THURSDAY, SEPT 11 / 21:00 / GRĂDINA CU FILME – CINEMA & MORE
The first competition program maps the relationship between the body and the spaces, marked by change and memory, that it inhabits. Faced with the loss of tradition, mysterious contaminations, or interplanetary threats, the protagonists of these seven short films embark on journeys—personal or collective, internal or external—through which they encounter transformation—be it geographical, ecological, cultural, or emotional. Bodies in Transit evokes movement as a radical tool for survival: not merely a physical act, movement involves memory, connection, and becoming.
LANDED
18’02”, 2025, CA
D: Marlene Millar
C: Sandy Silva
LANDED traces a poetic journey across places marked by change and memory. Rooted in the landscapes themselves, the film unfolds as a site-specific exploration where the body becomes both witness and interpreter—channeling the histories, textures, and energies of each location. Through movement, sound, music and storytelling, LANDED becomes a cinematic meditation on transformation, belonging, and the enduring search for connection—where the past lingers, and renewal takes root.
ECSTATIC EXIT
5’26”, 2024, SA
D: Hallie Haller
Set in a world where intimacy is the most powerful technology, Ecstatic Exit finds two interplanetary travelers being hunted. To escape in time they need to reconnect across dimensions and find a way out of the hunters’ world.
CIRCOLOGY
15’54”, 2023, FI
D: Tero Peltoniemi
C: Antti Seppänen
Atlas lives next to a wind turbine in his remote and safe town. Although a master of arm-spinning, he finds himself breaking away from the tradition of his town. Until an explosion of his turbine burns his life's meaning to the ground.
FREEWAY
3’19”, 2024, UK
R: Susanna Kiss
D: Bence Balogh
Ben hops on an abandoned truck in the middle of the Hungarian lowlands and dances his feelings away on the moving vehicle, forgetting about any potential fear and hazards. Pure performance, where fragments of thoughts reinforce the feeling.
IN VIADI
16’51”, 2025, CH
D: Alun Meyerhans, Ellen Wolf
C: Ellen Wolf
IN VIADI follows a young woman in search of authenticity and true connection. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Swiss Alps—where the African and European tectonic plates once collided—she moves between memory and momentum, finding her own rhythm in the pursuit of her true self.
ON MY WAY TO YOU
8’07”, 2025, BE
D: Astrid De Haes, Brecht Van Vliet, Jonathan Van Hemelrijck
C: Miroslav Kochánek, Andreia Rodrigues
Andreia Rodrigues and Miroslav Kochánek explore closeness through movement, seeking ways to come closer both physically and mentally. How can one (re)encounter the other? One possible answer: rope flow. Andreia and Miro reinterpret this workout trend to seek connection, resulting in a physical duet where the performers strive to keep two heavy ropes constantly in motion. The play that arises from this endeavor involves risk and physical exertion, yet the pursuit of a shared rhythm motivates them to persevere.
SILENTIUM
12’52”, 2025, FR
D: Roméo Lefèvre
C: Alyssia Paul, David Mendes De Oliveira
In a world ravaged by a mysterious contamination, a woman struggles to survive when a stranger appears. Once suspicion has passed, a story can be born: it doesn't need words. Gesture becomes speech. As warning messages echo through the ruins of civilization, they explore a universe marked by loneliness and the strange beauty of forgotten objects.