FF40: Tenderness + Q&A From the perspective of psychology

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

What do you think of when you say tenderness? With your eyes closed, you try to paint someone’s face, along with everything that’s written in it. Maybe tenderness smells like a mug of cocoa to which you secretly add a spoonful of Granko when your mother turns her back. Or maybe it has a slightly bitter aftertaste for you, like a chocolate figurine that’s seen more Christmas than you. You taste it with delight, you regret it for a long time. Whatever tenderness means to you, come see what it means to others. You’re in for a treat! But you’re not a kitten that can’t be petted against its fur, are you?

In the Garden / Ondřej Dolejší / 8 min / original language: no dialogue – Birds are flying. Birds garden. Garden inside. Inside man. Man in the middle. The center comes in. The house is coming. The house closed. Closed heavily. It's raining hard. It's raining house. House storms. Storm shadow. Shadow shadow. Shadow out. Out the garden. Garden drains. It drains silently. Quietly open. Open house. The house is leaving. Leaving the center. The man in the middle. Man out. Out the garden. Garden birds. Birds fly.

To Hear To Feel / Kateřina Konrádová / 11 min / original language: czech, russian / subtitles: CZ, EN – What can be done to overcome 550 km? Ocean splashes, phone signals and kitchen rituals as a bilingual tale of the search for a love language.

Deep Forest / Klára Ondračková / 2 min / original language: no dialogue – You're in the woods. Just listen. What else do you want to do in the woods?

Dream / Karolína Beranová / 4 min / original language: no dialogue – Her father is dying. Her mind wanders to her childhood memories of him in the moments of ever present waiting. There are two parallel storylines, one of the painful reality of her father’s slow departure from this world, and the other are the protagonist’s fond childhood memories of their time spent together in their summer house.

Adulting / Sumit Mandal / 11 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: ENG – On a fateful afternoon in a remote village, Ema, a ten-year-old school returns home in a somber mood, to her chronic grandmother, Laced between a bad test and a truck accident that she badly wants to see, Ema feels trapped in the house: taking care of her ailing grandmother while her friends play outside. However, she gives in to her temptations as the other kids convince her to come out and play. But unbeknownst to her, circumstances trigger a life-and-death situation for her grandmother that the innocent eyes of Ema have to experience for perhaps the first time in her life. The naive kid's innocence gives in to an adult's maturity.

Echo / Viktorie Novotná / 5 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: ENG – In a story between reality and a dream, we get into the memories of a young girl through a diary text. Piazzetta recreates feelings she has long buried deep in her memories. The longing for childhood, the fear of growing up and the misunderstanding of death - three different stages of life that take the viewer through the short film.

Eighth Day / Petr Pylypčuk / 21 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: ENG – Members of a religious sect gather at a lake in the forest. They are preparing for a baptism to be held the next day. But teenage Anna has her own plans. She is fed up with life in a strict community and longs to experience freedom for the first time.

If I Wanted To Learn To Fall / Hana Slaninová / 7 min / original language: CZ / subtitles: ENG – I heard about a man who trains pigeons to drop to the ground. He releases them from their cage, the pigeons circle in the sky high above. He gives a sign and the pigeons drop to the ground. The idea was frightening, yet fascinating at the same time. I don’t know how it’s possible and I’d love to find out.

Total screening time: 69 min.