Teenage angst and new identities: Discover the 19 short films directed by women screened at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on January 22 – February 1, 2015.

Summary: Shorts Program 1 | Shorts Program 2 | Shorts Program 3 | Shorts Program 4 | Shorts Program 5 | Animation Spotlight | Documentary Shorts 1 | Documentary Shorts 2

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The day-to-day life of a six-year-old girl growing up during unstable times in Sarajevo is shaken up when a chicken joins her family.

Director and screenwriter: Una Gunjak
Germany, Croatia – 22, 23, 24, 29

A young single mother struggles to balance her old life of freedom with her new one as mom. It all comes to a head during one particular nap-time when Bridgette invites an old friend over for a visit.

Director and screenwriter: Frankie Shaw
U.S.A. – 22, 23, 24, 29

A nurse working at a center for the disabled is confronted by his principles when he’s asked to accomplish a particular task

Canada – 10 min – January 22, 23, 24, 29
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette & André Turpin

Suzanne, a prostitute for 15 years, has her turf, her regular johns, and her freedom. One day, however, young African prostitutes settle nearby, and she is threatened.

Director and screenwriter: Cécile Ducrocq
France – January 23, 24, 25, 30

Find Cécile Ducrocq Hollywomen Screenwriters Board and on the Hollywomen Directors Board
 

Elba, an introverted, lonely 14-year-old, wants to bond with her sister Fernanda before she leaves home.

Director and screenwriter: Tania Claudia Castillo
Mexico – January 23, 24, 25, 30

A therapist working in tandem with a correctional facility’s Pet Partnership Program entrusts a small rabbit to a female prisoner. In the confinement of her cell, will the inmate be able to transcend her circumstances and connect with the animal?

Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Screenwriters: Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre, Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
France, U.S.A. – January 23, 24, 25, 30

Elle, 78, doesn’t like Sámi people — even though she is Sámi. Pressured by her son, she returns north for her sister’s funeral. When she realizes he’s planned for them to stay with their relatives, Elle checks into a hotel.

Director and screenwriter: Amanda Kernell
Sweden – January 23, 24, 27, 30

Melancholy as survival strategy: A woman on the edge of failing and a pack of teenage girls simultaneously experience a supernatural coming-of-age. The transformation unravels to the infectious beat of a heavy metal anthem rearranged as a lamentation.

Director and screenwriter: Jennifer Reeder
U.S.A. – January 23, 24, 27, 30

The film applies an unconventional narrative. It presents a subjective world through 47 scenes. Small events, interlaced by associations, express the irrational coherence of our surroundings. The surreal situations are based on the interactions of humans and nature.

Director and screenwriter: Réka Bucsi
Hungary- January 23, 24, 27, 30

A stranger passing through town sparks a teenage girl’s desire to distinguish herself from her identical twin sister. As one sister struggles to break free, the other insists on preserving their distinctive bond.

Director and screenwriter: Erin Vassilopoulos
U.S.A. – January 23, 24, 27, 29

Setsuko, a 55-year-old single so-called office lady in Tokyo, is given a blonde wig and a new identity, Lucy, by her young unconventional English-language teacher. “Lucy” awakens desires in Setsuko she never knew existed.

Director and screenwriter: Atsuko Hirayanagi
Japan, Singapore, U.S.A. – January 23, 24, 27, 29

Find Atsuko Hirayanagi on the Hollywomen Directors Board
 

As a mother and daughter start out from downtown Athens and head to the northern suburbs, little Nina thinks they’re simply going for a walk.

Director and screenwriter: Stella Kyriakopoulos
Greece – January 23, 24, 28, 31

Six characters meet in a public bathhouse: the pedant bathhouse manager, a couple with a strange way of communicating, and a gang with shady intentions. Something goes wrong.

Director: Niki Lindroth von Bahr
Screenwriter: Jerker Virdborg
Sweden – January 23, 24, 25, 26, 31

A computer and a woman fall in love, only to be torn apart because of their inappropriate feelings for each other.

Directors: Christina Felisgrau, Ronnie Rivera
Screenwriters: Ronnie Rivera, Bernardo Britto
U.S.A. – January 23, 24, 25, 26, 31

Vida, a young Iranian lifeguard, is determined to be the one to participate in an international competition in Australia. However, when Sareh, who is as fast and talented, joins the team, Vida faces an unexpected situation.

Director and screenwriter: Sarah Saidan
France January 23, 24, 25, 26, 31

Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from across a divided, war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of Olympic champion figure skater Oksana Baiul, whose tears of joy once united their troubled country.

Director: Kitty Green
Australia — January 24, 25, 28, 31

A creative image of an underwater search in the dimensions of two worlds — ice desert and under water — told from the point of view of the rescue team, of the diver, and of the ordinary people waiting on the shore.

Director: Paulina Skibińska
Poland — January 24, 25, 28, 31

Each night in Silicon Valley, the Line 22 public bus transforms into an unofficial shelter for the homeless. This film captures one dramatic night on the “Hotel 22” bus.

Director: Elizabeth Lo
U.S.A. – January 24, 25, 28, 31

Patients committed to Netherne psychiatric hospital between 1946 and 1981 created an extraordinary collection of artworks in a pioneering studio under artist Edward Adamson. Abandoned Goods is a moving portrait of the little-known history of UK postwar asylum life.

Directors: Pia Borg, Edward Lawrenson
United Kingdom – January 24, 27, 28, 29