What better way to open the 41st BIFFF than with a teenage girl jumping from one dimension to the next, trying to save the world from impending doom alongside a magical cat and a talking three-legged chair? That teenager is Suzume, a seemingly ordinary high-schooler who on her way to class meets a strange fellow,… Continue reading SUZUME
Genre: Disaster
EMERGENCY DECLARATION
Always frustrating to see your colleagues enjoying life to the fullest while you’re stuck at work. Like agent In-ho, who has to stay in watching countless terrorist threat videos online and decide whether to put the country in Defcon 2 or fine the parents of a 14-year-old troll. All the while the misses is off… Continue reading EMERGENCY DECLARATION
SINKHOLE
Eleven years. Eleven years of pencil-pushing in a dusty office and holidays at the Costa Casa (AKA an inflatable pool in the living room) were needed for Dong-wok to scrape together just enough cash to finally realize his long-cherished dream: getting his own joint in the city of Seoul! Sure, in the industrial outskirts of… Continue reading SINKHOLE
Titanic
Motel Acacia
A snowed-in country road, not far from the Canadian border. A billboard alongside the road reads: “Make our country great again!”. JC, a young Filipino, takes in the landscape, while his European father drives him to the family motel. The building is as charming as a Nazi bunker and clients are rare. However, the business… Continue reading Motel Acacia
THE QUAKE
1904. An earthquake makes Norway shake on its foundations until almost nothing remains. More than a hundred years later, this is about to happen again. At least, if you want to believe Kristian, a scientist who suffers from PTSD after his last prediction became reality. His warnings to the government fall on deaf ears. And… Continue reading THE QUAKE
THE UNTHINKABLE
Alex is a musically gifted teenager. He has quite a good understanding with his mom but things don’t go so well with his dad. The latter’s fits of rage and whacky conspiracy theories might have something to do with that. Twelve years later, Alex is a well-known musician. At the funeral of his mom, he… Continue reading THE UNTHINKABLE
SURVIVAL FAMILY
It’s hard to imagine a more run-of-the-mill Japanese family. Daddy is a grey salaryman, self-effacing mom takes care of the household, junior only takes off his headphones when he goes to sleep, and his sister is completely engrossed in the virtual world of Facebook likes and WhatsApp messages. But then something strange happens: all electrical… Continue reading SURVIVAL FAMILY
FLASHBURN
A man wakes up behind the wheel of an SUV. He has a hell of a hangover and there’s a trickle of blood running down his forehead. He can’t recall anything. Did he hit the bottle a bit too hard ? And how did he end up in an empty warehouse, with an electronic ankle… Continue reading FLASHBURN