Kortfilm.be Avond 2023

Kortfilm.be Avond 2023

‘Best of’ Kortfilmfestival Leuven

© Issues with my other Half (Anna Vasof, 2023)

Kortfilm.be’s editorial team presents a “best of” Kortfilmfestival Leuven on its penultimate day. For the 17th time, the Kortfilm.be Avond guarantees a diverse mix of short films showcasing the medium in all facets.

In a solid year for homegrown animation, a co-production with the Netherlands defends the honour of the sector: Nina Gatz’s Wander to Wonder, a nostalgic stop-motion film about death and loss, celebrated its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.  

Kortfilmfestival Leuven is also zooming in on Austria this year. From that focus programme, we pick two films: Issues With My Other Half by the ever-surprising Anna Vasof, and Rupert Höller’s witty music video Summer 91, in which a man dances to the rhythm of his surroundings.

Meanwhile, Hanna Hovitie reflects on the rat race of life in the existential Square The Circle, and Francesco Sossai returns to the time of the turn of the century and the then prevalent anxiety surrounding the millennium bug in the giallo-coloured The Birthday Party.

Finally, Anthony Ing assembled the lion’s share of British film history as a silent ode to a first-class background actor in Jill, Uncredited.

Followed by a Q&A with Hanna Hovitie.
Presented and moderated by Laïka Plachenault. 

In collaboration with Kortfilmfestival Leuven.

Kortfilmfestival Leuven

Programme

Programma

© Wander to Wonder (Nina Gatz, 2023)
Nina Gatz, The Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, France, 2023, 14’

Mary, Billybud and Fumbleton are three miniature actors in a 1980s children's series. After the series' creator dies, they are left alone in the studio. With their slowly decaying costumes and growing hunger, they continue to create increasingly strange episodes for their fans.

© Issues With My Other Half (Anna Vasof, 2023)
Anna Vasof, Austria, 2022, 6’

Things get freaky when the upper and lower torso of a woman move separately on two swings, one behind the other. How does it feel when bodily dysfunctions turn into surreal nightmares?

© Square the Circle (Hanna Hovitie, 2023)
Hanna Hovitie, Finland, 2023, 17’

Someone takes a tour of the (un)known universe and within themselves in search of a sense of belonging. What is it like to be a circle in a world of squares?

© Jill, Uncredited (Anthony Ing, 2023)
Anthony Ing, United Kingdom, 2022, 18’

One of the world's most prolific background actors takes centre stage in this unique portrait of Jill Goldston, a fifty-year veteran of UK film and television. Constructed entirely from Jill’s performances, the film is at once a celebration of a singular screen oeuvre, a lyrical journey through half a century of popular culture, and a haunting study of a life lived out of focus.

© The Birthday Party (Francesco Sossai, 2023)
Francesco Sossai, Germany, Italy, France, 2023, 17’

December 1999, the fascinating year 2000 is approaching. Out in the countryside, a boy goes to a birthday party. The approaching end of the millennium triggers a strange restlessness.

© Summer 91 (Rupert Höller, 2021)
Rupert Höller, Austria, 2021, 3’

A man discovers movement in everyday objects and starts dancing his way across the city.