41 films have been selected for the International Competition programme. These are full-length documentaries as well as short films in various genres (documentary, animation, and feature). In each of the four nominations, the jury will determine the winner, and any of the films, for example, an animation short, can receive the grand prix of the Festival.
Speaking of the International Competition, Message to Man Programme Director Alexey Medvedev notes: “This year, we have a very strong and effective programme, despite all the current challenges. Our main idea now is format expansion. Message to Man is still often associated with modest observation documentaries, but this year the scope is much wider. From the experimental and sophisticated manifesto (A Man and a Camera by Guido Hendrikx) to a popular science film with a twist (By the Throat by Effi Weiss and Amir Borenstein). From the Siberian tundra, filmed by a director from Guatemala (Life of Ivanna by Renato Borrayo Serrano) to a remote Serbian village that vainly waits for the visit of the Nobel laureate Peter Handke (Waiting for Handke by Goran Radovanovic). From years of watching the life of an elderly sex worker (Anny by Helena Třeštíková) to a near-fictional film in which West Africans play their lives casually in front of the camera (Aya by Simon Coulibaly Gillard). This is the film range we are presenting this year. And this is due to the fact that the range of ‘moving pictures’ around us is infinitely expanding, where all genres already have equal rights.”
The full-length documentary films on the International Competition Programme:
- Aya, dir. Simon Coulibaly Gillard, 90 min., Belgium, France, 2019
- Babi Yar. Context, dir. Sergey Loznitsa, 120 min., Ukraine, Netherlands, 2021
- Waiting for Handke, dir. Goran Radovanovic, 74 min., Serbia, 2021
- Another day in Paradise, dir. Tomer Halfon, 62 min., Israel, 2021
- Life of Ivanna, dir. Renato Borrayo Serrano, 80 min., Russia, Estonia, 2021
- By the Throat, dir. by Effi and Amir, 75 min., Belgium, 2021
- Taming the Garden, dir. Salomé Jashi, 92 min., Switzerland, Georgia, Germany, 2021
- A Man and a Camera, dir. Guido Hendrikx, 64 min., Netherlands, 2021
- Anny, dir. Helena Třeštíková, 67 min., Czech Republic, 2020
Short documentaries include:
- Can Gardell, dir. Florencia Aliberti, 22 min., Spain, 2020
- Masks and Men, dir. Pawel Lozinski, 11 min., Poland, 2020
- A People’s Radio – Ballads from a Wooded Country, dir. Virpi Suutari, 26 min., Finland, 2021
- The Nightwalk, dir. Adriano Valerio, 15 min, France, Italy, 2020
- Call It the Burning, dir. Bénédicte Liénard, Mary Jiménez, 38 min., Belgium, 2021
- Ashes, Wood and Stardust, dir. Tom Ehrhardt, 20 min., Germany, 2021
- Storgetnya, dir. Hovig Hagopian, 20 min., France, 2020
- Family History, dir. Mathilde Blanc, 28 min., Belgium, 2020
- Three Songs for Benazir, dir. Elizabeth Mirzaei, Gulistan Mirzaei, 22 min., Afghanistan, 2021
- We Have One Heart, dir. Katarzyna Warzecha, 11 min., Poland, 2020
Animation short films:
- Vadim on a Walk, dir. Sasha Svirsky, 8 min., Russia, 2021
- Life’s a Bitch, dir. Varya Yakovleva, 6 min., Russia, 2021
- I Gotta Look Good for the Apocalypse, dir. Ayce Kartal, 5 min., Turkey, 2021
- Megamall, dir. Aline Schoch, 4 min., Switzerland, 2020
- Bad Mood, dir. Loris Giuseppe Nese, 12 min., Italy, 2020
- Impossible Figures Part I, dir. Marta Pajek, 16 min., Poland, 2021
- On Time, dir. Zbigniew Czapla, 6 min., Poland, Japan, 2021
- The Hangman at Home, dir. Michelle and Uri Kranot, 13 min., Denmark, 2021
- The Night Watch, dir. Julien Regnard, 12 min., Belgium, 2021
- Your Own Bullshit, dir. Daria Kopiec, 8 min., Poland, 2020
- All Those Sensations in My Belly, dir. Marko Djeska, 13 min., Croatia, 2021
Feature short films:
- Other Than That, I’m Fine, dir. Eren Aksu, 14 min., Turkey, 2020
- The Trees, dir. Ramzi Bashour, 23 min., Lebanon, USA, 2020
- A Questo Punto, dir. Pablo Cotten, Joseph Rozé, 25 min., France, 2020
- In the Woods, dir. Sara Grgurić, 17 min., Croatia, 2020
- On the March, dir. Vladilen Vierny, 17 min., France, 2020
- Trumpets in The Sky, dir. Rakan Mayasi, 15 min., Palestine, 2021
- After a Room, dir. Naomi Pacifique, 21 min., UK, 2020
- Almost Spring, dir. Nastya Korkiya, 14 min., Russia, 2021
- Titan, dir. Valéry Carnoy, 19 min., Belgium, 2021
- Displaced, dir. Samir Karahoda, 15 min., Kosovo, 2021
- Farmhouse, dir. Dian Weys, 15 min., South Africa, 2021
