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Azerbaijan

The film addresses the issue of the lack of green public spaces in Azerbaijan. Young people usually struggle to find peaceful and clean areas for their leisure time and tend to visit kilometers away from Baku to “escape” the gray scene of it. Also, Baku is surrounded by beautiful coastal areas, however, due to the mismanagement and lack of state responsibility, these spaces are usually full of trash and not taken care of at all. Although, it is cleaned regularly, even around the center you could see people irresponsibly trashing the streets. Psychologically, it is proven that contact with nature and green scenery helps people a lot to relax and sustain a better mental state. Unfortunately, Baku is a very gray city. It even worsens with time when authority is given to those with resources and connections to cut down more green areas to build their private property. We need to preserve and take care of the minimal green areas we have left in Baku and the film addresses its importance.

Taiwan

United Kingdom

Progress is a video piece that was made in collaboration with Samir Chadli, Lara Jacoski and Andrew Sawyer, and which hopes to draw attention to urban, cultural and environmental changes in Morocco. ​ Working with discarded construction material and found pieces of traditional Moroccan tiles, this work addresses issues related to what is gained and what is lost through economic development and how developing countries can face the challenges of growth and changes of identity. This is synthesised in the work through a choice of colours, pace, sound and themes. Note: the sound features street recordings which are inteligible and not possible to caption.

Azerbaijan

Ali Malikov, a well-known LGBTI+ activist, is the film's main character. In the background voice, they explain how cities are LGBTI+ exclusive and there is no safe space for queer people.

Singapore

Holding Space explores the lived experiences of Burmese immigrants in Singapore under the gaze of neighbours in public flats. With a focus on spatial arrangements and housing exteriors, the experimental film challenges the ways architects visualise and instrumentality their ways of seeing, seeking to hold space for subjective experiences and the subtle yet persistent influences on our domestic interiors.

Denmark

The short centers around the people using the recycling center. When I accidentally stepped into this place, I was surprised by the scenery, because in Japan(where I can from), it is not normal for people to go to a recycling center. We put our boxes in the street, and the garbage truck will pick it up. In the dump station that I went to, of course there were carpenters and gardeners, but there were also many normal people. And I think if you are Danish, I imagine that it would be a norm from a young age to go to these recycling place. In a span of four days of filming, I asked 12 people how they felt about the place. Though there were few who felt negativity in the place, everyone agreed that it is good to dump the garbage by themselves because it is good for the environment, and that it is normal to do that. As I was shooting the film, I realized that “normality” was the key word for this short. Normality is dangerous because my normal is not your normal, and the perception of one’s normality can exclude people that is not within that normality. The short has a very positive atmosphere, but at the same time, it is important to note that that positivity could “leave someone behind”. Please enjoy.