Experimental Shorts

Available On Demand, throughout the Festival

Please note: some shorts in this package contain flashing imagery.

General admission: $12 | $9 (conc). For Festival Passes and concession information, click here.

A curated selection of experimental shorts, recommended for ages 15+.

Communicating by means both visceral and indelible, these experimental shorts offer haunting and artful inspections of the organising principles that inform how our worlds are constructed and inhabited, including gender, essentialism, sound, time, space, utilitarianism and memory. Collectively imploring us to appreciate our environments and consider the enigmatic relationship we share with the planet, this collection draws on musical theatre, horror, science fiction, comedy and poetry to boldly and thrillingly encourage us to reflect on our world.

Wishing Well | No dialogue. Staccato perambulations through a technicolour forest; a tactile, hypnotic journey through temporality, memory and consciousness. Wishing Well taps into the sense of inhabiting the wild. In evoking the sense of awe, curiosity and wonder that these spaces inspire, the film hints at the magnitude of real loss - physical and cultural - as these spaces disappear. "...a nostalgic exercise with structural components, it’s both recalling, building and breathing. A remarkable work" - José Sarmiento Hinojosa, Desistfilm. Find out more

A Demonstration | Very occasional English & Spanish dialogue, no subtitles. Exploring the attempts of early European scientists to understand the natural world, this experimental wonder steps away from dissection and classification to work in the grey area between what is known and unknown, through a contemplative collage of sound and images. Pointing more to the unyielding mystery of life than to any clear resolutions brought by early naturalists or even current knowledge, A Demonstration shakes the foundations of what we think we know. "A poetic fever dream you won’t soon forget" - David Mouriquand, ExBerliner. Find out more

The Pit | Very occasional English dialogue, no subtitles. Filmmaker Jona Gerlach takes us on a journey to a former copper mine in Butte, Montana: the Berkeley Pit. Bear witness to what mining (and its waste) can do in film, literally, as Gerlach has crafted a unique experience presenting hand-manipulated original and found footage using the same contaminants that were found in the water of the pit. The Pit serves as a stark reminder of the impacts of mining, while also providing a distorted portal to the past. Juxtaposing then with now, the film offers striking context for our future. "...a strong conceptual and visual piece" - Josh B. Mabe, Milwaukee Underground Film Festival. Find out more

Hella Trees | English, with English subtitles. This experimental mockumentary by Ayo Akingbade takes a step away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives to look inward and invites you to experience our environment as it stands, spotlighting trees within an urban metropolis. A humorous and refreshing reminder to appreciate the small things, come join Rafiki and see these trees for yourself. "... a laconic conversation about identity and want­ing to confound stereotypes, inviting people to look closer and go beyond the obvious" - Annie Carpenter. Find out more

A Mordida (The Bite) | Portuguese, with English subtitles. In this queer dystopic drama taking place amidst an epidemic, intertwined narratives of gender and genetic engineering unfold as the creeping rhetoric of extermination reflects the shift to the conservative in Brazil. A Mordida’s power and pertinence lies in the vision of intimacy and care as tools for resistance against destructive forces both viral and political. "jittery, pulsating, suspicious" | Līga Požarska, Talking Shorts Find out more

All, or Nothing at all | No dialogue. Seven avatars dance us through the ruined and water encompassed ancient Viking settlement of Viborg, singing a reimagining of Frank Sinatra’s 'All, or Nothing at All'. Borrowing choreography from West Side Story, the result is unique in style and opaque in meaning. A comment on the climate crisis or a meditation on memory and our grasping of reality? Irrespective, this is a thought provoking exercise that lingers. Find out more