Concorto Daily – August 16, 2025

Duty Free – Hilke Ronnfeldt
As seen by Alice De Vito

We step into the world of a duty-free shop in the Baltic Sea, where shop assistants are bound by a deep feeling of love. The film is paced by the constant noise of a tunnel under construction, until when the sound suddenly stops. The main character then decides to break  the chains that tie the boat to the shore, in order to preserve the environment that has been created on board and not give up that life. 

This film shows how words are often unnecessary to tell a story: movements, glances, or gestures are enough. In the dancing scene, we feel the desire to remain connected to a powerful bond that can only exist in this isolated world. A world that, however, gradually becomes restrictive and suffocating, until it drives the protagonist to call for help the following morning. 

Anthéor  – Patrice-Joseph Blanc
As seen by Anna Vullo

A young woman visits places of the past, inhabited only by the shadows of what once was. With evocative animation, director Patrice-Joseph Blanc guides the protagonist through rugged natural landscapes, confronting her with these stormy memories.

Jasmine that blooms in autumn – Chandradeep Das
As seen by Francesca Marchesini

Chandradeep Das gives us an intimate portrait of a secret love, proposing again on the big screen not only the topic of romantic relationships in old age, but also the issue of sexual freedom within a repressive and patriarchal context. Affection blossoms with tenderness between the two elderly protagonists and with equal tenderness it is portrayed on stage… a short film that is like a caress.

Fish River Anthology – Veera Lamminpää
As seen by Laura Savoini

The fish on the land ain’t happy. They’re sad ’cause they’re in their bowl. The fish in the bowl are lucky. They’re in for a worser fate. One day when the boss gets hungry, guess who’s goin’ be on the plate?

This is the song sung by Sebastian, the crab from The Little Mermaid, and Mereneläviä is exactly the staging of his worst nightmare. In her work, Veera Lamminpää gives voice to the heartbreaking agony of fish displayed at the supermarket counter, waiting, laid out on a bed of ice, without any illusions, to be purchased. The only meager aspirations they can afford are to be bought by wealthy customers or to hope for an unlikely price reduction that makes them less sought after, while with their glassy eyes they look back at the life they once had in the waters.

Automagic – Ashok Vish
As seen by Carola Visca

In this short road movie full of suspense, a young man tries to seduce the taxi driver who is taking him home. The man’s androgynous appearance at first makes the driver uncomfortable, since he’s a religious man undergoing a period of penance in preparation for a pilgrimage. Little by little, however, the initial concerns give way to a more open exchange and an unexpected sweetness between the two strangers. The stigmatizing context of Indian society–which depenalized homosexuality in 2018–portends a tale of hostility, however, Ashok Vish’s  free and affectionate gaze depicts a fleeting encounter between two characters enclosed in a “magical” world that stands between reality and fantasy. 

Three Keenings – Oliver McGoldrick
As seen by Laura Savoini

Three Keenings begins and ends with a cry. The first is exaggerated, loud, and fake; the last one contains the despair and pain of someone who has experienced death three times in a single day. In between, Oliver McGoldrick paints a day in Ian’s life, who works during the day with a company of actors that professionally attend funerals of unknown people, staging a mourning that borders on the ridiculous. When his workday comes to the end, Ian takes off his mask and must face his real life. The absolute protagonist of this short film is death, from which Ian cannot escape either in fiction nor in reality.