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Albania

Play is older than culture. Play theorist Johan Huizinga in his book Homo Ludens (1955) defined play as "a free activity standing quite consciously outside ‘ordinary’ life as being ‘not serious,’ but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained from it. It proceeds within its proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner." While exploring Tirana in Albania I searched for signs and acts of playfulness in the built environment. A lot of play spots can be found in the city centre in parks, where people play chess and domino, especially the elderly. They bring their own games, organise and spend time with friends outdoors. Play is in the city incorporated as a design (chairs as domino blocks), and use of public space (covered areas) in parks. As a result of my research, I choose to make a short film in which the play is addressed as a sign of inclusiveness which gives the feeling of belonging and identity.

Georgia

Every day, we see different urban spaces around us; some are where we live, while others are work areas or streets that we frequently walk or pass by. I grew up in Tbilisi, and my home is near the most famous bazaar in Tbilisi, called the Deserter's Bazaar. It's the most chaotic, noisy, and filthy place I’ve ever been. Public spaces are areas where different people meet each other for different purposes. The bazaar is one of the strangest examples of public space and relations. The people who are here every day at work are boxing everything as much as possible. My main character is space itself, which we see in the first scene. The area really looks like an ocean, but inside the bazaar, people are boxing the spaces. Everything is boxed, like the fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and even the fresh fish are boxed in glass boxes.

Albania

This short film embraces the culture of a small minority in Tirana, making them feel more seen and included.

Phillipines

Overview: Lost in Manila? How about have a shot? We start spectating a creative person who misses a chance to make something great. Did we miss her starting point?

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

The movie is filmed around the streets of suburban districts of Baku. The background voices are from the YouTube interviews/archives about LGBTI+ experiences from the general public and personal archives . Occasionally, different media platforms carry out public surveys and interviews about queer experiences in the streets of Baku and the results are mostly very hateful and alarmingly homophobic and transphobic. Many people see queerness as a major sin or health issue, or just deny the community's existence by just simply ignoring LGBTI+s. The phobia against the community affects trans people and particularly trans sex workers the most and unfortunately, many trans folks are the victims of hate crimes in the country. For the past 5 years, Azerbaijan is ranked as the most dangerous and worst country to live in for LGBTI+s by ILGA-Europe. Rising homophobia and transphobia raise major concerns for the community and the film addresses the realities of public opinions about the queer community.