HFF2026 // COMPETITION SHORTS 3

EVER SINCE, I HAVE BEEN FLYING
Dir. Aylin Gökmen | Switzerland | 18'30"

Vakıf, a 60-year-old Kurdish man who grew up in a nomadic tribe in the mountains of southeast Turkey, recalls moments from his youth that have shaped his life. He takes us back to his idyllic childhood with his mother, his first love found in a cotton field and lost in the woods, and the mistreatment suffered at the hands of the police, in a cold and dark place.

youtu.be/OaXpFmxzPdI

MANDATORY PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Dir. Pablo Porcuna | Spain | 13'44

A new physical education law unleashes a secret that could change everything at a high school.

Trailer: youtu.be/G1hCVbBOP2o

THE ORCHARDS
Dir. Antoine Chapon | France | 21'41"

In 2015, the Basateen al-Razi district of Damascus was razed to the ground as punishment for the population's uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime. This area is set to be replaced by Marota City, a modern and connected district featuring 80 skyscrapers. Ten years on, two former residents talk about their neighborhood, where their homes and the oldest orchards in Damascus once stood. Having lost everything, two former residents recall their neighborhood, where their homes and the city's oldest orchards once stood. Through their testimonies and the repurposing of regime-produced 3D animations, memory is awakened and resists this deliberate erasure.

Trailer:  youtu.be/ccyDVxEdRkc

 SHEEP AND WOLVES 

Dir. Alex Fischman Cárdenas I Peru I 15'

A mother's world shatters after her son vanishes without a trace. Set in the height of the Peruvian armed conflict, "Ovejas y Lobos" follows a mother’s suspenseful search through the perilous, vast, and unforgiving landscape that mirrors her seemingly insurmountable mission.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/E3xrJHmB-Xk