A program defined by its eagerness for change, be it locale, time, or perspective, operates with a single constant: a void of men. We thus venture to Austria, Nepal, and Korea, and traverse different realities and fragmented yesterdays. Women of several generations take stock: their role in their respective families, in the patriarchal society, and their relation to nature. In their compilation, the short films raise filmic questions as they realize their documentary aspirations through classic formats and animation techniques alike.
Hedi is experiencing strange things. While her granddaughter is visiting, she suddenly embarks on a hiking journey, to the deepest parts of the Alps, revealing the reason for her devoted attachment to her hiking shoes. A story about Heidi's attempt to retain her identity and autonomy.… >>>
Two daughters of a Nepalese Tamang-family prepare for their studies abroad. They are as anxious to improve their lives, as they are scared in face of great uncertainties. Their mothers and grandmothers have made great sacrifices and lived simple lives of hardship for their kin to have this opportunity. An incredibly confident camera work allows specifically for the grandmother’s tales to carry a weight that almost makes the essence of her life palpable to the audience. A film about the interconnections of family, education, and female emancipation.… >>>
Being a divorced and working single-mom is never easy to begin with, yet the situation of the sole bread-winner and care-giver is often worsened as patriarchal societies, such as South Korea’s, stigmatize them. The filmmaker and her mother dive into an emotional journey as they explore their past. On their way, they interrogate after the validity of established family constructs and normative expectations their society has towards women and mothers in particular. Simultaneously, the on-screen animations produce a unique momentum as accentuated but expressive coal brushes illustrate the mother as a restless Tiger holding her own in the male-dominated hospitality business, while the daughter struggles to free herself from her role as silent-observer Buffalo.… >>>