European BOO: The End of Innocence

The short films in this section touch on moments when the boundaries between childhood and adulthood, between playfulness and cruel experience, disappear. The Voiceless follows a young man who loses himself in the nighttime techno world until his path is interrupted by an unexpected encounter with a child. In God Is Shy, an innocent game on a train turns into a terrifying ritual in which fear materializes into transcendental forms, and God does not appear as a kind old man. The dystopian Wild Child shows a girl who must come to terms with becoming an adult in a world without adults. The animated absurdity of Free the Chickens turns an animal rescue mission into a grotesque full of politically incorrect humor, Supersilly delves into the inner world of a woman searching for the roots of her pain, and A Round Applause for Death stages death as a spectacle that the audience stares at in disbelief but applauds with enthusiasm. Together, the films explore what happens when innocence ends and full responsibility for oneself and the world begins.

A Round Applause for Death (dir. Stephen Irwin, 2024, 5 min, Great Britain)