Third Edition
Also this year the Music Video International Competition will take place within the Short Film Festival setting, where music videos made by students from universities and film schools all over the world will be presented.
Our goal is to celebrate the community of film directors who dedicate their art to music. A jury of professionals appointed by curator Giovanni Bedeschi will present a selection of the finalist videos to be screened at the Ca ‘Foscari Short Film Festival, making their vision – usually an individual experience enjoyable on the small TV screen – a collective experience.
Mirrors and the message (Switzerland)
Director: Marie Lavis
HEAD-Geneva
Synopsis: An animation created for “Mirrors” and “The Message”, two complementary piano compositions created by Shai Maestro and his musicians. They are improvised musical moments, expressingf freedom and emotions. I worked in that same state of mind, letting improvisation, the unknown and freedom guide me.
Profile: Marie Lavis was born in 1996 in France. Atelier de Sèvres, Preparatory art school in Paris from 2014 to 2015. HEAD-Geneva, Arts and Design school in Geneva from 2015 to 2018. Visual Communication Bachelor graduate. Presently working as a freelance animator and illustrator. Her works are connected to the music field, the best source of inspiration. She has recently directed two video clips for jazz pianist Shai Maestro; she is currently working for CitizenJazz magazine as an editorial illustrator, but she also does murals, posters and participates in exhibitions. Her work was shared by Quincy Jones, and her films are part of the official selection of various film festivals.
My darlin’ (UK/Poland)
Director: Edy Szewy
ECA (Edinburgh College of Art) is a part of The University of Edinburgh
Synopsis: Animated music video: suicidal thoughts meet sense of humour.
Profile: A Rzeszow-born quick-minded artist, specialized in hand-drawn animation intended to celebrate her self-expression. “Recycled” human emotion is the leitmotiv of my work. Edy Szewy got a degree in Animation from the Edinburgh College of Art in 2018. Her art better expresses itself by means of music and drawing. She is presently living in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mairimasil (Germany)
Director: Jakob Werner
Fachhochschule Potsdam (University of Applied Science Potsdam)
Synopsis: Anxiety is solidly part of our inner self. It wears us out and deprives us of any sense of stability. It dwells in our thoughts and we have to face it to avoid falling any deeper in apprehension. We should never fear anxiety. We all have a ghost in our inner self that drives us to rise. If we dig deep enough, it will appear and might help us to find stability.
Profile: Twenty-four year-old Jakob Werner was born in Bückeburg but in 2014 he moved to Potsdam. His passion for film and design developed when he was a young boy, which made him decide to study visual design at the University of Applied Science in Potsdam. “Yanira” is his first music video and his second film. The first film directed and animated by Jakob Werner was “12 Nautical Miles”.
They won’t let a dream come true (Pakistan)
Director: Shumaila Kanwal
National College of Arts Lahore
Synopsis: This abstract animation is based on a poem called Dream: How small it may seem – Waiting for a chance – To dance in a state of trance – Striving for freedom – But the world outside – Always wants some reason – For something new – For a dream to come true – As soon as they see – They won’t let it be – Free – They will wreck it – They will smack it – They will chase it – Until they get it – Back to the hiding – Back to its place – A hollow glass – A dark room – A dying whisper
Profile: Shumaila Kanwal is a 2D animator and game developer. She comes from a small town in Pakistan and is currently living in Ireland. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering. She also has a master’s degree in Multimedia Arts with a major in 2D animation. She moved to Ireland to pursue her passion and now she is doing Masters in Creative Digital Media. She spends her free time dedicating herself to painting, animating, digital drawing and composing poetry.
Fool (USA)
Director: Al Kalyk
American Film Institute Conservatory
Synopsis: A middle-aged man is forced to confront his gender identity.
