SHIFT Film Festival 2022

Join us and improve your script writing skill! Take your script and project plan to a higher level with our online pitch training.

Who is this Karim D. ? The new young writer whom the media can't get enough of? Or his alias, Arthur Rambo, the author of old hate-fuellled messages which are dredged up, one day, from social media websites.

Queen, Mari Ørstavik, fiction, Mediefabrikken, Norway

Let It Burn, Adam Starsmark, fiction, FilmCloud, Sweden

Ada and Naemi, Wiebke Becker, fiction, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Lucas Brunelli Donnard, Germany

Little Lark, Catriona MacLeod, fiction, GMAC, Scotland

January Seventh, Jamila Versi, fiction, Film Workshop Copenhagen, Denmark

Sunshine Motel, Rosita Wolkers, fiction, New Noardic Wave, The Netherlands

In Pieces, Nils Hanssen, fiction, CineSud, The Netherlands

Read more on the selected filmmakers.

Lesya has committed a crime of passion which brings her a seven-year sentence in one of Odessa’s women’s correctional facilities. She has just given birth to her first child, and now she is entering a world populated only by women: inmates, nurses and wardens, women of all ages, wives and widows, daughters, sisters, pregnant women, and women with children. If not for the color of the uniform, it would sometimes be hard to tell who is who.

Brass Fest Forever is a new wind music festival that was first launched in 2021 in Heerlen. For the 2022 edition, Brass Fest Forever is collaborating with the residents of the Royal Theater; CineSud and Filmhuis De Spiegel for the screening of some sparkling music films on September 16 and 17 during SHIFT Film Festival.

Anas, a former rapper, is employed in a cultural centre. Encouraged by their new teacher, the students will try to free themselves from the weight of traditions to live their passion and express themselves through hip hop culture.

During our Writer's Workshop you will develop your script and project plan even further with intensive group coaching. Team up to correct and improve your story, brainstorm with other participants, and learn from your coach.

Selected projects & participants

1. Clit’s Complicated, Lisanne Sweere, fiction, the Netherlands
To whom clit may concern.

2. CELENE, Julia M. Free, fiction, the Netherlands
Two (former) lovers, two women in their 70s, meet each other again after 40 years, on one afternoon on a square in their former village.

3. Dawn Chorus, Mykola Zasieiev, fiction, Ukraine
Is it possible to live without memories?

Enhance your Director’s vision! Learn to affirm your style and find your voice through our Director’s workshop. Team up to correct and improve your directing skills, and exchange with the other participants and the coach, on the importance of a vision, and what it needs to be made your own.

Selected projects & participants

1. Clit’s Complicated, Lisanne Sweere, fiction, the Netherlands
To whom clit may concern.

2. CELENE, Julia M. Free, fiction, the Netherlands
Two (former) lovers, two women in their 70s, meet each other again after 40 years, on one afternoon on a square in their former village.

3. Dawn Chorus, Mykola Zasieiev, fiction, Ukraine
Is it possible to live without memories?

Come and watch several Ukrainian short films to discover, learn and support Ukrainian cinematographic identity.

The screening will be held free of charge for the Ukrainian refugees who live in the Netherlands. The earnings from ticket sales will be donated to support Ukraine.

Forest Song, Andrey Naumenko, animation, Ukraine, 2 min

This film is about what people are focusing on and what they sometimes miss.

Dad’s Sneakers, Olha Zhurba, fiction, Ukraine, 19 min

13-year-old Sasha lives in a boarding school for children deprived of parental care. He is one of the luckiest – a family has finally agreed to adopt him. Today he will move to America forever - but there’s something that won’t let him go.

Krovyanka, Arkasha Nepytaliuk, fiction, Ukraine, 23 min

While parents, people of traditional rural values, are cooking blood sausage for the visit of daughter-in-law, Andriy, their son, tries to communicate the fact his fiancee is Jewish.

The Prince and the Mystery of the Charmed Frog, Nataliya Skryabina, animation, Ukraine, 4 min

This is an ironic story about the relativity of any stereotype situation, based upon the folk tale about the Prince and the Frog-Princess.

Mia Donna, Pavlo Ostrikov, fiction, Ukraine, 14 min

The life of forty-six- year-old Oksana changes when her husband Tolik turns into a seven-year- old boy. Doctors are powerless and nobody can turn him back.

Not Today, Khrystyna Syvolap, fiction, Ukraine, 18 min

The old man Lyosha and his lady Christie decided to die happily in one day. But Lyosha has to finish something very important first. He does desperate things to implement his secret plan and convince his woman to delay the day of their death.

The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.

Selected international participants will present their short film ideas and compete for the chance of winning a €2.000 development grant.

MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS, Volodymyr Bakum, fiction, Ukraine
Victor is in a midlife crisis. Before his wife's anniversary, having no money for her gift, he decides to sell his collection of butterflies. But a rooster gets in the way.

Anatolia 1890, Ilgin Sacan, animation, Türkiye
In 1890, a cameraman visited rural Anatolia to record daily life. During the shoot, the camera captures supernatural ​​incidents.

To The Moon, Chinh Tran & Juulia Kalavainen, fiction, the United Kingdom
In a world where Moon travel has been commercialised, an alienated 20-year-old Vietnamese woman must learn how to connect to the world around her when her far fetched dream of moving to the Moon suddenly becomes possible.

Uncanny Home, Eric Bitencourt, fiction, Germany
Uncanny Home is an experimental drama about the night two friends went back home in the virtual world but ended up opening real wounds.

