAND AND ONE ATTEMPTS TO BE AN OCEAN

Wang Yuyan | 2020 | 11′ | France

From “satisfying video” that swarm on the internet, the abstract narrative unfolds through an appropriation way by referring to trance and minimal music.

EYES AND HORNS

Chaerin Im | 2021 | 6′ | South Korea

Exploration of masculinity begins with the Minotaur, a mythical creature Picasso used to portray himself in his etching print series.

VIRTUAL VOICE

Suzannah Mirghani | 2021 | 7′ | Qatar

Suzi doll is an ego-warrior. A trending indignation. A passion that is fashion. A politics of the popular. Her activism is abstract. Her help is hypothetical.

INDIGENOUS FILMS

A TAYAL

Laha Mebow | 2021 | 23′ | Taiwan

Yukan is feeling lost about leaving his Tayal tribe for high school.

THE TONGUES

Marja Bal Nango | 2019 | 15′ | Norway

During a blizzard on the tundra, a Sami woman is herding her reindeer when she is brutally raped by a man.

MATUA

Kaitiaki Rodger | 2021 | 9′ | New Zealand

A Maori teacher is forced to confront and reconcile with his past by unearthing family secrets.

Behemoth: Or the Game of God

Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | 2015 | 13′ | Lesotho

An itinerant preacher proclaims to people that their god is in the very coffin he is dragging along.

MUGAN BOE

Olowaili Green Santacruz & Juan Esteban Díaz Puerta | 2021 | 4′ | Colombia

Mugan Boe (“the cry of the grandmothers”) recounts the chants and the dances by the Gunadule people to remember the harsh Spanish invasion.

UKRAINIAN FOCUS

THE DIAPER CAKE

Anastasia Babenko | 2021 | 18′ 

In a postnatal room, like in limbo, a couple is trying to wake their baby for a feed.

IN THE FIELD

Oleksandr Shkrabak  | 2017 | 20′ 

Ukraine. A father, refusing to accept the dictates of war, sets off on a journey into the combat zone in search of the body of his son.

15.02.22- 24.02.22 KYIV

Hristina Novikova & Alisa Sizykh | 2022 | 4′ 

A series of video excerpts with students of the Kyiv City Academy of Pop and Circular Art, sealed in Kyiv on February 15, 2022, where they act with their thoughts on the upcoming war.

TAIWAN FOCUS

Q & A

Limuy Asien | 2021 | 15′ 

An afternoon in Naro, an Atayal Indigenous community in the mountains of Taiwan.

A PIECE OF CAKE

Wen-Yi Tseng | 2021 | 6′

Dreams and reality are confounded by an environment that invites far more questions than it seeks to answer.

MY GRANDMOTHER IS AN EGG

Wu-Ching Chang | 2021 | 8′

Egg is life per se. Eggs are fragile, but at the same time tough. My grandmother is an egg.

GLAS ANIMATION

GHOST DOGS

Joe Cappa | 2020 | 11′ | United States

A home-alone rescued pup is visited by a host of deceased pups.

PESTS

Juliette Laboria | 2021 | 7′ | France

In the heat of summer, children and wasps gather around the same meal, but sharing is not on the daily menu.

SIERRA

Sander Joon | 2022 | 16′ | Estonia

Loosely inspired by the director’s childhood, Sierra takes us into the surreal car racing world.

LA GROTTA DEI PICCOLI