DIRECTORS’ TALKS
— DIRECTORS’ TALK: CAROLINE POGGI & JONATHAN VINEL
TUESDAY 20 MAY, 13:45
📍 PALAIS STAGE
Moderated by Delphine Jeanneret
French to English consecutive interpreting by Pascale Fougère
Since the World Premiere of their second feature film Eat The Night at the 2024 edition of the Directors’ Fortnight, Poggi and Vinel have premiered two new short films: The Exploding Girl at the 2024 edition of the Locarno Film Festival and How Are You? at the 2025 edition of the Berlinale. Prolific, inspiring and insanely creative, the directing duo will go over their career, impressive filmography that goes back and forth between the short and feature format, and their working collaboration.
INTERVENANTS
Filmmakers
Caroline Poggi, born in Ajaccio in 1990, and Jonathan Vinel, born in Toulouse in 1988, are a duo of French artists. Their work spans in the fields of cinema and contemporary art. Known for blending themes of resistance and revolution with hybrid multimedia forms, their films give a voice to the anger, stress and disillusionment of the contemporary generation. They aim to create a “cinema of refuge”. Their first feature Jessica Forever (2018) was presented at TIFF in Toronto and at the Berlinale. Their second Eat the Night (2024) premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. Their short film Tant qu’il nous reste des fusils à pompe (2014) won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlinale. Their work has also been shown at Locarno, Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, New-York Film Festival, New Directors New Films, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in Paris, FRAC Corse in Corte, Fondazione Prada in Milan, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Triennale in Milan, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève.
DELPHINE JEANNERET
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur | HEAD Geneva
Delphine Jeanneret is a film curator and lecturer at Geneva University of Art and Design HEAD, where she gives a workshop on the power of representation in contemporary cinema with a focus on gender, decolonial and ecological studies. She is part of Locarno Film Festival (Open Doors) and Int. Kurzfilmtage Winterthur artistic committee. She has more than 18 years of experience as a programmer and curator in film festivals, where she developed several workshops for upcoming filmmakers. She also counts numerous participations in juries in international festivals. She is a member of the Swiss Film Academy and the European Film Academy.
— DIRECTORS’ TALK : The Short Filmmakers in Competition
Wednesday 21 may, 15:30
📍 PALAIS STAGE
Moderated by Anas Sareen
To get a taste of the Short Films in Competition screening, we leave the floor to the short filmmakers selected this year! They will talk about their films, their experiences, their doubts and their success. An unmissable Talk!
With:
Gabriel Abrantes – ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF LOVE
Adnan Al Rajeev – ALI
Tawfeek Barhom – I’M GLAD YOU’RE DEAD NOW
Arvin Belarmino & Kyla Danelle Romero – AGAPITO
Sandra Desmazières – FILLE DE L’EAU
Martine Froissard – HYPERSENSIBLE (HYPERSENSITIVE)
Grégoire Graesslin – DAMMEN
Bálint Kenyeres – THE SPECTACLE
Zhaoguang Luo & Shuhan Liao – NVHAI (LILI)
Inês Nunes – A SOLIDÃO DOS LAGARTOS (THE LONELINESS OF LIZARDS)
Dian Weys – AASVOËLS (VULTURES)
ANAS SAREEN
Berlinale Generation | Director
Anas is a feature-film programmer for the Berlinale Generation section and a regular contributor to the magazine Talking Shorts. He has just completed his second short film, The Gods, and will now begin writing a first feature, titled Swansong.
— INDUSTRY PANELS
DISTRIBUTION – CASE–STUDIES AND Q&A
Two filmmakers are joined by their distributors to share with us the insight of their collaborations. From the first contact to festival selections and sales, both duos will reveal the ups and downs of releasing their short films. The opportunity as well to know more about the filmmaker/distributor relationship.
Sunday 18 May – 16:00
📍 PALAIS STAGE
With Dawid Bodzak, Tam Dan Vu, Ary Zara, Nela Zielińska
Moderated by Jing Haase
INTERVENANTS
Filmmaker
Graduate of the Film Directing Department, Polish National Film in Lodz. Director and screenwriter of short fiction and documentary films. Director and writer of short film Tremors (Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand ISFF 2018) and Krokodyl (Semaine de la Critique 2023). Casting director and first assistant director of feature film Sweat directed by Magnus Von Horn (Festival de Cannes 2020). Les Arcs Talent Village alumni.
