REIFF Block F 2025

UNSPOKEN | Documentary Short | Poland | 52m

A portrait of 26-year-old Matthew - a young man who stutters and wants to realize his childhood dream. He wants to become a Polish champion in acrobatics.

FLOWER KEESTER COPS | Animation | USA | 4m

The Phenakistoscope is an animation toy, a disk of pictures that, when spun, presents an animation. A Flower Keester Cop is just like that, but with flower power.

TRANSFORMATION | Documentary Short | Turkey | 52m

In the following months after the USA withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, a young Kabul couple, have found their way to the dark and dodgy Afghan neighborhood, Zeytinburnu,in Istanbul. Malika - a transgender woman who together with Mohamed, the love of her life, have fled their families honor killing plan and Taliban's fatal punishments to be able to cultivate their forbidden love for each other, in the hope of achieving a new and better life in Turkey. One day they pass by the young and homeless ”Ilham,” who is sitting on the pavement with nowhere to go, and decide to bring an extra person into their self-made family. Together the three of them are facing poverty, fear of deportation, daily harassment, sexual violence and gender identity crisis. But their self-claimed support towards each other, keeps them fighting for their dreams, whatever it takes. On their tumultuous and challenging journey and transformation through registration for Turkish residency, seeking help in NGOs. As they obtain residency and move into their own place, their circumstances seem to improve from the outside. But unexpected and darker perspectives surface, revealing a surprising twist of perception, when Ilham runs away and claims they have prostituted him out to other men.

CAMP WIDOW | Documentary Short | USA | 15m

Camp Widow is a gathering for widowed people by widowed people. Over the course of three days, attendees speak candidly about death, forge connections with others over shared experiences of loss, and find ways to navigate the tricky waters of grief. Founded by Michele Neff Hernandez, who suddenly became a widow at age 35 when her husband died in a bike accident, the camp offers a way to both recognize tremendous loss, while at the same time celebrating continued life. The film follows an ensemble of campers who are weary of platitudes about grief, and speak to one another from a place of radical honesty that is by turns heartbreaking and darkly hilarious, embracing irreverent humor as a cathartic means of self-expression. This documentary shows the transformative power and therapeutic value of human connection, among those who have experienced loss and trauma. Ultimately, the film asks viewers to think about how we can recognize the grief of others, as well as find resilience during loss in our own lives.