Berlin Lift-Off 2025

Network Round Shorts

Monday 24th – Sunday 30th March 2025

Festival Programme

1. MOLA – MOLA ODDITY

Director & Writer // Laurent Nathan Grey
Country of Origin // USA
Synopsis // Mola Mola pinky Mola. Could you take me home anywhere out of the winter’s tale?

2. Chain

Director & Producer // LING HAN
Producer // TZU-YING HO
Country of Origin // USA
Synopsis // “Chain,” tells the story of the mantis catching the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. “Chain” is visually stunning and emotionally rich, expressing nature’s survival instincts and prompting viewers to ponder life’s deeper questions.

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3. Gigóia – Navigating a Legacy

Director, Writer & Producer // Pedro Patricio
Producer // Fábio Scalon
Country of Origin // Brazil
Synopsis // Located in Rio de Janeiro, Ilha da Gigóia holds a legacy built by the boatmen of the Carioca Venice. Once settled by fishermen seeking access to abundant marine life, the island became home to a tradition that continues to this day: the crossing to the mainland.

4. Word

Director // Deivison Fonseca Fiuza
Producer // KARLA CAJAIBA
Country of Origin // Brazil
Synopsis // Mrs. Solange leads a group of women artisans in a small village in the interior of Bahia. The matriarch keeps indigenous and African traditions alive through her routine practices in search of raw materials in the forest, her relationship with nature and the ancestral teachings passed on to the youngest. At 78 years old, Dona Solange is a source of inspiration, respect and wisdom expressed in poetic form through her actions.

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5. cycling against ghosts

Director // Livia Giuliani
Country of Origin // Germany
Synopsis // During the annual Sternfahrt in Berlin, thousands of cyclists ride on the highway—ringing bells, waving, and celebrating as they take over space usually reserved for cars. This story is about activism and loss. The short movie portrays two courageous women, Susanne and Sabine, fighting against the overwhelming dominance of car culture in Berlin, advocating for the rights of cyclists. Their lives are intertwined by the ghost bicycles—white-painted memorials placed at the sites of fatal accidents, marking where cyclists have lost their lives. Originating in the U.S.A., these ghost bikes have been a haunting presence in Berlin since 2009, standing as reminders of the dangers cyclists face. If they weren’t collected each year, the city would look like a “bicycle graveyard.”

6. Gaining senses

Director & Writer // Adrien Machado
Producer // Olivier Capelli
Country of Origin // France
Synopsis // Vincent returns from external operations after a killing and reintegrates civilian life in his native region of the Pyrenees. Behind his insomnia is a disorder linked to Agathe, whom he dreads finding.

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7. Half an Orange

Director, Writer & Producer // Loukia Hadjiyianni
Producer // Andros Achilleos
Country of Origin // Cyprus
Synopsis // It’s summer on a farm in Cyprus. Valeria, a reclusive young writer, spends her days focused on her work. One evening, she meets Antigone at a party. Antigone is outgoing and carefree, contrasting with Valeria’s reserved nature. Amid the sunlit fields and beaches, Valeria and Antigone grow closer, discovering the beauty of a newfound desire. This bond helps Valeria grow and find new inspiration for her writing.

8. Ablaze

Director, Writer & Producer // Matthias Noe
Producer // Dominik Lando
Country of Origin // Germany
Synopsis // Pursued to the edge of a dark forest by a vengeful mob, witch Sanni must decide if her magical powers can save not only herself but also the baby girl of her murdered companion.

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9. Thirteen

Director/Producer // Viktoria Windhab
Writer & Producer// Tom Bezhanishvili
Country of Origin // Austria
Synopsis: Thomas, a successful tax associate, receives an unexpected phone call while driving home, which triggers a series of events that could threaten his carefully cultivated life.

10. Waiting For Kalki

Director & Writer// Nimay Goswami
Producer // Siddharth Joshi
Country of Origin // India
Synopsis // Waiting for Kalki is a story about a day in the life of Vishnu, a daily wage leather tannery worker, stuck in the monotonous loop of poverty. He is waiting to welcome a mysterious guest to his home, who is believed to have the ability to transform human lives.

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11. FIZR

Director & Writer // Rani Nasr
Country of Origin // Lebanon
Synopsis // Am takes refuge in an abandoned cabin after a violent confrontation with the mayor, who had shot his cat. His friend Raafat finds him there and offers to help him until tensions pass. Issam’s relentless anger at the mayor’s tyranny clashes with Raafat’s cautious pragmatism. The story reflects the tension between two opposing forces in society—the loud but righteous versus the silent but complicit.

12. Madonnas

Director, Writer // Pola Mika Lara Kapuste
Producer // Matteo Pizzo
Country of Origin // Germany
Synopsis // Taranto Vecchia is an island in Italy, where global and personal structures densify like under a magnifying glass. In MADONNAS we rediscover them through the eyes of 13-year-old Marta. Her innocent perspective on the world forces us to realise how cruel the wrongs are, that we already got so used to.

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13. From the Office

Director, Writer & Producer // Jon Stout
Country of Origin // United States
Synopsis // An absurd dark comedy with a sci-fi twist. The last, unfortunate, day in the life of a minor bureaucrat. Attacked by a strange, gooey blob, he is slowly eaten alive as the bureaucracy spins out of control around him. Shot in 16mm in black and white, this film features an inspired score by Dario Forzato, a not-so-lovable blob and cast of quirky characters. It is a loving gesture towards those who inspired it, Franz Kafka, Terry Gilliam and David Lynch.

14. The Transition

Director // Marina Nyström
Writer & Producer // Christian Rutegård
Country of Origin // Sweden
Synopsis // Henrik mourns the loss of his son and one day begins to notice something that manifests itself as a mysterious light phenomenon.

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15. My Quiet Home

Director, Writer, Producer // Helena Bendixen
Country of Origin // Denmark
Synopsis // Kateryna, the professional Ukrainian dancer tours all over Denmark with her danceprotest about the war in Ukraine. Kateryna tells the story of the darkest time of her life – a time with war, escape and grief. Together with her team of dancers, she hopes to share an important message through the art of dancing.

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