National Short Film Competition

This year we’re proud to present as part of our National Competition 13 short films that couldn't be more different. It would be strange, to say the least, to claim a common, "national" aesthetic, nor would it be desirable. However, we can observe other things – for example, a fading interest in self-portraiture, in the first person, replaced by a growing interest in the bigger picture, recent history (especially Romanian communism) and radical social ideas. The general feeling of the films is one of incomprehension and anguish: historical, political, ecological, spiritual, emotional, a feeling of unease towards contemporaneity. The truth is that it has been a long year, far too long... And yet, we have never been more confident about Romanian experimental cinema than we are now – more knowledgeable about its history, more optimistic about its future, more enthusiastic about its present. As usual, our national competition predominantly comprises films by female directors (12/15), many of whom are already known to our public from previous editions. We know very well how difficult it is to make experimental films anywhere in the world, let alone in Romania – unsurprisingly, most of the films are, in fact, foreign (co-)productions: French, German, Canadian, Swiss, etc. And precisely because we know the difficulty of it all, we are delighted to repeatedly support these inspiring filmmakers in their ambitious careers. At the same time, BIEFF is about new cinema, and sometimes new cinema needs new people – this year we are meeting such new filmmakers, some of whom are recent college graduates, whose new cinema answers our calls. We warmly invite you to discover them together! (Călin Boto)