FF40: Guilt + Q&A from a gender studies perspective

The screening of short films and following discussion will be part of the festival FAMUFEST 40.

One feels it deeply, it consumes them, and getting rid of it takes more than an hour and a half. Who is to blame? Ourselves, or is it circumstances we cannot control? The environment we can’t escape from, friends, parents, or children? And are we truly together in this? At least for a brief moment during this block, yes.

White Horse / Marina Hnidková / 6 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: EN – How far can one go in their attempt to belong? The movie White Horse captures the brutality of the 90’s and the pursuit of becoming a member of a mafia gang.

Trigger warning: weapons/shooting

Rising Above / Natálie Durchánková / 4 min / original language: EN / subtitles: CZ – The true story of a woman who nearly lost her life in a sexually motivated attack reveals the horrors of the event and its subsequent emotional aftermath. The film traces her journey to overcome the trauma as a show of strength and courage for other survivors who must deal with a similar experience.

Trigger warning: sexual abuse

Mimosis / Michal Schmidt / 4 min / original language: no dialogue – A clerk waiting for the subway to work is hungry. Next to him stands a dirty worker, whom the clerk despises. But he has a bag full of food with him. The worker disappears after a while and the clerk decides to eat his supplies in an endless sack. But as he soon discovers, he has made a hell of a mistake.

Quarry / Josef Švejda / 8 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: EN – Cracks surround Anežka in her foster son’s absence as she prays to God for his return. Fragments of echoes flowing from his prison cell are repeatedly followed by the stereotype of everyday life, filling the slow flow of time. Meanwhile, a snowstorm conceals the rough Beskidian landscape.

Railway Bridge / Klára Ondračková / 2 min / original language: no dialogue – You're standing under a bridge. Is it possible to listen to the subtle movements of such a huge mass of metal structure? What about listening to its interior - out and out, all the way to the distance where the train is coming from. How many trains pass through here in a day? Try listening… Maybe it's possible to hear everything at once.

Not There / Marína Hnidková / 12 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: EN – The film follows a family of three, living at the edge of a forest. The parents can’t tell their son the truth of how their dog died. Based on their lie, the son gives all his energy to find the animal until one morning, when he finally learns the truth.

Silvery Wind / Juraj Jakubisko / 5 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: EN – Student Ratkin is forced by a religion professor to confess how he has sinned against the sixth commandment Thou shalt not commit adultery. The innocent and confused student is rescued from his desperate situation by Professor Ramler.

The Man Who Wasn't Supposed To Come / Marcela Mencelová, Ondřej Hošek / 5 min / original language: no dialogue – An unknown robber breaks into Madamme Butterfly’s apartment. Startled at her sudden return, he has to hide. Madamme Butterfly soon realizes she’s not alone and comes face to face with the robber.

Trigger warning: weapons / shooting

Stuck Together / Anna Wowra / 23 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: EN – Another dreary day in a small town. Viki, Sára, and Kiki, three inseparable friends since childhood, are planning to spend their free afternoon the same way they always do: vodka, cigarettes, talking about everything and nothing. But their group dynamic is different today, more explosive: one of them has reached the second round in a casting call for a modeling job, thus raising her chances of leaving this place of dashed hopes and dreams. Her friends might be willing to support her, if only their anger, sadness, and envy weren’t so powerful… A relentless but non-judgmental look at growing up without any prospects of a brighter future.

Trigger warning: explicit language/ abuse

Total screening time: 68 min.