Samira
Charlotte Rolfes
Germany, 2016
13 mins., 
Instant parents
Life is full of surprises, even in a routine docking of a cargo ship in the port of Hamburg. A couple of stowaways (suicidal mom, Ramiye—Karmela Shako employs her desperate eyes to great advantage, and newborn, daughter, Samira—whose popping lips are a wonderful touch of connection and humanity) have been discovered. But Mom would rather put a knife to her throat than be arrested and deported.
It falls to shipping rep. Janosch (grittily done by Lucas Prisor) to diffuse the situation, even as he betrays the distraught refugee. With no other option (Samira has not been detected by the “authorities”), Janosch scoops her up, talks his way off the ship and delivers the unsuspecting child to his partner, Sebastian (Dejan Bucin most certainly has a way with the wee ones on the planet).
Most would hope that this is just fiction, but in many ports of call all around the globe, this scenario plays out daily.
Chillingly, heroically, pathetically, Mom does what she knows is best for an unsuspecting life. JWR
Pride
Pavel Vesnakov
Bulgaria, 2013
30 mins., 
‘… and then we’ll fix you’
Chain-smoking, sometime fisherman, taxi driver Grandpa (Mihail Mutafov, convincingly bristling at every turn), opts to spy on his live-in grandson, Georgi (the best performance of the lot from silent Aleksandr Aleksiev), whose only crime is to love another young man, much to Grandpa’s shame. Grandma—Ani Bakalova—tries to run interference but is slapped down with every attempt.
The pivotal moment arrives when Georgi’s mom (Svetlana Yancheva) arrives for a visit, only to disclose that she and the 20-year love of her life will soon be divorced. No explanation, but Vesnakov makes it easy to fill in the blanks.
All of which leads to a moment of “He doth protest too much, methinks.” Faced with echoes of their past “history” surrounding hidden realities, many men take it out on those around them rather than admit to their own “truth”.
More believable than we’d like to admit. JWR
Lost and Found
Lior Haen
Isreal, 2013
8 mins., 
Auto discovery
Here’s a cautionary tale about sexting in the current age. What if someone else finds your pics (or worse, your entire phone) and then blackmails you to keep the nude images away from the public domain?
Do you pay at any cost, hoping that will be the end of it? Or is there a parent figure who takes the high road on behalf of his naïve, unwitting son.
The sequel is eagerly awaited. JWR
Chaos Toad
Carlos Lopes
UK, 2014
8 mins.,
‘I don’t really remember anything’
In this brief slice of difficult life, the issue of dementia is explored both realistically and fantastically. Imaginary friends, internet dating (with no physical meeting in sight, but let’s loose those bland fabrics…), all get pushed away thanks to the magic of Arabella Sparkles and Toby the bear.
A wonderful tonic to the misery of COVID-19.JWR
Sunken Plum
Robert F. Canuto, Xu Xiaoxi
China, 2017
20 mins.,
Here’s a fading drag queen who dutifully sent home money to mom for years as more of a penance (for hiding his true self) than homage/support to the one who brought him into the world. When a younger cousin reveals Mom’s demise, it soon transpires that every penny sent back is now her inheritance—if it can be found.
Once back in the small village (Gu Xiang delivers a compelling performance), she renews old acquaintanceships, some of whom still have a carnal interest despite being “honourable” family men.
A dreamlike meeting between son/daughter and Mom speaks volumes about acceptance and apparent love.
The money is found, the funeral—so understandably missed—and Li goes back to the city, armed with cash and a dull thud in her heart. JWR
Escaping Gravity
Benjamin Teske
Germany, 2013
23 mins.,
Till death do us join
With a large homage to Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked this Way Comes, Teske has fashioned a production that begins in fantasy (purchased for “fear”) and ends in the reality that all of us will be leaving the planet at some point.
Transgendering Leo (“just baby breasts”—rendered with great empathy by Sabin Tambrea) opts to come back to the circus (his father’s domain) but receives more than a rough ride in the boxing ring and outside it (a sequence that must be seen to be believed—boxing not bare-chested? Well there’s a reason for everything).
But the drama really heats up as Leo (on the way to Leonora) must confront his bigoted dad’s fast-coming death. Mom (Hedi Kriegeskotte’s visage speaks volumes) sits stoically by.
If life can be a “Horror Tower” then films such as this might suggest a way out to safer pastures, no matter who you are. JWR