The Glitter Factory (Sweden) by Alexander Rynéus

Swedens only glitter factory is located in Dalarna close to my home village. Between the years 1950–1970 it produced Christmas tree tinsel during the winters. After the factory closed, the house was also the home of my grandfather and grandmother until they passed away. In the midst of the prevailing Covid pandemic I spent a lot of time in the house. Me and my parents went through different objects from different times still occupying the house and The Glitter Factory turned into an archaeological excavation with confused archaeologists. The film camera was with me in the house and suddenly years had passed. In The Glitter Factory, the year’s cycle materialized in an attempt to produce different objects, according to the different needs of the different seasons, that would sustain the factory’s survival. Christmas tree tinsel in the winter, binoculars in the spring, sunglasses in the summer, and zippers in the autumn. With the ever- present feeling of time, I filmed my parents over and over again. Over time scenes from life, dreams and imagination came to life in The Glitter Factory. The act of looking and a spotlight on mortality slowly emerged. The house itself started to fade away and a new place became visible. A house that invites us to spend time with each other, a camera that gives us a reason and moments to pay attention to the way we look at things and the way we speak about them.

Running time: 00:51:00

Growing Apart (Croatia) by Bela Bračko-Milešević

Partings are painful and difficult. No one likes parting, most try to avoid them. However, they happen on a daily basis, without perhaps even realizing it. We part from people, things, jobs, ideas.. But, does every parting have to be bad for us? Is growth hiding behind the change a parting brings? 7 stories and 7 protagonists. All so different, yet the same in one - they experienced a significant separation from someone/something, which greatly influenced their lives and prompted many changes in themselves.

Running time: 00:43:53

L'inizio del tempo - The beginning of time (Germany) by Anna Kiehl

It is the beginning of my time" it says right at the start of the film. The Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro (98) sees one of his early works again after 60 years and takes the audience on a journey full of memories and full of craftsmanship precision. The protagonist of the film is the relief "L’ Inizio del Tempo". It has almost been destroyed beyond recognition and is now being restored step by step. Arnaldo Pomodoro's memories of his successful life merge with the rebirth of this work of art. The spectators immerse themselves in the studio of the artist in Milan and the sounds of the grinding stone will echo for a long time.

Running time: 01:19:55

Play Girl (China) by Jinfeng Gao

Qin watched a documentary about herself with the director and began to re-examine herself. As a senior student, she failed in all subjects like math, English and liberal art synthesis, moreover, she liked to smoke, drink, go clubbing and tatoo. While other people being nervous about the college entrance exam, she does not care. The divorce of her parents brought about great change in her life. She was at school during the day and at bars at night. She craved for absolute freedom. She and her mother were always arguing and fighting endlessly, but she still regardeded her mother as her idol. However, she needed an excuse to meet her father in secret. Now Qin studies in a college majoring in acting now. When she was watching herself in the documentary two years ago, she's like a live barrage, alternated between teasing and laughing. While watching the documentary, she had also left the theater because she could’t face it. It was all recorded by our camera lens.

Running time: 00:58:00

The "Madman" and His Ruins (China) by Xiaolong ZHU

A middle-aged man lives in ruins, and his home has been burned down twice. After suffering from a stroke, he even refused government relief, and his neighbors called him a madman and did not want to interact with him. He lives alone, cultivates alone, eats alone, walks around alone... everything seems very primitive.

Running time: 01:36:08