PAST, Maarten Sleegers, fiction, the Netherlands
A rich man’s life changes after a homeless man makes him an unusual proposition.

Read more on the selected projects & participants.

Don’t miss the first part of the Short Film Competition where International films will compete for the Best Film Award and a cash prize of €250, Special Jury Mention and a cash prize of €100 and the Audience Award.

Return, Ghiath Al Mhitawi, fiction, Germany, 16 min

Husam is a Syrian soldier who visits his family on a 24hr leave. After a long absence, he enjoys the company and food of his mother, but there is a lump in his throat.

Phase, Mykola Zaseev, fiction, Ukraine, 20 min

10-year-old boy Yarik spends the last days of summer vacation with his grieving mother in the countryside. Playing in the woods, Yarik and his friend see a couple wandering: Yarik suspects that the woman is strangled by the man. Yarik investigates the possible murder.

The Train Driver, Christian Wittmoser & Zuniel Kim, documentary, Germany, 6 min

In the five-minute animated documentary film "The Train Driver," an anonymous train driver recounts his experience with suicide on the rails.

Visiting Ben Shemen, Miriam Harris, documentary, New Zealand, 16 min

In 1946, three young Jewish teenagers met at the palestinian Ben Shemen school, after the Holocaust and WWII. Now in their late eighties they recount the ways in which Ben Shemen offered a healing and soul-nourishing refuge.

The Peephole, Tiziana Martini, fiction, Italy, 6 min

Two women’s eyes, hidden behind the peepholes of their front doors. They both face the same hallway and see the pain of a drunken man, locked out from his wife’s house. What happens if one of the two doors opens?

In The Woods, Ilgın SaçanIn, animation, Türkiye, 2 min

The Woods is a recorded diary of monsters living in an urban forest. Max, one enthusiastic showrunner monster boy, takes us on a tour while his best friend P. records everything.

These are the selected films for the second part of the International Short Film Competition. Who do you think will take home the awards and prizes? Get ready to vote on your favorite film.

Fanmi, Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers & Carmine Pierre-Dufour, fiction, Canada, 14 min

Heart-broken following a break-up, Martine receives the unexpected visit of her mother, Monique. Engrossed in sadness, Martine fails to notice that her mother is hiding something.

Prosopagnosia, Steven Fraser, documentary, United Kingdom, 10 min

Prosopagnosia means face-blindness and to understand this neurodiverse behaviour, the contents of a memory box are intricately explored.

Cleaner, Edwin Mullane, fiction, Ireland, 15 min

Angela is a shy domestic cleaner. Mairead is a house-proud mother alone at home with the children. A friendship soon blooms between the two women. But is this relationship just another work-based transaction?

Shiny New World, Jan van Gorkum, fiction, The Netherlands, 9 min

Fifty-year-old Barry is a special kind of cleaner: he cleans crime scenes where demons have wreaked havoc. While shooting a promotion for his business, things quickly get out of hand.

Canary, Chrysoula Korovesi & Marios Gampierakis, animation, Greece, 6 min

A canary is born in captivity amongst other caged birds. A coal miner is experiencing the hardships and risk of everyday labour. The two of them will meet and form a special bond.

Broken Record, Marie Seurin & Mathilde Cadrot, fiction, France, 13 min

Francis, a depressed and nostalgic thirty-year-old, can't get over his break-up and spends his time listening to an old French variety song that reminds him of his lost love.

Limburg has so much to offer! In this competition, discover films that are produced in Limburg. The films will compete for the Best Euregion Film Award and a cash prize of €250, Special Jury Mention and a cash prize of 100€ and the Audience Award.

Undergrowth, Tim Ewalts, fiction, Belgium, 16 min

Two brothers and their father who live secluded in a forest. While their father tries to teach them how to become lumberjacks, the two are stuck in an escalating struggle for power.

Funkele, Nicole Jachmann, fiction, The Netherlands, 16 min

Fifteen-year-old Robin and her best friend Merel share everything and are inseparable. Except for Robin's budding sexuality and curiosity.

Shut, Niels Bourgonje, fiction, The Netherlands, 15 min

​​When Jonas visits his father after a long time, he's shocked to find him in a confused state. Has his father's mental state badly deteriorated or is something more sinister going on?

Dick, Kiki Henger, fiction, The Netherlands, 7 min

When Ben tries to hold his brother back from making the wrong choices, the opposite happen.

Come and watch different out of competition SHIFT Special films, and meet their makers to share the joy and exaltation during the award show as we announce the winners of the Film Competition & Film Pitch!

All That Could Be, Sam van Zoest, The Netherlands, 17 min

An introverted millennial goes on vacation with his sister's artist group where he is challenged to push his boundaries.

Wine, Anna Demianenko, The Netherlands, 25 min

After 10 years of not seeing her family, Sanne has to spend a night at their house, waiting for her father to wake up after a risky surgery. She fears that with the death of her father, she can never be a part of this family again.

The Pamphlet, Justin Heyl, The Netherlands, 17 min

October 1944. Allied forces are determined to destroy the sea-dikes of the Netherlands. Pamphlets warning the citizens of the impending danger fall into the hands of two young lovers on a secret rendezvous in the dunes. They rush back to their homes to sound the alarm, but the danger is already too close.

Stay for the networking drinks, meet & mingle the filmmakers and audience and engage in driven conversations around refreshing beverages.