Owing to Melbourne’s strict COVID-19 restrictions, the Melbourne International Film Festival 2020 has gone online. From now until 23 August, you can watch films from the Melbourne International Film Festival 2020 program at home no matter where you are in Australia!
There are 6 French language short films in the program. All short films have been put into bundles, such as the International Shorts bundle, the Documentary Shorts bundle and the Animated shorts bundle. Even better, they are all available for free!
Don’t miss out – choose your bundle now to watch later
Even though it’s a programme which is being streamed online this year, capacities are still limited for the films so to avoid missing out we suggest you jump onto the website https://2020.miff.com.au/ and then select Bundles from the Menu and scroll down to Free Shorts Bundles.
You can then click on the relevant bundle such as International Shorts Bundle and there will be a pre-purchase $0 button for you to click on. By going through and registering an account and pre-purchasing this free bundle, it will put the films from the bundle into your playlist of films you are able to watch at any time during the festival period.
Ali’s Circle/ Le Cercle d’Ali
https://2020.miff.com.au/film/alis-circle/
Short Drama, Thriller • 15min
Directed by Antoine Beauvois-Boetti • French, with English subtitles • France, Uzbekistan • World Premiere
This film is available exclusively as part of the International Shorts Bundle at MIFF 2020.
Memory and migration interweave in this poignant film about an Afghan refugee seeking resettlement in France.
With the aid of a social worker, young Salman Ali is preparing to argue his case for permanent settlement in front of France’s National Court of Asylum. The process stirs up memories of a fateful game of buzkashi – Afghanistan’s national sport – and the life, land and loved ones he has left behind.
Featuring arresting shots of Afghanistan in flashback, and at once gut-wrenching and guarded, Ali’s Circle is a humanistic account of the sacrifices that refugees make even when going against the odds.
Birds of Paradise/ Les Oiseaux du Paradis
https://2020.miff.com.au/film/birds-of-paradise/
Unclassified 18+
Short Documentary • 15min
Directed by Aline Suter, Céline Carridroit • French, with English subtitles • Switzerland • Australian Premiere
This film is available exclusively as part of the Documentary Shorts Bundle at MIFF 2020.
A heterosexual woman recounts her journey after being diagnosed HIV-positive in the 80s.
Birds of Paradise is an intimate, inviting account of one woman’s battle with HIV, told in her own words. Primarily taking the form of disembodied commentary while flipping through a photo album, this DOK Leipzig–premiering film uses snapshots as jigsaw pieces to build a micro-history of illness, motherhood and self-love – and of illness as a manifestation of nature.
Da Yie
https://2020.miff.com.au/film/da-yie/
Unclassified 18+
Short Drama, Crime • 20min
Directed by Anthony Nti • English, French, with English subtitles • Belgium, Ghana • Australian Premiere
This film is available exclusively as part of the International Shorts Bundle at MIFF 2020.
Two Ghanaian children become entangled with a shady foreigner in this Clermont-Ferrand International Grand Prix–winning film.
When a mysterious foreigner rolls into their hometown, Matilda and Prince are enticed by his promise of buffets, entertainment and fun – and an elegant life beyond the slums. Little do they know that he’s come with nefarious intentions.
Da Yie, which also nabbed awards at Film Fest Gent and the Leuven International Short Film Festival, captivates with its sophisticated camerawork, superb editing and a hypnotic electronic score, not to mention the enchanting performances of its child leads. Blending social realism with elements of the crime and coming-of-age genres, this film about poverty, innocence, and the tension between choice and circumstance heralds Anthony Nti as a director to watch.
Inès
https://2020.miff.com.au/film/ines/
Unclassified 18+
Short Animation, Drama • 4min
Directed by Élodie Dermange • French, with English subtitles • France, Switzerland • Australian Premiere
This film is available exclusively as part of the Animation Shorts Bundle at MIFF 2020.
A young woman is faced with a tough decision.
Despite its intimate setting and hand-drawn aesthetic, Inès depicts with gravity how a big life choice can trap a person in a glass house. This Sundance-premiering short film is a beautiful story about both fear and hope.
Still Working
https://2020.miff.com.au/film/still-working/
Short Mystery, Drama • 17min
Directed by Julietta Korbel • French, with English subtitles • Switzerland • Australian Premiere
This film is available exclusively as part of the International Shorts Bundle at MIFF 2020.
The impending closure of a disused factory leaves its sole caretaker unmoored.
In this elliptical, engaging short film – which won a Swiss Film Prize and screened at the Locarno and Clermont-Ferrand film festivals – a monolithic industrial factory is both setting and metaphor for an exploration of vocation, utility and transience in a capitalist system. Featuring a menacing soundscape as well as stunning shots of the complex’s interiors and the Swiss Alps outside it, Still Working is a compelling portrait, at once piteous and discomfiting, of a man threatened by lost purpose.
Up at night/ Nuit Debout
https://2020.miff.com.au/film/up-at-night/
Short Documentary • 21min
Directed by Nelson Makengo • French, with English subtitles • Congo • Australian Premiere
This film is available exclusively as part of the Documentary Shorts Bundle at MIFF 2020.
IDFA 2019’s Best Short Documentary winner is an illuminating account of Kinshasa residents’ collective acts of resistance.
In a Congolese community where electricity regularly runs out – and where gangs threaten violence and resources are extracted for use elsewhere in the continent – everyday citizens decide to take matters into their own hands. Employing an immersive, experimental visual style that heightens the already impactful footage of homes’ interiors, busy streets, local parties and heartfelt pleas, Up at Night is a dazzling testament to a people finding light in the darkness.
Which short films in French are you going to watch at MIFF 2020?
