Genderation Shorts

Apeksha and Isha are two girls who carry loneliness in very different ways. Apeksha is quiet and withdrawn – her isolation visible in her silence. Isha is loud, affectionate and outwardly cheerful yet her loneliness remains hidden behind her warmth. When the two connect through anonymous online conversations, a space opens where neither has to perform or explain themselves. As their bond deepens, they learn to hold each other with honesty and care, finding the courage to express their feelings and face a world that often misunderstands them.

I Hate Helen is a snapshot of teenage life, a short film about the tidal wave of queer curiosity some girls feel during growing-up years and letting those feelings just wash over you. But our protagonist Priya isn’t going without a fight. She hates Helen, and she hates the way she is feeling.

Summer 2003. Miguel and Javi, spend their days between swims, video games, and a bet that follows them all summer long: to see who can hold their breath underwater the longest. Javi always wins; he says his swimsuit is magical. Intrigued by the mystery, Miguel begins to see his friend in a different way.

Malalai is a teenage girl from the Baloch community in Iran, due to a traditional cultural practice, has been wearing boys’ clothing for years. Now that she has reached puberty, she must return to the world of girls, but she is experiencing an identity crisis.

Set in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, Zack is hosting a casual afternoon with friends when his younger brother Elie unexpectedly appears, wearing makeup with quiet confidence. Caught off guard, Zack reacts with discomfort that quickly turns to anger, trying to push Elie away. But his friends respond differently meeting Elie with warmth, acceptance, and playfulness. In an unexpected gesture of solidarity, they begin putting on makeup themselves, gently turning the moment. As the atmosphere shifts, Zack is confronted with his own fears, as acceptance finds its way back to him.

In a remote mining village plagued by nightly blackouts, Tia, a teenage girl, expresses herself through Michael Jackson’s dance moves on TikTok—her only outlet in a world defined by restriction. When Wynne, a city woman, becomes her stepmother, their lives begin to intertwine in unexpected and fragile ways.

SISTER OF MINE
Dir: André Vaara
13 MIN | 2025 | Sweden | Swedish

Ten-year-old Noel wants to be more like his older sister. A visit to the hairdresser sparks jealousy, bringing sibling rivalry to the surface. A film about longing beyond the norms of 2000s boyhood.

WHALE 52 – SUITE FOR MAN, BOY, AND WHALE
Director: Daniel Neiden
12 min | 2025 | USA | English

When a silently grieving 80-year-old school volunteer is assigned to work with Enam, a third-grader with selective mutism, the two embark on a poignant journey by means of a magical pen and journal that enable them to communicate until young Enam summons the courage to utter the one word that lifts the weight of the world off his tiny shoulders. Like a whale coming to the surface for air, Enam is finally able to breathe in the film’s emotional reveal.