Profile: Al grew up in the suburbs of Australia. He completed his studies at the University of Sydney (BA, Fine Arts and Film Studies) and at the American Film Institute Conservatory (MFA, Directing). While working in commercials and music videos, Al exhibited a film on memory and death at the prestigious Carriageworks contemporary multi-arts centre (Australia) and also at other film festivals around the world. His name has also appeared in magazines such as Art and Australia magazine and in the Financial Times (London), just to quote some of them. Al is currently involved in pre-producing his first feature film, and is also developing a TV show for American Television.
Yokai (Norway)
Director: Eirik Heggen
Volda University College
Synopsis: Magical drops from a sawed rainbow evokes mystery in a mountain town.
Profile: Eirik Heggen is a 27 year old animator from Stavanger, Norway. Previously he has studied classical drawing at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, and also worked in a kindergarden for many years. Currently he is studying animation at Volda University College, where he is finishing his Bachelor project this spring (2019). In 2018 he made the animated music video “Yokai” based on the sounds created by his friends in the band Sturle Dagsland. In his work he wishes to create visuals based on childhood memories, dreams and imagination.
Dust & Ashes (Russia)
Director: Kate Koroleva
Workshop Academy of Communications, Moscow
Synopsis: The main hero is a sacred creature that lives in the cabinetry of a bar where he works as barman. Every day, year after year, people come to this café knowing they can find any help they may need, although somo of the clients’ requests and expectations are strange. At the end of each day, when the tired hero is finally alone again, he closes the bar and returns to his dwelling.
Profile: After completing her studies in advertising management, Kate Koroleva, worked on photo&video projects and as a producer’s assistant for a Russian production company, later specializing in making commercials. In 2017 she enrolled at the Wordshop Communications Academy, faculty of filmmaking. In 2018 she shot her debut music video “Dust & Ashes” for Swedish chamber-pop artist Adam Evald, for which she was both the scriptwriter and director.
Frank (Italy)
Director: Filippo di Piramo
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
Synopsis: Each time Frank looks at himself he falls in a state of mental alienation: he enters his Ego and is tormented by paranoia.
Profile: Filippo Di Piramo (Rome, 1998) obtained his high school diploma in Rome and then moved to Turin, where he is currently attending the third year of the Animation Cinema course at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. During his school winter holidays he shot “Frank “, a music video for the group “Turing” in which his brother Luca also plays.
Sand Castles (Italy)
Director: Roberta Palmieri
Università Alma Mater di Bologna
Synopsis: “Sand castles” is a videoclip that tells about a child’s imaginary journey in search for a person who had disappeared in the sea. By combining live action and animation, the videoclip shows the boy’s travel through boundless spaces, at times real, at times imaginary.
Profile: Roberta Palmieri studies at the DAMS of the Alma Mater University in Bologna. She is vice president of the nonprofit Theater 7/2 Productions association, where she collaborates to make audio-visual projects as director, assistant director and screenwriter. Her first short film as a director is “Il canto del grillo” (2017, The grasshopper’s song). Today she is presenting her first videoclip, “Castelli di sabbia (2018, Sandcastles)” by the Antarte band.
Get well soon (Germany)
Director: Katharina Hauke
University or Arts, Berlin
Synopsis: The video follows a water creature that is curiously making her own way onto the land. The rocky ground makes her falter while the air is slowly drying her. She is trying to re-join a group of long lost friends.
Profile: Katharina Hauke is a Berlin based audio and visual artist and director of photography. She studied Philosophy, Communication Design and Media Arts and is currently preparing her Meisterschüler at the University of Arts in Berlin.
Smth on point (Poland)
Director: Aleksander Krzystyniak
Krzysztof Kieślowski Faculty of Radio and Television University of Silesia Poland
Synopsis: Short music video about lost women. A woman find her destination thanks to the power of music.
Profile: Aleksander Krzystyniak is a young director and cinematographer. He studied at the College of Art and Design in Łódź and at Krzysztof Kieślowski Radio and Television Faculty. His efforts focus on capturing the right moments, people and places which are gradually disappearing from our modern world.
