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shareCinema proves to be the cruelest intoxicant in these ravishing new shorts that capture the eye, ear, and flesh, tendering urban, rural, and otherworldly spirits with piercing vision. They compete for the SDAFF Best International Short Film Award.
In this program
DOWN THERE
Directed by Zhengfan Yang
Mysterious sounds trigger cruel indifference, reluctant concern, and more in this mesmerizing and thrilling view outside the rear window.
LILY’S PAIN STORE
Directed by Chen Li
When a stylish shopgirl in Beijing becomes obsessed with a neighborhood “Pain Store” selling artisanal torture tinctures, experiments in pain escalate in a world of candy colors and jet blacks.
TUNGRUS
Directed by Rishi Chandna
A feathered tragi-comedy in which a rooster seduces and terrorizes a family and two cats in a cramped Mumbai apartment, becoming that family member you can’t exactly get rid of. Or can you?
BABYLON
Directed by Keith Deligero
A punk patchwork of politics, assassination, and talking chickens make for a vibrant, comical, and freewheelingly radical skewering of convention and order.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
Directed by Arom Choi
One woman in a cramped humid room carries on with stretching, solo dance, and piling ramen bowls until mysterious sounds from next door draw her out, in this tense vivid take on Seoul’s cramped conditions.
A FAREWELL
Directed by Yifei He
After his death, young Han Chinese woman explores her grandfather’s Muslim faith, turning heads and revealing neglected family secrets.