Directed/produced by Tal S. Shamir

The film is a short powerful manifestation of the Desert of the Real—a critical note raised by French philosopher J. Baudrillard in Simulacra and Simulation.

Written/Directed/Produced by Afsaneh Zamani

An old man and a little boy left their drought-stricken and abandoned village to the endless world (infinite) seeking any sign of life.

They keep traveling through the desert, but the land becomes more bare and lifeless, until they reach the most dried and cracked land. The old man and the boy lag behind. The old man applies ointment to his hands and feet while the child applies ointment to the cracks of the land.

This is the moment when the sky begins to cry.

Written/Directed by Steffan Schulz

Filmed partially underwater and loosely based on the poem by German writer Heinrich Heine, “Lorelei” is a story of lost love. The original poem tells the tale of a maiden on a cliff overlooking a bend in the Rhine River calling out to her former lover, a sailor navigating the treacherous curves below. Similar folklore of maidens, mermaids, and sirens seducing unsuspecting sailors can be found throughout literature. This experimental film tells the tale of a sailor drowning his sorrows in drink as he ponders the lost love of his life. Haunted by images of his former lover, the sailor finds refuge in drink, but a constant barrage of sublime reminders beckon him.

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Written/Directed by Derek Underwood; Produced by Kathleen Hovan, Derek Underwood, Tyler Reid, Lia Towers

A lost squad of wandering soldiers fight against time to find medical help for their wounded comrade. Their journey takes an abrupt turn when they stumble upon an orphaned infant.

Written/Directed/Produced by Scott Wurth

Tap ‘Philippines’ and ‘Crucifixion’ into your computer and you will have no difficulty finding gruesome and disturbing images of men nailed to crosses, surrounding by rubber-necking tourists and locals determined to party.

Passion Plays and pageants are common throughout the Christian world in the week before Easter. In the Philippines, these bloody re-enactments of the passion of Jesus Christ have become notorious because they are so literal.

During Holy Week, hooded penitents walk the barrios, scourging themselves with whips until their blood runs into the dust.

On Holy Friday, dozens carry heavy wooden crosses through the streets. A chosen few are part of well-rehearsed pageants, which follow the 14 Stations of the Cross to a makeshift Calvary where three crosses are erected. The ‘nailings’ then begin.

For Westerners, sneering at a ritual they see as a mixture of religious kitsch, Big-Brother voyeurism and medieval mortification rites, conducted by the poor and ignorant, is the easy option.

Scott Wurth’s revealing documentary ‘PANATA’ (The Pledge) resolutely goes behind the clichés. Over five years, the Australian film-maker visited Pampanga province during Holy Week. By filming widely and speaking to everyone, from bishops and priests to the inmates of a local prison, a more complex and thought-provoking view of the practices emerges.

They will not easily give it up.

Written/Directed/Produced by Lily Sun

A girl struggles to revive her beloved dead dog.