KASHISH 2023 STUDENT SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION

HEDGEHOG
Dir: Jasper Caverly
Media School : Victorian College of the Arts, Australia
16 / Australia / English

Brig Huang, a headstrong trans teenager, is propelled into their hangover when a reckless decision that triggers an urgent determination for the ‘morning after’ pill.

JOUISSANCE
Dir: Sadeq Es-haqi
Media School: SOORE Art University of Tehran, Iran
22 min / Iran, Islamic Republic of / Persian

Arash and Rahi are a queer couple from Tehran. They’ve recently moved into a new house. However, their everyday routine is disrupted by the ghost of Rahi’s ex-boyfriend, who died six years ago and is now asking Rahi to continue living with him.

NAKED MEN IN THE WOODS (NACKTE MÄNNER IM WALD)
Dir: Paul Ploberger
Media School: Filmakademie Wien, Austria
30 min / Austria / German

A complicated marriage: She has a tumor, he is queer, both of them are keeping it a secret. When their only daughter moves out, he is ready to come out. But that is not going to happen. He arranges a date for a bizarre role-play and she is spying on him, firmly believing that he is having an affair with a younger woman.

BROTHER
Dir: Aleksei Borovikov
Media School: Columbia College, Chicago, USA
18 min / USA / English, Russian, Spanish

With his wedding to Carlos approaching, Tony, a young immigrant to the US, invites his conservative elder sister to the ceremony — a fateful decision that forces Tony to choose between his family and his happiness.

TOGETHER/APART
Dir: David Amberg
Media School: University of Southern California, USA
7 min / USA / English

Two years after a gaybashing, Michael and Alex are still feeling the aftershocks in their relationship. Things continue to get complicated, as Michael’s dissociations start becoming reality.

SOFT SIGN (סימן רכות)
Dir: Victoria Uchitel
Media School: The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University, Israel
24 min / Israel / Hebrew

Natalie and her friend Amir, a director, are engaged in art and identity. As they work on a TV report about the upcoming ’96 elections, two young immigrants offer new insight as possibilities arise.

GOODBYE AGAIN (ধুলোয় রইলো ঢাকা)
Dir: Dwaipayan Mazumder
Media School: ILead – Dept. of Media & Journalism, India
26 min / India / Bengali

The film explores several layers of a complex relationship between two friends who happens to coincidentally meet in a party after a long separation.

ROOTED
Dir: Yi-wei Wu
Media School: Shih Hsin University, Taiwan
29 min / Taiwan / Mandarin Chinese

A teenager is saved by a lifeguard due to a misunderstanding of nearly drowning, which subsequently brings to light long-restrained desires in his heart. As a result, he hopes for a different ending to his summer vacation.