Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival

Religion Today Competition

Doodmaan

Director: Alireza Abbasi
Country: Islamic Republic of Iran
Length: 20’
Institute: Kish International University

Synopsis: Two people enter a village. They have been ordered to cut down an old sacred tree. They encounter some of the villagers next to this tree and finally decide to...

Profile: Alireza Abbasi, nicknamed A.R., was born in the city of Sari in the province of Mazandaran in northern Iran. His university background is in civil engineering, and he obtained a doctorate in construction management from the International University of Kish. Since 2011 he has taken acting courses, then ventured into theater, performing in venues such as Vahdat Hall, Baran Theatre (now called Mahoor), and Ezzatollah Entezami Hall in Tehran. In 2018, he began writing and directing short films, managing to participate in various international festivals with his three short films.

Gael y El Mar – Gael And She Sea

Director: Endika Lopez
Country: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Length: 16’
Institute: Escuela de Medios Audiovisuales ULA

Synopsis: Gael is an eighty-year-old photographer whose passion for the sea and whales takes him on an emotional journey where he must confront the reality of his age and the limits it imposes on his freedom. As he tries once again to capture the essence of the sea, he is thwarted by his overprotective yet distant son, Míchel.

Profile: Endika Lopez is a director born in Venezuela on October 10, 1999. He began directing in 2021 with low-budget independent short films, has directed five shorts, and is currently producing his sixth. His style is influenced by his interest in magical realism, psychology, and family and interpersonal relationships.

Correr el riesgo de la infancia – The Risk of Childhood

Director: Luis Fernando Portales Ruiz
Country: Mexico
Length: 17’
Institute: Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica

Synopsis: On a ranch in northern Mexico, eight-year-old Luisito clings to the memory of his late father through the clothes he once wore; his mother, wishing to move on, decides to give them away, bringing back the grief that Luisito had buried.

Profile: Born in 1991, Luis Fernando Portales Ruiz graduated from the INDIE Film Studies Center and is now studying directing at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC). He has experience as both a screenwriter and director in projects such as The Risk of Childhood, winner of “Young Creators PECDA Sonora 2022,” and other award-winning shorts. He is currently working on two projects in progress: Mapping an Absence, an autobiographical documentary focusing on his father’s life and death, and The Revolution that Walks InI Heels, a documentary about trans women’s dissidence in the heart of Mexico City.

Peaches

Director: Vladimir Arshinin
Country: Russian Federation
Length: 23’16”
Institute: German Sidakov Drama School

Synopsis: Almaz sells peaches to save money for his medical treatment and to help his family back home. He faces numerous hardships, including lack of funds, hostility, deception, and worst of all, losing his car—the only means he has to earn a living. Still, he perseveres, holding onto hope for a better future.

Profile: Vladimir Arshinin was born in 1986 in the Kemerovo region of Russia. In 2020, he graduated from the German Sidakov Drama School as a theater and film director.

Neely Cycle – The Blue Bicycle

Director: Kamil Saif
Country: India
Length: 22’06”
Institute: Satyajit Ray film and television institute, Kolkata

Synopsis: Two children, Hasan and Khushbu, run away from their refugee camp on a cold winter night to chase after the bicycle of their dreams in the city.

Profile: Kamil Saif is an award-winning filmmaker and a final-year student at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata. Prior to filmmaking, he graduated with a degree in Chemistry from Hansraj College, earned a Master’s in Social Work from TISS Mumbai, and obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in TV Journalism from Jamia Millia Islamia. With a background in theater, Kamil has worked alongside various NGOs in roles such as social worker, research assistant, and project coordinator. His short film The Last Rehearsal won the Royal Golden Tiger Award at the Kolkata International Film Festival. His work addresses socio-political issues and personal stories, aiming to promote positive change and raise awareness of important social topics.

Orange

Director: Nóra Horváth
Country: Romania
Length: 15’
Institute: Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania

Synopsis: Orange is an old witch who makes herbal medicines to help villagers. The quiet life of her herb-scented hut is disrupted by the field’s owner.

Profile: Nóra Horváth is a passionate lover of literature and film. Born in Transylvania, Romania, she currently lives in Budapest, Hungary, and is working on her second short film as a student at the Castorp Independent Filmschool.

Dohady – Rumors

Director: Rastislav Kupšo
Country: Slovakia
Length: 18’08”
Institute: Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava

Synopsis: The majestic cross stands over the village, casting its shadow on a quirky neighborhood preparing for a funeral. Vladimír buries his wife, anxiously awaiting his son Dušan, from whom he has long been estranged. Dušan arrives slightly drunk and emotionally walled off. Meanwhile, the priest is late, intensifying the funeral’s urgency and raising tensions among locals. All this under the sweltering heat and a longing for a cold beer.

Profile: Rastislav Kupšo is studying film directing at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He began making films even earlier. His work frequently explores themes of guilt, existential despair, the inability to change, or the search for inner peace. His characters are often outsiders on society’s margins, tough on the outside but fragile inside, longing for love and happiness.

Prosti menya, mama – Forgive Me, Mother

Director: Artur Nazaretyan
Country: Armenia
Length: 15’
Institute: RAU University

Synopsis: Ares lives in an abandoned city with his sick mother. They are completely alone, except for an elderly professor who refuses to leave his home. The invasion of ghosts has changed life in the entire city, forcing its inhabitants to flee. Only Ares, his immobilized mother, and the professor—who stays on principle—remain.

Profile: While studying feature film directing for five years, Artur Nazaretyan directed two term projects and one diploma piece. He was born in the Russian Federation in 2001. He completed his higher education in feature film and TV directing at RAU University (2019–2024).

To Rema

Director: Hussam Gamal
Country: Egypt
Length: 20’
Institute: Egyptian High Cinema Institute

Synopsis: A Muslim girl is adopted by the head of a Jewish family, who cares deeply for her. As time passes and the girl grows into a young woman, the situation takes an unexpected turn.

Profile: Born in Cairo in 1996, Hussam Gamal started out as a professional photographer inspired by films. Finding photography insufficient to tell complete stories, he turned to filmmaking. He studied at the High Institute of Cinema in Egypt. In 2020, he directed and produced his first psychological short film (Youssef), and at the end of 2022, he began work on his second film (To Rema), which took three years to prepare.

Maachi

Director: Daniyal Shabbir Hussain
Country: Pakistan
Length: 12’09”
Institute: Szabist

Synopsis: Maachi is a poor boy from a fishermen’s family in Kemari, born mute and with webbed toes. He finds companionship in a lonely stray dog, but their friendship is short-lived.

Profile: Daniyal Dhabbir, a rising creator, is one of the top film students in his class. With several short films to his name, he has an eye for cinematic visuals and emotive storytelling. He has assisted well-known directors—including Nabeel Qureshi and Abu Aleeha—in feature films, and contributed to many commercial productions. A true fan of Korean cinema, Daniyal aims to merge the subtle storytelling style of independent films with the grandeur of mainstream cinema, as demonstrated by his latest work, Maachi.