Forging their own way in a world too slow to adapt, the women of these shorts challenge gender norms and live life on their own terms, whether in a fishing village in Brazil or a beauty parlor in Tunisia.
Tunis, November 2019. A group of women is gathered at the local hairdresser's on the eve of the presidential election. The salon is transformed into a town square, mirroring the internal turmoil of the country. In this female sanctuary, we get an intimate look at the county’s teenage democracy.
In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have already arranged her marriage to a young businessman living abroad. Meanwhile, Nafisa's grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa's future. Caught between two rigid traditions, Nafisa must find a way to forge her own path.
In competition for Best of the Festival Award, Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes, and Young Cineastes Award.
At dawn, a cannon shatters the silence. The horses gallop across the beaten ground. Eva, 21, wants to join the Imperial Horse Guards, a historical reenactment of a Napoleonic regiment reserved for men.
In competition for Best Student Documentary Short.
In a Brazilian village infested with piranhas, Nanã and Mel are fast growing into adolescence as they dream of ways of protecting themselves against a seemingly inescapable violence. When a mysterious body appears tangled in a fisherman's net, the two girls begin to learn what might be their ultimate protection.