Travelling Distribution
She is Artistic Director / Head of Communications at Travelling Distribution from Canada (Québec). With a B.A. in Cultural and Media Production Strategies, Tam contributes to the genesis of the Facebook film festival Plein(s) Écran(s) in 2016, evolving as coordinator, communications director and programmer. She then directs the social media Oscars© campaigns for Fauve, Marguerite and Brotherhood. After working in communications at Arsenal Contemporary Art for two years, she joins Travelling in 2020.
Filmmaker
Ary Zara is a transgender writer and director, who also works as a stage performer and cultural provoker. He studied cinema at Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon and University of Texas in Austin. An Avocado Pit, his debut short film, has earned a spot on the shortlist of the 96th Academy Awards® (Oscars®) and Elliot Page has become its Executive Producer. This achievement comes after the short film has garnered 90+ selections and 20+ awards in festivals such as: Clermont-Ferrand, Indie Lisboa, AFI FEST, Brest, BFI, Guadalajara and Outfest. Ary is developing his first feature, Sun in Saturn. He took part in Torino Script Lab 2023 where he won CNC Prize for his pitch, and Dot.on.the.map 2024 where he won Best Debut Project. Ary is in pre-production of his second short Tokos, developed at Midpoint Institute, pitched at WEMW 2024, to be completed in 2025. He is one of the directors selected for the Program La Factory des Cinéastes, under the umbrella of Directors’ Fortnight 2025.
Ary strives to inspire a more inclusive society, leaving an indelible mark on both the art world and the hearts of those who experience his work.
New Europe Film Sales
Nela Zielińska is in charge of Acquisitions & Shorts at New Europe Film Sales, a Warsaw-based boutique world sales company selling quality films from all over the world. Founded in 2010, the company has a great track record for supporting auteur cinema and unique voices with an edge.
DEMYSTIFYING THE PREMIERE STATUS
World, International, European, National… so many ways to describe a premiere status, and each festival has different definitions and requirements. Does the premiere status actually impact a potential selection? Three programmers will answer the question and share their opinions on the importance of the premiere status.
Monday 19 May – 16:00
📍 PALAIS STAGE
With John Canciani, Laurent Crouzeix, Carla Vulpiani
Moderated by Céline Roustan
INTERVENANTS
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
John is the Artistic Director since 2013 of the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and has curated programs for different festivals and art institutions. He’s a founding member of Pro Short the Swiss Short Film Lobby, a programmer at the Cinema Cameo in Winterthur and a Member of the Swiss and the European Film Academy. John is a board member and expert at the Foundation visions sud est. He has a Master in Advanced Studies in Curating and published an issue of OnCurating with the title “The future of short films”.
Clermont-Ferrand Int’l Short Film Festival & Market
Laurent Crouzeix is on the Executive team of the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and Short Film Market. He is Coordinator of Euro Connection co-production forum that has seen over 140 projects to completion so far. He also designs industry meetings about the development, production, or distribution of short films. Laurent is a regular expert or consultant for international script & project development training programs. As sustainability officer, Laurent oversees the event’s social and environmental action plan. Laurent’s stop motion short Amerigo and the New World was released in 2019.
La Biennale – Venice International Film Festival
Carla Vulpiani works as a studio and production manager for the Dublin-based animation studio and maps and plans. She also serves the role of Short Film Advisor for Venice International Film Festival and manages the Animation Division at MIA – International Audiovisual Market in Rome.
— KEYNOTES 2025
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WOULD YOU BUY THIS?
Brainchild of Jing Haase, who hosts the session, this new initiative and opportunity will expose six filmmakers to the raw and honest feedback of Decision-Makers specialized in short film sales. These industry pros will only watch the first three minutes of each film before giving their reactions.
Tuesday 20 May – 15:30
📍 PALAIS STAGE
With Pierre-Yves Bezat, Aurélie Chesné, Yvette De Los Santos, Alexandra Gramatke
Moderated by Jing Haase
INTERVENANTS
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SHORT FILM INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITIES: PROJECT & TALENT DEVELOPMENT
There are many well-known project and talent development opportunities for the feature film industry, those pertaining to short films are not as numerous but do exist, which is why representatives from four different organisations take center stage to present their various initiatives.
Wednesday 21 May – 13:30
📍 PALAIS STAGE
With Anne Gaschütz, Liliya Kucheva, Alicia Martinez, Jasmin Schenk Vitale
Moderated by Jing Haase
